Travel

The Wandering Golfers - Destinations
The Wandering Golfers - Where to Stay
The Wandering Golfers - Where to Eat

Celtic Manor – Ryder Cup destination stands the test of time

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There will always be a special place in my heart for Celtic Manor. It was here that I covered my first and most memorable Ryder Cup for The Times newspaper, where I stood on the 18th green, soaked in champagne, as Team Europe danced with delight after another epic battle against their American counterparts. These are memories that will never fade. And yet, that is a theme because every time I visit Celtic Manor Golf Resort I make new ones, lasting ones. My first visit to this magnificent Welsh resort came in 1999. I was working in the film business…

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The European Club: unique, mesmeric – a golf masterpiece

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Hidden away on the County Wicklow coast, just south of Brittas Bay, you’ll The European Club – a links like no other. It’s a true one-off, a place where the rules of how to design and run a golf club haven’t applied since Pat Ruddy, the effervescent owner and designer, circled over this stretch of coast in a helicopter in the 1980s and first spotted the place where his golfing dreams would be realised. Ever since, this has been as a place of adventure and discovery for those looking for a test of skill and patience on a links designed…

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Royal St George’s an Open links of magic and memories

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As I walk towards the 18th green at Royal St George’s Golf Club, through the funnel of Open Championship grandstands either side of me, I allow myself a moment to take it all in. The magnificent lunar landscape of linksland here is exactly as I remember it. The vast dunes, verdant fairways and the deep blue of The English Channel are every bit as vivid – it’s a place of personal memories, magic and myth. Dr William Laidlaw Purves had set out to create an English rival to The Old Course at St Andrew’s. From the top of the tower…

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‘He gave me the gift of golf’

The odds of being born, let alone being able to read this, are exceedingly slim. Do a little research on this and bask in appreciation, for a moment, at the exceptionalism of your existence. Those odds get ever longer when you bring the ability to play golf into the mix. You need your health for a start, but you also need someone to introduce you to what has become a way of life for me, something that is more than a game, hobby, obsession, job, or competition. For me, golf is a place I transcend to in my waking…

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