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.

Ken Schofield, the European Tour's chief executive, was honest in explaining just what happened.

"The PGA and the European Tour, quite frankly, does have to lean on its strongest financial supporters, the Michael Smurfits at The K-Club, the Terry Matthews in terms of Celtic Manor, De Vere in terms of The Belfry, the Lyle Andersons at Loch Lomond, the Diagios at Gleneagles. Schofield readily admitted.

"When you ask if there are conditions, the answer is yes. We do go to venues like Valderrama and The K-Club when many people feel it would be better to go to El Saler or Portmarnock, or indeed to Porthcawl in Wales or a Carnoustie or Turnberry in Scotland and there are very strong golfing reasons for these.

"We understand the disappointment of many of the constituents and indeed many of the players who would have much preferred to play Irish Opens at Portmarnock and the 2006 Ryder Cup match at Portmarnock and not at Druids Glen, Mount Juliet or, as it became, The K-Club.

"But there are many aspects which go into the decision making and the consistency of support by our venue owners and by our traditional sponsors is uppermost in our minds."

Celtic Manor's Wentwood Hills course was designed by Robert Trent Jones Junior and the one on which Ireland's Paul McGinley captured the title in last year's weather spoiled tournament.

You won't be surprised to learn that Jones has described it as: "A true championship course that combines a hilly landscape with the more traditional links-like features of an estuary. There's great variety here."

It's interesting how golf course designers invariably cling to the word "links" in the hope that it will lend additional cachet to their creations. Having played Celtic Manor on a couple of occasions, I can't visualise any similarity there might be between the Wentwood Hills lay-out and, say, Porthcawl on the British Channel or any of the other great links in these islands.

To be fair, Seve Ballesteros remember him? said of Wentwood Hills: "It is a fantastic course in a fabulous location and one of the most beautiful I have played on."

True, there are some outstanding views from the second green and third tee but it would take a lot of convincing that this is a course as good as suggested by, among others, Ballesteros and Jones.

Anyway, if it was that good, they'd hardly be digging half of the holes up and rebuilding them completely! That's one of the chief reasons why handing the Ryder Cup to Celtic Manor was so severely criticised although given that the match is still eight years away, such comments hardly live up to the closest examination. Modern agronomists and machinery can do an awful lot in that space of time although it would be nice to know in advance how it's all going to work out!

If money is of the essence to ensure the complete success of the project, then there's no problem.

Terry Matthews, the proud owner of Celtic Manor, has a bottomless pit as a result of his engineering exploits in Canada and has already poured tens of millions into developing a state of the art facility on the land where he grew up.

He'll be in the middle of all the fun this week and it's more than his natural sunny disposition that convinces him that Celtic Manor will easily cope with the many challenges that lie ahead. It's a view shared by Ken Schofield.

"The extra year will give them a little bit longer but any concerns that they would be ready for 2009 were dispelled when the final approval for full planning came through so that they can certainly build the new holes and complete the clubhouse in good time," he insists.

"We are in conversation with Celtic Manor about the new course and I understand they will be starting as soon as possible on the rebuild. There will now be a Wales Open until at least 2010. The tournament activity we have seen in Wales this year, with Seniors, Ladies, Wales Open etc, will be committed and supported through that period. That is a requirement of the Ryder Cup going to Wales and in Scotland until they stage the match in 2014."

For now, of course, all the concentration in South Wales this week is on their own national championship, the one that more or less clinched Paul McGinley's Ryder Cup place last year when he came through a five hole play-off against Daren Lee of England after the tournament was cut to 36 holes by atrocious weather conditions. Having endured a miserable time of it throughout May, June and July, the Sunningdale-based Dubliner will be hoping that the tournament can again provide him with a big boost

Darren Clarke took a fortnight off after the Open at Muirfield and will also be expecting a big tournament in the build-up to the US PGA in Minnesota next week. Padraig Harrington, however, misses out again as he pursues his policy of taking five two week breaks in the course of the season.

And, of course, Graeme McDowell, after his remarkable exploits at the week-end, will also be there and very much the focus of attention.