Pavin praises the exciting finish
Corey Pavin praised the exciting finishing holes on The Twenty Ten Course as he looked forward to this week’s Celtic Manor Wales Open and next year’s Ryder Cup at The Celtic Manor Resort.
Pavin, the United States captain for The 2010 Ryder Cup, played the course for the first time in Wednesday’s sun-bathed pro-am ahead of The Celtic Manor Wales Open which runs from Thursday June 4 to Sunday June 7.
Pavin said: “I’m very glad to be here and to be able to play in the tournament and do a little reconnaissance work, as well. I think it’s going to be a good week.
“I think the golf course is very good. I like the golf course a lot. It has some exciting finishing holes which will be good for stroke play, but certainly for The Ryder Cup, as well, it’s going to be very interesting.”
Those finishing holes include the double lake challenge of the 14th, the driveable par-four 15th and the reachable par-five 18th where the final green is perched precariously above a protective moat.
Pavin made his comments at a press conference given by both Ryder Cup captains and European skipper Colin Montgomerie joined his counterpart in looking ahead to the next 16 months of fantastic tournament golf at The Celtic Manor Resort.
“We look forward to a wonderful 16 months ahead of us to get everything in place to have a wonderful occasion here in Wales,” said Montgomerie. “And we look forward to the two Wales Opens that are coming up this week and also in a year’s time.”
Pavin and Montgomerie are just two of the players in a field of 156 golfers including some of the brightest stars on The European Tour who will battle it oout for the £300,000 first prize on Sunday.
Ryder Cup stalwart Miguel Angel Jiménez from Spain will bid to reclaim the trophy he won back in 2005 and he will be joined by fellow former Celtic Manor Wales Open champions Paul McGinley, Paul Lawrie, Simon Khan and last year’s impressive winner Scott Strange, who recently claimed his second European Tour victory at the Volvo China Open.
Ryder Cup stars Thomas Bjorn, David Howell and Niclas Fasth are also in action along with English young guns Ross Fisher and Nick Dougherty who will start among the favourites as they seek to strengthen their credentials for a Ryder Cup debut in Wales next year.
Stephen Dodd has finished fourth and fifth in the last two weeks and will lead a strong home challenge of 11 players, all seeking to becoming the first Welsh winner in the event’s 10th year.
Spectator entertainments include a TaylorMade Par-3 Challenge where you can win a round of golf for hitting the green and a Tented Village with bar and retail outlets.
Tickets are available on the gate, priced £25 daily and £50 season for all four days.
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