Ryder Cup 2010 – One Year On

It’s hard to believe that a year has gone by since The Celtic Manor Resort hosted Wales’s first Ryder Cup. Can it really be that long since Graeme McDowell sank the putt that clinched Europe’s dramatic one-point victory over the USA? It seems like only yesterday, but the calendar says otherwise.

Despite the weather doing its best to spoil the party, that nail-biting finish on the final sunny day indelibly etched the 2010 competition into the Ryder Cup history books. It also placed Wales firmly on the global golfing map. While us natives were already well aware of the country’s strengths as a golfing destination, the Ryder Cup’s worldwide exposure did a fantastic job of spreading the word. An estimated two billion people watched the competition on television, and it’s likely that quite a few of them planned a Welsh golfing holiday as a result.

Anniversary Challenge

To mark one year on from the 2010 competition, The Celtic Manor Resort is hosting the Ryder Cup Anniversary Challenge on 3 October. The special event allows players to relive the excitement of last year’s Cup with a Europe versus US fourball better ball game on the Twenty Ten course. Making the experience incredibly authentic, they’ll be playing from the exact same pin positions used 12 months ago.

Not only that, but the players will also be getting ready at lockers previously used by the world’s greatest golfers, with the winning teams popping champagne corks on the balcony of the Twenty Ten Clubhouse, just as the victorious European team did last year.

The anniversary also gives us a great opportunity to look forward to the return Ryder Cup fixture in 2012, when new European captain José Maria Olazábal will attempt to retain the title at Medinah Country Club in Illinois. It will be a very different competition to the one staged in Wales, but with the Americans desperate to avenge last year’s defeat on home turf promises to be no less thrilling. Let’s hope the next 12 months fly past as quickly as the previous ones did.

Competition Time!

In conjunction with Golf Monthly magazine, Visit Wales are offering the chance to win a golfing break for two at the Celtic Manor Resort. The prize includes two nights’ bed and breakfast accommodation as well as a round of golf on each of The Twenty Ten, The Roman Road and The Montgomerie courses. All you have to do is answer the question below and fill in your details. Terms and conditions apply.

Relive some of the action

Find out more about Golf in Wales and Major events in Wales.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 30th, 2011 at 11:58 am and is filed under America, Sport, Wales. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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