Ryder Cup 2014 build up: We look back at eventful 2010 contest at Celtic Manor
By Paul Higham Twitter: @SportsPaulH
Last Updated: 22/09/14 6:10pm
As Gleneagles prepares for the Ryder Cup they’ll be hoping for much better weather conditions than four years ago when the staff and management at Celtic Manor had to perform miracles to keep the event going as torrential rain stretched it into a historic fourth day.
Playing the Ryder Cup in the UK at the end of September is always a risk weather-wise, and this year will be no different as, although forecasts don’t look too bad at present the waterproofs are bound to be donned at some stage.
Ploughing through the mud for four days may not normally be seen as an enjoyable experience, but it only added to the drama of the occasion at Celtic Manor – and it must be said that organisers and especially the groundstaff performed wonders to get the course in a playable condition considering the deluge they were faced with.
I’ll never describe the Ryder Cup as the most enjoyable experience of my life but it certainly turned out to be the most satisfying.
Jim McKenzie
Gleneagles should, touch wood, escape such drastic weather conditions, but nevertheless they’ve been in touch with those at Celtic Manor to garner advice on how to handle every weather-based eventuality.
Two pivotal figures in 2010 were Celtic Manor owner Sir Terry Matthews and director of golf courses Jim McKenzie, so we got their views and experiences from four years ago after they hosted one of the most extraordinary Ryder Cups in memory.
Amazing event
“What an amazing event and the first Ryder Cup in history to go to four days,” said Sir Terry. “I had business colleagues from Canada and the United States and all over the world ringing me up to say how sorry they were about the weather.
“I said, “Are you kidding me?” We got an extra day of global coverage for all the sponsors. Can you imagine signing up for an event as big as the Ryder Cup and getting 33 per cent extra for free! It was our bonus day and what a finish with G-Mac securing the win for Europe in the very last match. Absolute dynamite!
“It was an enormous event to stage and, of course, we had to build a whole new course and all the surrounding infrastructure for the Ryder Cup. We even had to construct a £2m whacking great bridge over the River Usk to the new practice ground.
“We also had a great team running the event, a great team at the Celtic Manor but also great support from the Welsh Government in what was a real Team Wales effort. The Ryder Cup really put Wales on the map.
“Of course, you can never predict the weather. We may not have got the Ryder Cup finished in four days if we hadn’t invested so much in drainage for the golf course. Robert Trent Jones told me there were three things you needed to concentrate on when building a golf course.
“The first one was… drainage, the second one was.. drainage, and the third one was.. drainage! And if you’ve forgotten anything, make sure you pay attention to the drainage!”
Long week
The man in charge of ensuring that the drainage was working and getting the course in shape was Jim Mckenzie, probably the busiest man that weekend in Wales.
“The longest week of my life but also the most rewarding,” McKenzie calls the Ryder Cup. “The deluge on Friday morning was just incredible - more than 40 per cent of the average monthly rainfall fell in 12 hours.
“It was a monumental effort from all the team to get play started at all but, of course, with rain still pouring down, it was suspended a couple of hours later. A day I had spent more than a decade preparing for was turning into a nightmare!
“My biggest regret was missing the opening tee shot. That was the one moment I had been waiting to see but, of course, it was all hands on deck out on the course at that time so I missed it.
“The lowest point was actually when we had more of the same on the Sunday after the reformatting had got things more or less back on track. All I could think was that I must have been a real so-and-so in a previous life to deserve this.
“Walking into the closing ceremony was probably my proudest moment -hearing and seeing the standing ovation the crowd gave the guys was something I’ll never forget.”
McKenzie has been on contact with his Gleneagles counterparts, but with decent conditions in the run-up and a decent forecast they should avoid any of the problems he encountered four years ago.
Gleneagles prepares
”I know the guys up at Gleneagles very well and I was up there a couple of weeks ago. I’ve never seen the course in better condition,” he added. “We had a chat about preparations for the Ryder Cup but they know there’s nothing you can do about the weather. You just have to hope the weather is kind and, if not, you just get on with it when it happens. I doubt they’ll have as tough a time as we did but I’m sure they’ll cope and do a great job if they do.”
The Ryder Cup is now a huge international occasion, and Sir Terry says that Gleneagles should prepare to handle the major boost in recognition that comes with staging the event.
“The Ryder Cup turned Celtic Manor into a global brand,” he said. “Wherever I go in business, and I go to a lot of places, from China to Brazil to Russia, people know about the Celtic Manor because it held the Ryder Cup. It made the resort a bucket list destination for golfers and all three of our championship courses have benefited hugely from that.
“Our golf revenue doubled in three years between 2008 and 2011 and it has remained at that level ever since. Other areas of the business have also felt the benefit of the Ryder Cup effect – golf is the sport most closely associated to business so all the business events held here reference the fact that we’re a Ryder Cup venue. We’ve had record years for revenue across the resort business since the Ryder Cup.”
McKenzie agrees that being a Ryder Cup venue makes the course that much more important for golfers to come and experience – with the dramatic events of the 2010 contest making it even more of a memorable place to visit.
“They can never take the Ryder Cup off our CV and golfers will always want to tick it off their bucket list. It helps that we had such a nail-biting finish and people want to recreate that putt from G-Mac and other memorable moments from 2010,” he added.
“It’s difficult to compare it with Major championships but for the recent history and all the drama of team match play I don’t think you can beat the Ryder Cup. I’ll never describe the Ryder Cup as the most enjoyable experience of my life but it certainly turned out to be the most satisfying.”
Make sure you catch exclusive coverage of all three days of the 2014 Ryder Cup - Sep 26-28 - on Sky Sports' dedicated Ryder Cup channel and via the Sky Sports for iPad app's Ryder Cup Match Centre.
