Scott Fenwick is used to waking up worrying about the weather forecast, but one strong summer has meant the Gleneagles Golf estates manager can rest easy for a bit with a year to the Ryder Cup.
So wet have the summers been at Gleneagles over the last three years that the irrigation system on the PGA Centenary Course has hardly been tested to full capacity until these last few months, the driest in Perthshire since 1992.
However, now just minor alterations and cosmetic preparations remain to be done on the venue for the Ryder Cup, as well as accommodating the huge expanse of tented structures that will be built in the next year as the hotel hosts maybe even a bigger event logistically at least than the famous G8 summit of 2005.
The hotel complex has undergone £46 million of improvements since 1982 and an estimated £25 million since confirmed as 2014 Ryder Cup venue.
A considerable proportion has gone into the PGA Centenary Course, effectively “weather-proofing” the Jack Nicklaus design.
“In a different life, I’d want a job where you don’t wake up every morning wondering what the weather is going to be like and find yourself constantly checking forecasts,” said Scott.
“It is quite stressful but if you can control what you are doing it’s half the battle. The weather has definitely been the most frustrating thing.
“We are used to harsh winters here but if you can get a decent summer on the back of one then it’s not so bad. The problem was we had consistently wet summers until this year.”
The first four years of the five-year programme to bring the course into shape and to make alterations outlined by Jack Nicklaus were all weather-affected, but this summer has proved different.
“To be honest, it’s been good to have the problem of getting water on to the course. It meant we really had to test the irrigation system for the first time in a good few years,” he said.
The hi-tech “Sub Air” system which draws moisture from the greens has proved an invaluable tool in improving the condition of the course, he added.
“It has been good considering how wet it had been prior to this year, but when it is hot you can also use it to help cool down the greens, so it works both ways.
“The sub-air system was a lot of money but if we’d had to re-lift the greens and put new ones in that would have been a considerable cost, too. When we looked at the sub-air, it was agreed that it would extend the long-evity and we’ve had great results so as far as I’m concerned it’s been a great investment.”
Changes remaining to be made are remodifying small swales at the back of the second and 14th greens, removing a fairway bunker at the 13th and more drainage work, and there will be monthly closure periods beginning in March as preparation begins in earnest. The course will also be closed one day extra a week from March and finally before the matches on September 1.
Contrary to earlier reports, all issues are being shared with the American camp, added Scott.
“Tom Watson was here earlier in the year and I read in The Courier that he said at the Senior Open we’d not allowed him the pin positions from the Johnnie Walker,” explained Scott.
“At the time Tom asked, I hadn’t had the discussion about that with anyone from Ryder Cup Europe and I didn’t want to pass on that information without permission.
“But, since Tom was here, we’ve had a discussion and, while there seemed to be a lot of secrecy about things at Medinah, this one is going to be a lot more open.
“If the Americans want pin charts from the last five years, they can have them. And the same goes for things like green speeds. We are happy to share whatever information they want.”