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Best-kept secret of British golf destinations.

Celtic Manor's 2010 Course, current host venue for the Wales Open,
and eponymous host course for 2010 Ryder Cup.
Photos courtesy Celtic Manor Golf Resort.

Celtic Manor Resort
Coldra Woods, Usk Valley
Newport, Gwent NP18 1HQ
South Wales, UK
TEL: +44 (0)1633 413 000
EMAIL: bookings@celtic-manor.com
WEB SITE: CELTIC MANOR GOLF RESORT

        Golf in the British Isles is no longer played just on the scrubby, windy edges of Britain and Ireland on courses as wild, shaggy, and contrary as ponies in the Shetlands. The major trend in golf course development and design in Britain and Ireland is as much inland as coastal, with the construction of more upscale resorts than of friendly, local courses with  honesty boxes at the first tee and one employee, the barman.
          The word is widespread in America: Scotland has KINGSBARNS, ST. ANDREWS BAY, and Gleneagles, and Ireland OLD HEAD OF KINSALE, DOONBEG, and the K-Club, with others gaining international reputations and more on the way. And in WALES, the hidden gem of

Celtic Manor Resort

golf destinations in the British Isles, there
is Celtic Manor.

BETTING ON LOCATION
        Celtic Manor is a golf-based resort built around three golf courses, including one designed by the legendary Robert Trent Jones Sr., and one by Scottish pro Colin Montgomerie. Significantly for Americans, the courses are set not on the coast, but are nestled among the hills and valleys of South Wales very near the border with England, within convenient reach of London and London’s airports. The resort’s location has proven to be a popular one, and the facility has called new attention to Wales as a golf destination. The naming of Celtic Manor as the venue for the 2010 Ryder Cup and the perennial home of European PGA’s Wales Open are important feathers in the resort’s war bonnet.

Long, undulating holes with plenty of
water and woodland characterize
the challenge at Celtic Manor's 2010
Course. Shown is the 14th hole at 2010.

GAMBLING ON THE RYDER CUP
          The 2010 Course — the latest attempt at a super layout in the short, transformational history of Celtic Manor — is the first course in Britain designed for a specific event: as host venue for the 2010 Ryder Cup. Critics argue that the resort risked too much on a one-shot event. Meanwhile, Celtic Manor has become the steady date for the increasingly prestigious Wales Open. Can Celtic Manor parlay hosting the 2010 Ryder Cup into establishing itself as a world-class golf resort? There was lots more than

national pride at stake at the 2010 Ryder Cup.
          With a large luxury hotel and convention center, 4 restaurants, 2 health clubs, and 3 golf courses, it is clear Celtic Manor is targeting the corporate trade. And why not? Wales has become a notable British success story for its aggressive economic development over the last three decades, successfully attracting several major international companies (Toyota, Rolls Royce, Sony, and others). Celtic Manor Resort both exploits and contributes to the new image of Wales as a progressive, beautiful and well-to-do corner of Britain and no longer a bleak land of played out mines left over

from the early Industrial Revolution.
          But for us the golf’s the thing. And the golf isn’t always better where the big money is being spent, especially when golf is just one of several reasons to come to a resort. Because Celtic Manor is interested in bringing in golfers of all levels of skill and interest, it needed three courses spread over its 1,400 acres of parkland. Here, they hope, is a great day out (or week out) for beginners or scratch players alike at the Ryder Cup, Roman Road and Montgomerie courses.
 

The long (609 yards!), sweeping, downhill
fairway of the par-5 3rd hole at the
Montgomerie Course at Celtic Manor.

CELTIC MANOR'S SHORT BUT INTENSE HISTORY
          Celtic Manor has moved fast and often during its short and notable history. When its first 18 holes, the Roman Road Course, opened in 1995, Celtic Manor became the first Wales entry in the international golf-resort phenomenon. Soon Celtic Manor’s second championship parkland course, the Wentwood Hills opened, joining Roman Road and an “academy” (shorter, easier) 18-hole Coldra Woods course. Wentwood Hills became the flagship course at Celtic Manor, and hosted the resort’s first Wales Open (and the first European Tour tournament in Wales since 1991) in 2000. Wentwood Hills became the Wales Open venue for five years through 2004 before handing off the

The peaceful appearance of the green of
the 437-yard-long, par-4, 5th hole of Celtic
Manor's championship Roman Road Course
at sunset belies its status as the
toughest hole on the course.

tournament to the Robert Trent Jones Sr. reworked Roman Road Course (6,515-yards, par-70, SSS-72; golf carts okay), which has hosted the increasingly important (read: richer purse) tournament over the cusp of May-June annually since 2004. In the interim, Coldra Woods and the Wentwood Hills courses have disappeared and a Colin Montgomerie-designed championship course (the 6,294-yards, par-69, SSS-71 Montgomerie Course; golf carts okay) and the new flagship 2010 Course (7,493-yards-championship, par-71, SSS-77; no golf carts) have been born, both reincarnating pieces of Coldra Woods and Wentworth Hills.

STAYING THE COURSE
          As Celtic Manor has reworked its golf courses it has reworked its resort facilities, endeavoring to use its close-to-the-English-border location as a draw of convenience to well-heeled English and international guests looking for a first-class rural resort within easy reach of London and its airports. (The Roman Road Course portion of Celtic Manor’s web site drops names of the rich and famous who have played there — Alice Cooper, Meat Loaf, Catherine Zeta Jones — but overlooks listing the course’s length and par.) Emphasizing its evolution as a resort means Celtic Manor no longer offers straight guest golf. Instead, only golf packages are offered, most requiring stays at Celtic Manor’s elaborate hotel lodge. There are a

The Wales Open is a fixture at
Celtic Manor, having been played on
3 different courses at the resort.
Photo courtesy Wales Open Golf.

couple minimal packages, however, that offer a round of golf without requiring overnighting at the resort:

1. The Montgomerie/Roman Road Golf
     Season Package
    • One round of golf on the Roman Road
       Course or Montgomerie Course.
    • Breakfast bap (sandwich or wrap) with
       tea/coffee before the round.
    • A soft drink, glass of wine, or pint of beer in
       The Lodge following a round of golf.
    • Available Mondays-Thursdays only.
    • £50/prs. April & August.
    • £60/prs. May-July and September.
    • Cart rental (buggy hire) extra.
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2. The Twenty-Ten Experience
    • One round of golf on the 2010 Course.
    • Table d’hτte (set menu) dinner in the
       2010 clubhouse following the round.
    • £90/prs. November—March.
    • £120/prs. April, August, and October.
    • £150/prs. May—July, and September.
    • No carts (buggies) permitted on the
       2010 Course.

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        The 2010 Ryder Cup course replaced the Wentwood Hills course which itself only opened in May, 1999. Portions of the course were designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr. The course is a long (7,493 yards), championship caliber course that takes advantage of the site’s natural hill and water setting of the Severn River estuary.
-

The 211-yard, par-3 17th
at Celtic Manor's 2010 Course.

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          The Roman Road Course opened in 1995 — the first course at Celtic Manor — and is used for players of all levels. The Robert Trent Jones, Sr., course may be a little more forgiving than the 2010 Ryder Cup course: it’s shorter, with less water and generous fairways and greens, but is still ranked among the best inland courses in Wales. The course is named after the 2000-year-old of road that cuts across the fairways to the nearby Roman town of Caerleon.
        In 1997, £300,000 was invested in under-soil drainage. Roman Road Course has around 15 miles of perforated pipes laid under the fairways to take water away and provide superb conditions all year round.
-

Trees and water also define the
Roman Road Course at Celtic Manor.

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        Scotland's top touring pro Colin Montgomerie has redesigned Celtic Manor's Par-59 Coldra Woods executive course combining its best holes with several holes from the former championship Wentwood Hills course and making a short, but testing Par-69. The Romans participated in the design of the Montgomerie course, too: several holes pass the site of a Roman camp, hugging steep hillsides below the Roman Road course. Like its longer neighbors at Celtic Manor, the Montgomerie Course follows natural contours through a wooded valley and crosses a small lake.
-

Colin Montgomerie added elements of
links golf — witness the pot bunker
ON the 3rd hole of his eponymous
Montgomerie Course at Celtic Manor.

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FACILITIES:
     • Pull Trolley - yes
     • Motorized Riding Buggy – yes
     • Golf Club Rental – yes
     • Restaurant (advance booking of meals
        recommended for visitors)
     • Bars
     • Clubhouse
     • Lodge
     • Pro Shop

VISITORS: Welcomed by prior booking.

RESERVATIONS: pre-booking required.
 

Celtic Manor CLUBHOUSE

PLACING RESERVATIONS:
     • Tel: +44 (0)1633 413 000
     • Email: bookings@celtic-manor.com
     • via the club’s web site: http://www.celtic-manor.com/golf.aspx
     • Or, let HOME AT FIRST pre-reserve your golf tee-times at Celtic Manor Resort as
        part of your Mid-Wales vacation package. HOME AT FIRST adds no booking charge
        for this service.

LOCATION: Celtic Manor Golf Resort is approximately 60-90 minutes south-southeast of HOME AT FIRST’s Mid-Wales lodgings near Abergavenny, Brecon, and Hay-on-Wye.

DIRECTIONS FROM MID-WALES: Take the A40 through Abergavenny to Raglan, then the A449 south to Junction 24 of the M4 motorway just east of Newport. At the Junction 24 roundabout (do not get on the M4), take the B4237 towards Newport. You will see a large Celtic Manor sign after 100 meters. Turn right. You will drive across an overpass (crossing over the M4) and then hit a fork in the road (goes left and right). Follow signs to the Celtic Manor Resort clubhouse.

OTHER NEARBY GOLF CLUBS:
     • MONMOUNTHSHIRE GOLF CLUB, Abergavenny.

OTHER ACTIVITIES IN THE REGION: Wonderful walking and cycling, superb scenery and great history (including several important castles and churches) are found in the Brecon Beacons, the Wye and Usk River Valleys, and the Severn Estuary.

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Want to learn about other courses throughout the British Isles
including some of the greatest tests of golf in the world? See our
SCOTLAND, IRELAND, ENGLAND, and WALES
Course Guides for more information.
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