Speaking in the Scottish Government debate on One Year to Go until the Ryder Cup. Liz Smith, Scottish Conservative MSP for Mid Scotland & Fife and Shadow Minister for Sport has called on encouraging the next generation of golfers to be put at the heart of the Ryder Cup 2014 legacy strategy. Liz Smith MSP, Shadow Minister for Sport and theCommonwealth Games said: “As someone who lives roughly 8 miles from the 18th hole at Gleneagles, I have witnessed at first hand the growing excitement at the fact that Strathearn and Perthshire will be hosting such a world class golf tournament – in fact, not just a world class golf tournament but one of the world’s most elite sporting events that draws attention from all round the world. It is the first time in more than 40 years this prestigious tournament will be played in Scotland and given the intense competition there is amongst other nations to host the event, it is likely to be some way into the future before it happens again. So for most of us, it is, quite simply, a once in a lifetime opportunity. “The first is the logistics of hosting the event. I attended a briefing last Thursday in Auchterarder with the Ryder Cup management team and I was exceptionally impressed by the work which is already underway to plan for the event - safety being paramount. Obviously, Strathearn is already used to Gleneagles hosting such high profile international events whether on the grandest scale, like the G8 summit or the Johnny Walker golf tournament, but even with that experience behind the area, there are significant challenges. The forward planning has been impressive and I welcome the steps being taken to communicate fully with local residents. Nonetheless, there are tricky issues with regards to changes to the local road network – in some cases different from what has happened for previous events - and therefore there are challenges regarding access to businesses and vital services and crowd control. As the Ryder Cup management team said itself, we should never underestimate the logistical challenges of such an event and we should be mindful of the fact that there will be a large section of the local population who are not especially keen on having the Ryder Cup in the first place – so it’s important the local residents are kept at the heart of all planning. “Being the home of golf is often the primary reason for golf tourists coming to Scotland but we should not underestimate the numbers who come for business reasons and other related sporting interests – many of whom will go much further afield than Strathearn. So there is excellent opportunity to increase the £220m a year which comes from the sport. “A few weeks ago, the Tourism Minister launched the first national strategy “Driving Forward Together” which aims to capitalise on the staging of the Ryder Cup and The Open Championship to confirm Scotland as the world's leading golf destination. “The strategy, like other growth strategies, has, as I understand it, been developed to build on the strong foundations of activity from the industry, governing bodies and the public sector. The hope is, that as a result of implementing the strategy, the current £220 million annual value to the Scottish economy will rise to around £300 million annually by 2020. “Scotland is already competes well internationally within KPMG’s Golf Travel Insights so called golfing tourism hotspots for the future so there is reason to think this strategy could make a real difference to the tourist industry, but alongside it, there needs to be other concrete steps, because, as we have seen from other government strategies, the reality can be somewhat different when it comes to meeting growth targets. Governments in the past – of varying political colours – have found difficulty as is exemplified by the fact that the 2005 ambition to increase the revenue from Scottish tourism by 50% over 10 years has seen very limited growth. So we would like to hear more from Ministers on how they actually plan to achieve what is an ambitious target. “The First Minister said two years ago that “encouraging the next generation of golfers is crucial. Club golf gives thousands of children in Scotland the chance to play golf, putting a club in the hands of every nine-year-old in the country and creating the possibility of golfing success at the highest levels.” He’s right but it is an expensive sport and that needs to be considered, particularly as many of Scotland’s 550 golf courses are struggling for members. “Across the Perth & Kinross Council area there are a number of initiatives to teach children about golf, its relevance to Scotland and the Scottish Conservatives welcome the £2 million investment in Scotland's junior golf programme announced two years ago to ensure more young people are playing the game. “The Ryder Cup is a very special tournament and a very special opportunity for the whole of Scotland – not just Perthshire and Strathearn, and it comes in the same year as several other key events which will keep Scotland very much in the public eye. It is therefore essential that we are not only ready for 2014 but that we are looking ahead, many years down the road to deliver a positive legacy for the next generation.”