pack your clubs n south wales
pack your clubs n south wales
Peter Ellegard
n 3rd hole on Celtic Manor's Twenty Ten Course
n Roman fortress at Caerleon
off course attractions
Enter the
dragon
Visit Wales Visit Wales
lmost two years ago the golfing world was held spellbound when Europe’s heroes took on the might of the USA at Celtic Manor and snatched the Ryder Cup from their grasp. The duel produced many memorable moments and a nail-biting climax on the first-ever Monday final day, yet perhaps the enduring vision is of the torrential rain and ensuing mudfest which took it into the extra day. That’s a shame, because Celtic Manor’s Twenty Ten Golf Course not only provided the perfect stage for the clash, but it should have also been a showcase for the wonderful golf available throughout South Wales. I was lucky enough to have been there on “Magic Monday” – albeit in a wheelchair after a knee operation a few days earlier – and when I bumped into a senior official from Visit Wales, the country’s tourist office, he quipped that they might take out full-page adverts in the national papers proclaiming “It pours, we reign”. They didn’t, but the rain association remained, even though the final day was played in glorious sunshine. A frequent golfing visitor to the region in recent years, and in all seasons, I have to say the weather gods have always smiled on me there – even if those watching over my golf haven’t. Named European Golf Resort of the Year for 2011 in the golf industry’s prestigious IAGTO Awards, Celtic Manor is one of my favourite places to stay and play golf.
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The first view of the Newport resort’s luxury, 330-room hotel from the M4 shortly after crossing the Severn Bridge may be more akin to Colditz, but the welcome is as warm as you get in the hillsides of the former mining valleys this part of Wales is also famous for. The impressive carved dragons that wind broodily around the lobby’s huge pillars leave no doubt as to where you are, either.
imposing clubhouse The golf is also impressive. The Twenty Ten Course was created for the Ryder Cup, with several new holes blended with existing ones taken from other courses. The resulting course meanders through the pretty Usk Valley, running alongside the snaking river at one point, before traversing a hillside to culminate on the grandstand 18th green, beyond a lake and below the imposing clubhouse. Celtic Manor’s other courses – the Robert Trent Jones Sr-designed Roman Road Course and the Montgomerie Course, designed by victorious Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie – are every bit as enjoyable to play and have their own clubhouse. Golfers keen on improving, even in the rain, have an all-weather, short game practice area, indoor putting green and covered driving range, while a new Adventure Golf Course emulates some of golf’s most famous holes in miniature for all the family. Besides its courses and main hotel, Celtic Manor’s 1,400 acres also encompass the 19th century Manor
Summer 2012
House hotel, two spas, two health clubs, fishing, a shooting school, tennis, mountain biking, walking trails and a Treetop Adventure featuring high and low rope wire walkways and bridges. South Wales has other golf resorts boasting excellent courses for golfers who like to combine a stay with playing on their doorstep. St Pierre, A Marriott Hotel & Country Club offers two golf courses as part of a resort spanning 400 acres of rolling parkland with a converted 14th century manor house at its heart. Standout course is the 7,000-yard Old Course; it opened in 1962 and has hosted 14 European Tour events including the Dunlop Masters as well as the Curtis Cup and Solheim Cup. The par-3 18th hole, which has a lake and a green directly in front of the resort, makes for a stirring finish. The par 68 Mathern Course, which measures 5,730 yards, was remodelled in 2008 by European Golf Design.
“The breadth of golf matches the region’s scenic and topographic diversity”
diversity Just six miles from Cardiff city centre, the Vale Resort has a 143-room hotel, spa and two championship golf courses set in 650 acres of parkland. Like Celtic Manor, it is a Ryder Cup Wales Centre of Excellence – one of just five in Wales. The Lake Course has staged a number of PGA professional championships and is dominated by a 20-acre lake, with water coming into play on 12 holes and its signature hole, the 12th, on an island green. The 8th hole overlooks the largest heronry in Wales. Its sibling, the par 73 Wales National, opened in 2003 and is one of the
Summer 2012
Peter Ellegard
The 2010 Ryder Cup put southern Wales in the global spotlight like never before. Yet the weather and high drama it produced overshadowed the quality of golf this land of dragons and castles has to offer, as Peter Ellegard reports
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Vale Resort’s long Wales National Course
n Caerphilly is one of several castles in South Wales
VisitBritain/Britain on View
n Celtic Manor Resort – Twenty Ten Course and River Usk
South Wales has plenty to do away from the fairways but still within easy reach. Nature lovers can take walks in the woods through the forested Wye Valley, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, or explore the wilds of the Brecon Beacons National Park (www.breconbeacons.org), taking a side trip on the Brecon Mountain Railway (www.breconmountainrailway.co.uk). You can also take in the splendour of the cliffs along the Glamorgan Heritage Coast (www.glamorganheritagecoast.com) or venture further west for the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park (www.pcnpa.org.uk). Reminders of the South Wales valleys’ industrial heritage live on with Pontypridd’s Rhondda Heritage Park (www.rhonddaheritagepark.com) and the impressive Big Pit National Coal Museum (www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/bigpit) in the Blaenavon World Heritage Site, where you can take an underground tour of the former coalmine. Go back in time to discover the remains of the Roman fortress and amphitheatre in Caerleon (www.caerleon.net), close to Celtic Manor. South Wales also has a number of castles to visit, including Caerphilly (www.caerphillycastle.com), one of the largest in the UK, and the ornate Gothic fantasy of Cardiff Castle (www.cardiffcastle.com). Cardiff also has a host of other attractions, entertainment and nightlife.
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pack your clubs n south wales
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longest courses outside America at 7,433 yards. A European Tour tournament course, it is a true test of golf with mature trees and water features that is as striking in winter as in summer. Bryn Meadows is 20 minutes from the centre of Cardiff and features a tree-lined, par 71 parkland course with an on-site, 42-room boutique hotel, a spa and leisure facilities. With everything from historic links to heathland and parkland course, the breadth of golf in South Wales matches the region’s scenic and topographic diversity, which incorporates such delights as the high cliffs of the Glamorgan Heritage Coast, the forested Wye Valley and the Brecon Beacons as well as the once-industrialised valleys. Venerable Royal Porthcawl enjoys a magnificent setting right on the Rest Bay seashore between Cardiff and Swansea and is rated one of the UK’s top links courses. But mind its cavernous pot bunkers; once they snare errant balls they often hold them to ransom.
n Watch out for Royal Porthcawl's deep pot bunkers
south wales golf facts
Another two noteworthy coastal veterans are Southerndown, a links-style downland course with stunning vistas over sea and countryside and where grazing sheep form mobile hazards, and Pyle & Kenfig, a traditional links course originally designed by Harry Colt and remodelled amidst dunes by Mackenzie Ross after much of the course had been requisitioned in World War II. The south-western corner of Wales has more golfing delights, including Tenby Golf Club, a classic links layout set in dunes behind a sweeping arc of beach and said to be the oldest club in Wales, plus another classic links in the shape of Ashburnham and the first Nicklaus Design course in Wales, Machynys Peninsula Golf & Country Club, both near Llanelli. Cardiff alone has 18 courses in and around it, with Swansea having over a dozen and Newport having several besides Celtic Manor, among them St Mellons. You can also enjoy golf on high inland; Morlais Castle and centenarian West Monmouthshire – Britain’s highest golf course, with its 14th tee 1,500 above sea level – both offer views across the Brecon Beacons. Or motor on down to the Rolls of Monmouth course, set within the 600-acre Rolls Estate in the Wye Valley, former home of Charles Stuart Rolls, co-founder of Rolls-Royce. The mansion’s one-time workshop is now the golf course clubhouse. Play there, or indeed anywhere in South Wales, and you will be positively purring.
when to go
getting there Courses around Newport can be reached via the M4 in two hours from London.
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Celtic Manor Resort
packages and information The Greens of Southern Wales (0870 600 6088; www.greensofsouthernwales.com) has details of golf courses in the region as well as accommodation and packages information. Themed packages include golf and spa breaks.
Celtic Manor: www.celtic-manor.com Vale Resort: www.vale-hotel.com St Pierre, A Marriott Hotel & Country Club: www.marriott.co.uk Bryn Meadows Golf, Hotel & Spa: www.brynmeadows.com
other golf courses Royal Porthcawl Golf Club: www.royalporthcawl.com Southerndown Golf Course: www.southerndowngolfclub.co.uk Cottrell Park Golf Resort: www.golfwithus.com Pyle & Kenfig: www.pandkgolfclub.co.uk West Monmouthshire Golf Club: www.westmongolfclub.co.uk
other accommodation
n St Pierre’s historic manor
Llansanffraed Court Hotel, near Abergavenny: www.llch.co.uk Radisson Blu, Cardiff: www.radissonblu.co.uk/cardiff Celtic Haven, Saundersfoot: www.celtichaven.co.uk
Summer 2012
n Lee Westwood in action
you can customise your own individual Druh Belt to ensure that you look smart on the course and casual off it. Available online at www.druhbeltsandbuckles.com, Druh belts retail from £125 for snakeskin and £79 for leather. l For your chance to WIN a white or black Player’s Collection belt from Druh Belts, worth £79, go to www.tlm-magazine.co.uk and click on Competitions. Terms and conditions apply. Closing date September 15, 2012. n Win a Druh Belt
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golf resorts
Marriott Hotels & Resorts.
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Play all year, but be prepared for changeable conditions. Inland courses may get occasional snow in winter.
Visit Wales
Mind the sheep at Southerndown
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ans watching recent golf tournaments may have noticed a fashion link between three of Europe’s top stars. England’s Lee Westwood, Irishman Paul McGinley and Dane Thomas Bjorn are among the golfing elite to sport the latest in stylish belts and buckles. All three are brand ambassadors for Druh Belts and Buckles and wear the company’s distinctive “db” buckles that combine classic yet fun designs when they compete. There are 15 leathers in different embossed styles, from crocodile to ostrich effect, as well as 10 water snakeskins to choose from that come in traditional blacks and browns but also in unusual pastels and metallics from turquoise to hot pink. The stylish belts are matched with the recognisable logo buckles made of brushed nickel, polished silver or gold, while others feature diamante and enamel infills. The buckles are interchangeable, allowing numerous combinations so
New, year-round weekly flights to Turkey’s Antalya from Stansted Airport are a boon for golfers heading to the nearby resort of Belek, with its 14 golf courses. Atlasjet carries golf clubs free of charge, with no need to pre-book, while passengers also get an extra 20kg hold and 8kg hand luggage allowance. EkonomiPlus fares on the Saturday flights start from £88. Book online at www.atlasjet.com.
n Cornelia Golf Club, Belek
Skibo Castle’s private Carnegie Club has opened its golf course to non-resident golfers for the first time since it became private in 2007. Limited public tee times are available on special request for its championship Carnegie Links course, located near Dornoch in north-east Scotland, for play until October. This exclusive golfing experience costs £300 per head, including lunch. To book, call the pro shop on 01862 894 660 or send an email to teetimes@carnegieclub.co.uk.
Summer 2012
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