February 15th, 2008
Celtic Manor
No expense has been spared for the 2010 Ryder Cup with the owner of Celtic Manor virtually building a new course to host the matches.
Against the background of the terrorist atrocities of September 2001, and the consequences those events had on the golfing world with the postponement of the Ryder Cup, it is perhaps hardly surprising that an announcement made in that same fateful month involving a future venue for the matches should pass largely unnoticed.
Having beaten off some stiff competition from the Swedes and in particular the Scots – whose four nominations included Loch Lomond, Gleneagles and Turnberry – the announcement that Celtic Manor will host the 2010 Ryder Cup was a cause for celebration in Wales. It will be the first time the event has come to the Principality and will inevitably have far-reaching consequences.
The resort, built on a hillside overlooking the M4 by billionaire entrepreneur Sir Terry Matthews, has finally been given its reward for years of supporting the European Tour. Gleneagles will get its turn in 2014, but it is Celtic Manor, home of the Wales Open, that has been granted the chance to try and emulate the success enjoyed by the K Club last year.
Matthews promised to build a course specifically for the twin challenge of hosting the world’s greatest match play event and enabling 50,000 people a day to get a glimpse of just a handful of players
From the outside, the only impediment to hosting an event of such stature seemed to be the lack of a suitable course; the resort, the facilities, the access and the infrastructure already being of sufficient standard. But that perceived weakness turned out to be the strongest part of the Welsh bid as Matthews gave the deciding committee a virtual blank canvas, promising to build a course specifically for the twin challenge of hosting the world’s greatest match play event and enabling 50,000 people a day to get a glimpse of just a handful of players.
It was a brave move, but it proved irresistible.
With the existing Roman Road course lacking both space and yardage, Matthews turned to the Wentwood Hills course that stretched down from the existing clubhouse to the floor of the Usk Valley. Created by Robert Trent Jones II in the early 1990s, this American-style resort course was largely unremarkable but it did have plenty of water, and, crucially, was flanked on one side by an enormous stretch of hillside. Ross McMurray from European Golf Design was handed the commission and after just two years and £16 million, the grand plan to add nine new holes and a purpose-built clubhouse to re-worked holes from Wentwood Hills was recently unveiled to the public.
The task of adding definition and drama to what was essentially a flat track was never going to be easy. But given what he had to work with, McMurray has certainly delivered on Matthews’ promise. It took some doing, mind you, and the figures alone make impressive reading: 110 people worked on the site at the peak of construction in 2005; 120 acres of land alongside the River Usk was used for the course and practice area; 15 miles of underground drainage was laid to ensure perfect conditioning; and more than two miles of buggy paths were added to provide the captains and support staff with easy access to all areas of the course.
Another major job was the shifting of more than 600,000 cubic metres of earth and rock, weighing in excess of 1.1m tonnes, from the hillside. This removal made way for the construction of the last three holes while its addition to the holes which run alongside the river, raised their level and will reduce the likelihood of flooding. It’s also made those holes more spectator-friendly.
But perhaps the greatest achievement was the creation of massive spectator areas on the hillsides above the closing trio of holes. An estimated 15,000 fans will be able to watch not just the unfolding action of the final three holes but also the goings-on across the entire course. Yes, there are also huge areas for corporate boxes and all the associated money-spinners that help finance the PGA for the ensuing four years, but as anybody who has ever stood 10-deep at a Ryder Cup trying the get a glimpse of the action will attest, this provision for the needs of fans is a highly commendable step by Celtic Manor.
A limited number of memberships are now available for the course itself which in three years’ time will be a challenge for the world’s best players, measuring a whopping 7,493 yards off the tips. When the wind blows, as it often does in this part of the world, it will certainly play long, making the enforced water carries all the more significant. The first five holes are new; as are the 14th, 16th, 17th and 18th, with the central section of the course being played around the numerous man-made lakes on the valley floor.
The holes that have been discarded from Trent Jones’ original are the opening few that came down the hillside and the tortuous closing stretch that went straight back up, the thought being that fans and players alike would find 36 holes a day on such terrain too much to contend with. An equally daunting challenge was that of ensuring a smooth transition from new holes to old and back again, and it was one in which McMurray invested plenty of thought and time.
In reworking Trent Jones’ holes he was in constant touch with the American before deciding to concentrate heavily on the bunkering, making it more penal, with steeper faces and more wispy edges to add definition and character. That done, he created a number of classic match play holes, not least the par four 5th which is driveable from a forward tee but is fraught with danger. As with many holes on the course, risk and reward are present in equal measure, and when the Ryder Cup rolls into town in three years’ time, Celtic Manor will provide both players and fans with another memorable golfing spectacle.
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