Special Places - Celtic Manor

Jim Furyk overcame foul weather and the other 29 hopefuls at East Lake to walk away with both the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup. In piping England’s Luke Donald and South Africa’s Retief Goosen to the titles, Furyk pocketed $1.35 million in addition to the $10 million prize for the season-long FedEx competition. His victory will give him sky-high confidence and belief for the rigours of the Ryder Cup starting on Friday. The Ryder Cup is the third biggest sporting event after the Olympics and the World Cup. The biennial competition will be held in Wales for the first time, with the Celtic Manor Resort playing host.

Celtic Manor is in the Usk Valley in South Wales and boasts a 360 room hotel and three championship golf courses in the 600 hectare complex. The resort is the brainchild of Welsh telecommunications billionaire Sir Terence Matthews who purchased the 19th century Manor House and grounds in 1980 with a vision of turning the picturesque location into a convention centre and leisure facility. Celtic Manor has hosted three Wales Open championships on its Roman Road course, but the Ryder Cup will be played on the Twenty Ten Course which has been specially built for the event.

The Twenty Ten Course is a hybrid creation, featuring nine holes remodelled from the former Wentwood Hills course and nine new holes laid out along the Usk Valley floor. Opened in 2007, the 6800 metre long course plays to a par of 71 and hosted the Wales Open in June this year as a tune-up for the Ryder Cup. Water comes into play on nine of the holes, mostly in the middle of the round where the layout meanders between lakes. The course will present a variety of challenges including a few links-style holes and a driveable par 4. The setting is very spectator friendly, and the three tough closing holes will be played under the watchful gaze of crowds perched on specially constructed viewing platforms

With the likes of Padraig Harrington, Luke Donald and Graeme McDowell coming into peak form, the Europeans appear to have the edge, especially as the unpredictable Welsh weather and the course will probably not be to the US golfers’ liking. However, any team with Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, the top two ranked players in the world, can’t be taken lightly.