Golf/Golf Architecture

Pavin: Celtic Manor “Not That Tricky”

By td ⋅ October 29, 2009 ⋅  Email This Post ⋅  Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment

Everyone expects Corey Pavin to be pretty laid-back as Ryder Cup captains go, but it sounds like he’s also not going be to asking his team to take an overly analytical approach to the 2010 course at Celtic Manor.

Speaking to reporters at the Volvo World Match Play Championship in Spain, he said: “Celtic Manor is not a course that requires a lot of practice rounds…It’s not that tricky, very straightforward. There would not be a lot to learn out there by playing it 10 times before the match. Three times and you’ll be all right.”

Having played the 2010 a couple of times, Pavin’s comments are basically on-target. The course is a true Type A personality, loaded with binary outcomes. From an architectural point of view, I found it interesting how heavily European Golf Design leaned toward the “risk-reward” concept on what was essentially a blank-slate canvas for match play. The crucial ingredient of a great match-play course is an unpredictability that isn’t strictly based on human error–active ground contours, quirk, rub-of-the-green. Multiple options can be used to create flexibility and freedom that confer subtler benefits to the player beyond do-or-die. This isn’t to say that there won’t be some fantastic matches next year, simply that they will take place over a difficult and eminently fair golf course.

The respective schedules of the PGA and European Tours will have an effect on the teams’ familiarity with the 2010. Celtic Manor will also be hosting the Wales Open next year and as the Reuters clip adds, Colin Montgomerie is hoping to see mainstays and hopefuls alike in that event’s field. Pavin, in contrast, said: “I can’t really expect my players to come out to Europe, go back to play the Tour Championship and then come back out to play the match.”

I happen to think it never hurts to have a couple of extra rounds to get familiar with any layout, whether it be Dyker Beach or the Old Course. The U.S. players will want to be careful to choose the right line on one of the 2010’s pivotal holes, the 377-yard fifteenth, which is drivable provided you can hit a tee shot that: 1.) Can establish an initial trajectory similar to that of the Ares I-X; 2.) Plane out and carry some 270 yards of forest and; 3.) Find a landing zone about the size of a YMCA swimming pool.

But as they say, these guys are good. Three practice rounds or ten, we assume they’ll figure it out.

Photos: Celtic Manor

Tags: 2010 Ryder Cup, Celtic Manor, Corey Pavin, Wales