Course Review - Celtic Manor Resort & The Royal Swazi Golf Club

After Luke Donald returned to the top of the world rankings by retaining the BMW PGA Championship near London, the European Tour caravan moves 120kms to the west for the ISPS Handa Wales Open at the Celtic Manor Resort. The venue was uniquely purpose built to host the 2010 Ryder Cup with no expense spared by Welsh communications billionaire Sir Terence Matthews at his 600 hectare complex in the Usk Valley, near Newport, South Wales.

The course is called The Twenty Ten to commemorate the Ryder Cup, and was designed by Ross McMurray of European Golf Design, a joint venture established in 1992 by the European Tour and global sports and media giant IMG. McMurray's credits include Dubai Creek, Carton House in Ireland and Riffa Views in Bahrain. The Twenty Ten course was created from nine remodelled holes of the defunct Wentwood Hills layout together with nine totally new holes along the valley floor. This hybrid design is 6750 metres long with a par of 71 and incorporates links and parkland style holes, providing a variety of challenges and classic risk and reward dilemmas.

The signature hole is the 14th, a par 4 with lakes on both sides of the fairway and water left of the long undulating green. An already spectator friendly design is further enhanced by the amphitheatre style setting for the tough three-hole finishing stretch.

The Sunshine Tour visits the Royal Swazi Golf Club for the second time in a month for the Lombard Insurance Classic. Opened for play in 1968 and later revamped by Pete Matkovich, this beautiful 6166m par 72 parkland layout nestles against the slopes of the Lubombo Mountain Range.

The front nine is relatively level whilst the home holes take full advantage of the contours of the mountainous terrain running down to the Ezulwini Valley. Kikuyu fairways and Durban Country Club greens are framed by lakes, indigenous trees and gullies thick with vegetation. A scenic highlight is the panoramic view after the climb up Thrombosis Hill from the 10th green to the 11th tee.

On the US PGA Tour, after a hiccup on the final hole Zack Johnson won at Colonial in Texas for the second time in three years. The next stop is the house that Jack built, Jack Nicklaus' masterpiece at Muirfield Village, in Dublin, Ohio.

A Golf Weather.com
Editorial