Ryder to the Manor scorned

MANY of you will watch the Wales Open on television this week and wonder how in heaven the 2010 Ryder Cup was allocated to this apparently undistinguished piece of golfing territory.

The Celtic Manor Resort is located just outside the town of Newport in South Wales an area well-known to the supporters of the Munster and Leinster rugby teams and while there is much to admire about the facility not least the magnificent 400 bedroom hotel, there is nothing very special about any of the three golf courses.

Only the most naïve still believe that the course is the most important factor when staging major tournaments. It's important, of course, but there are so many other factors involved, all financially based, that it seems to be somewhere down the order of precedence.