The Ryder Cup of 2014 was a triumph for Gleneagles and Perth and Kinross as a whole. It is hoped the 2019 Solheim Cup can mirror that success.
The fledgling European Team Championship being hosted at Gleneagles is a decent stop-gap for what has to remain a regular venue for top class golf.
Since the overwhelming success of the 2014 Ryder Cup, the Perthshire resort has reined back. The annual Johnnie Walker Championship event was discontinued, and there was a change of ownership of the lavish hotel complex.
This new championship, and the Solheim Cup to follow in 2019, will get Gleneagles back on the major event schedule. But does the hotel want to have an annual tour event again? It should do.
The Johnnie Walker was always well attended, proving that only St Andrews in Scotland is a more popular venue for top class golf.
The advantage of the simple accessibility of Gleneagles to main population centres has been sharply illustrated by poor attendances at other venues where the major tours have visited.
Gleneagles is too good, and too popular with players and fans alike, to stay off the rota. Hopefully the big tours and the hotel can come up with something again.
