Countdown to Gleneagles 2014 begins

The countdown to Gleneagles and the 2014 Ryder Cup begins today at the start of Wales Open week, with the first counting event for the European team this week near Newport at the venue of the last European Ryder Cup. Yesterday the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles came to a dramatic conclusion with a 3-man play-off over what was universally applauded as the best conditioned PGA Centenary Course ever, with over 18,000 fans attending in glorious weather creating an atmosphere something similar to what we can expect next September.

For myself the Ryder Cup being staged at a place I previously worked is an immensely exciting thing and it fills me with pride that I have worked at such a destination. The course has never looked better, I walked the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th holes on Sunday and the fairways were immaculate and the course as ever produced a dramatic finish.

The newly designed 18th hole brings in a real risk-reward finish, presenting a real challenge for the player who does miss the green to get up and down for birdie or par instead of the usual watery grave. The new amphitheatre created on the hole also set the scene for what the PGA Centenary Course will be like in 2014.

HooperstarGolfer will be counting down to the Ryder Cup every month from now until next Summer with a special series of Ryder Cup related blogs as Scotland gears up for one of the biggest years in its sporting and cultural history.