Celtic Manor Hotel & Country Club

The 2010 Course

I played the 2010 Ryder Cup course for the ISPSHanda sponsors day, as i'm a disabled golfer. The course is amazing. The greens are fast, just like putting on glass, and the fairways are like the greens at my local club, there is a lot of water there, so take care. Considering all the bad weather Wales have had, the green keepers have done really well. The clubhouse as you can imagine is posh and the locker rooms are fab, even have the Ryder cup players names still on them. This is the best course i have ever played on, if you can afford it then you have to go for it.

  

Fantastic course

a parkland course very hilly and some long walks between holes unless you are super fit take a buggy, that said it was a great experience to play such a course both fairways and greens were perfect deep deep bunkers around some of the greens so unless you bunker play is good steer, clear

  

The Montgomerie......

Having played the Roman Road Course the day before and been disappointed this was much more what I was expecting from Celtic Manor! The first two holes are fairly benign but then you hit the 3rd - what a hole! Following your drive, you will be faced with a 100ft drop through pines trees to the green and when you get there you have a fantastic view of The 2010 course. The next few holes are a great test of accuracy and skill and the course continues to impress. Despite being very up and down (you'll feel it the next day) and wet for 15 out of 18 holes I still enjoyed playing this course and would recommend visiting for the veiws alone. All in all, a great course and one I would like to play again in better weather!

  

Roman Road.......

I guess I should start by saying that Celtic Manor is without doubt a fantastic complex but despite this, I cant say I was overly impressed by the Roman Road course! The course was extremely wet on the day we played but given the amount of cash that must be available to the greens keepers I was very disappointed this had not been addressed...on top of this, there was only one hole that particularly stood out - the 10th. Accommodation was very good (we stayed at The Manor) and all the staff were friendly but watch out for bar and food prices. If youre on a budget theres a great curry house close by called Taraka that did us proud! As for a return visit...hmmmm...I cant say I would rush back!


  

ROMAN ROAD - UP & DOWN!

Played the Roman Road course for the second time yesterday. For a modern track it is very challenging as one might expect from a course that has hosted PGA Tour events. Most of the holes have some interest, whether it be change in elevation, change in direction, plentiful bunkering, undulating green, or a combination of these features. It is quite a tough walk uphill and downdale and there are some long distances from green to next tee. Fairways and greens were in excellent condition but the tees were surprisingly bare and scrappy. We paid £17.50 on a 241 deal which was excellent value.

  

Celtic Manor (Roman Road course)

We played this with a 2 for 1 offer £17.50. This is my first visit to Celtic Manor. my first impression was WOW! The grand hotel on the hill, The drive through the course & the very nice club house. There are 3 courses here, we played the Roman Road. It was easily one of the toughest courses I have played, made more difficult by un-raked animal scrapings in a couple of bunkers that I visited! Each hole seemed to have it's own personality & different challenge. The greens are all up, down & around (Nothing flat) The most memorable holes for me (although I messed them up) were the down hill 7th & the 10th which was a 200yd lay up & then a 180yds across a ravine on to a very undulating green.

This course has far too many bunkers for my liking (i visited most of them!) But it is one of those that you really want to play again to improve your score (Local knowledge is a BIG advantage).

By the way, you might need a mortgage to buy a coffe at the bar £2.90.

  

What a weekend

We played the montgomery on the sunday with was a very nice course but i would reccommend a buggy as it is very tiring to walk.As we found out i was absolutly shattered But the parkland course is a decent test for any golfer.On the monday we played the 2010 now talk about being treated like gold,Whe we arrived our clubs were taken from us and we didnt see them again till the first tee.We were then shown to the changing room where there is a locker with your name on it and a welcome letter and complimentary shoe bag in side.Although tne course was a bit frozen it played very well and is a very worthy ryder cup venue.the front 9 holes are on the level as are the holes 10 to 14.The rest climb up a steep hill until it levels out at the top.There are several feature holes and plenty of risk and reward holes to play.The 18th par 5 is an excellent finishing hole.Then back to the clubhouse where your clubs are taken from you and returned to you having been cleaned after your round,How cool is that,In the mean time you have showered and changed and had a nice drink and nibbles around a roaring log fire.All in all i think this 2010 course is a must play if you want that feel special feeling.I cant wait to play it in the summer