Manor made for classic matchplay

GOLF: Philip Reidtalks to some key figures behind the successful redesign of a course specifically designed with the biennial competition in mind

AS YOU swing in off what is effectively a country lane marshalled on either side by clipped hedges, the first glimpse of the Twenty Ten Course down below is quintessentially Welsh. You can’t help but peer at this patchwork quilt of a course which has evolved deep in the valleys – some holes old, many of them new – and realise that quiet money talks really loudly. Terry Matthews, whose financial clout and vision brought the Ryder Cup to Celtic Manor, has won before a shot has been hit in anger.

For sure, this terrain – which once upon a time was occupied by Roman legions – has been transformed, making it fit to play host to the biennial shindig.

In looking back on his decision to bid for golf’s showcase team event, Matthews explained: “Persistence is the single most important pathway to success,” before adding: “But very close to that, you have to get your timing right and know when to act. It took 20 years of chipping away and learning about the people involved and the decision-making process.

“I think the European Tour and the PGA did a very professional job as they moved towards making the choice of Ryder Cup venue a tender-type process. When they eventually did, I thought, ‘this is it, this is our chance’. All we had to do then was put in the best bid. So we did.”

In fact, the Welsh bid – which was given preference over that of then-favourites Scotland – was awarded for its attention to detail and financial backing. “From scratch, we built a facility and a course for the Ryder Cup. Who else has ever done that?” asked Matthews, who was aware that the existing Wentwood Hills course and its lung-splitting climbs was not conducive to playing host to an event such as the Ryder Cup.

So it was that the Wales bid proposed creating a new course – the Twenty Ten Course – which took in a number of the Wentwood Hills holes (designed by Robert Trent Jones Jnr) while creating new holes, with Ross McMurray of European Golf Design brought in to bring his creativity to the new layout. That process began in 1999 and didn’t finish until mid-2007 when the course that this week becomes the centre of the golfing world was officially opened.

McMurray knew he could not design a course for golf’s sake, that it had to take account of the huge travelling circus that accompanies the Ryder Cup.

“We looked at a lot of land parcels and options and eventually, after many different routing studies, came up with a scheme whereby nine new holes would be designed to fit in with nine retained holes (from Wentwood Hills),” recalled McMurray, who added: “The Twenty Ten Course wasn’t to be just a tournament course, it was a course for the Ryder Cup which brings a lot of different factors into the equation. Issues like locations for corporate hospitality, space for tented villages and media centres and spectator viewing became far more important. We were able to route the last three holes along the edge of a hillside, which allowed us to create huge viewing areas on the high side of these golf holes.”

Indeed, McMurray points to the siting of the first tee as a case in point in how other matters impacted on his choice of design. “I looked at positioning the first tee complex at the bottom of the hill, across the road, but in discussion with the Ryder Cup staging department, I realised that this would effectively cut off the tented village from one of the main access points, so I pushed the tees right over to the river and made it a right-to-left dogleg instead of a left-to-right.”

McMurray’s design concept was to “introduce plenty of variety in the way holes can be set up and played”. For instance, the fifth hole can be played at about 450 yards from the back tee or it can be made into a dramatic short par four where you have the opportunity to drive across the water. As he put it, “many holes offer gambling opportunities, I think it is a classic matchplay course”.

However, given that nine holes bore the hallmark of Trent Jones, there was a limitation on what McMurray could bring to the course’s evolvement. “If you are retaining holes from an existing course, you don’t have carte blanche to do whatever you want with the new holes. I couldn’t go crazy with the design of the new greens, for instance. It was important to ensure that the character of the new holes tied in to the retained holes without a noticeable clash of design styles.”

One area McMurray did change, though, was in toughening up some of the bunkering on the retained holes from the Wentwood Hills. “I was adamant they needed to be more penal. The bunkers on the new holes were made deeper and we rolled the grass down the faces further, partially to soften their visual impact on the landscape.”

Of course, Europe’s captain Colin Montgomerie has also had a say in how it is set up for the match. Monty proposed that a new back tee be installed on the 12th and that the green surrounds on the 11th be reshaped in order to toughen up pin positions on what is a short par five.

On the 11th, on Monty’s suggestion, a swale was scooped out to the left of the green to increase the chance of shots misdirected that way finding the lake or leaving a trickier tight lie. “It’s made the green a much narrower target, as it should be for a reachable par five and will leave players with their hearts in their mouths if they pull their approach shots,” said Jim McKenzie, the director of golf courses at Celtic Manor.

With so much requirements placed on the finished project, McMurray conceded: “In terms of design, and even though we were building only nine holes, it was probably the most complicated project I have worked on and required a huge number of design revisions even during construction. Probably the biggest difficulty we had to overcome was the archaeology. While we had a good idea where the most sensitive historic areas were (parts of the site were designated as scheduled ancient monument), it wasn’t until the archaeologists had carried out their geographical tests backed up by excavations that we realised the full impact.”

Add to that another major issue in the handling of natural drainage into the valley and potential flooding from the River Usk and you get an idea of the challenge faced by McMurray and his team. “We solved some of these by taking all the excavated material from the 16th, 17th and 18th (holes) – about half a million cubic metres – and using it to build an earth bund along the river and to raise the flat valley floor.”

So, can all of this assist Montgomerie’s men in their attempts to regain the trophy? “I do believe we have an advantage with the course and home advantage. I believe the course will suit us, with the home crowd, a home venue, and I honestly believe that will give Europe the edge,” said Pádraig Harrington.

Graeme McDowell, winner of the Wales Open here in June, has a similar view. “Playing in front of the home fans this time round, it’s going to be great.”