Marriott St Pierre

Posted by Michael on 9 October 2010 | 0 Comments | Tags: Marriott, St Pierre, Ken Cotton, PGA Welsh Masters, Solheim Cup, rain, Ryder Cup

715am: We all wake in Hotel Bristol after a much needed good nights sleep.  Jamie and I head down for a huge breakfast.  Bart, the â??third manâ?? in our one bedroom room, gets brought up some scraps. 

830am: The tank crosses the border into Wales and the intrepid golfers arrive, just in time for our 850am tee time at our destination the St Pierres resort and golf club just out of Newport.  A perfect destination for a quick round of golf before an afternoon watching the Ryder Cup just along the road.   

849am: Get chatting to the starter who kindly allows us to play the tips.  Says the course is lucky to be dry â?? hereâ??s hoping heâ??s right as it has been very wet around here the last couple of days.  Our feet squelch in our saturated golf shoes as we creek out a couple of warm up swings.

930am:  Weâ??re chatting to four lads in the group ahead, problem is weâ??re all only on the second tee!!  Itâ??s going to be a slow round. We watch them tee off on what has to be one of the tightest driving holes of the year.  Trees everywhere â?? I think the play is to hit a 230-250 yard draw opening up the hole which doglegs to the right.  Neither Bart, JP or I follow orders.

950am: Weâ??ve played two holes.  Looks like we might make the last 30 minutes of the Ryder Cup at this rate.

1048am: Welcome on tour Bart as he snaps out of his three putting slump to card an EAGLE on the par five 7^th hole. Cracking stuff. 

1053am: Where do you hit it on the 8^th tee? Ahead is nothing but trees. This course is tight.  In retrospect the play is 6 iron, 9 iron.  Bart sneaks one through the trees to the middle of the fairway whilst JP and I are bunting it out of the rough to make our pars the â??creativeâ?? way.

1120am: we flag the halfway house and leapfrog the lads ahead.  But weâ??re still stuck behind the members â??texas scrambleâ?? competition.  It should be quick playing one ball â?? but itâ??s not.

1205pm:  JP makes one helluva birdie on the 12^th hole.  Block into the trees.  Miracle three wood with a slice aiming 60 yards left â?? it slices a little and goes into the trees on the far side.  Miracle snap hook from there onto the green makes it onto the back tier and he drains the putt.  Results in a half with Bart to keep the skins alive.

1215pm:  JP snaffles the skins on the par three 13^th courtesy of some three putt magic from yours truly.

1225pm:  The rain comes.  In a serious wayâ?¦ We scurry to put our wet weather gear on but quickly become very wet.  Trying to hit the par five 14^th in two I double cross it 60 yards left onto the wrong fairway.  Some Junior Proâ??s behind look at me disappointingly.

130pm: Fortunately the rain subsided quickly and we make it, dry, to the famous last hole.  A par three uphill to the clubhouse.  I squeak out the skins by one courtesy of a handful picked up on the 17^th.  Lucky as I was by far the worst of the three golfers today but thatâ??s skins!

135pm: Clubs are packed in the car and weâ??re off to Celtic Manor, via the service station to pick up some food.

150pm:  We opt for microwave curries from the servo and wait for what seems like an eternity for them to heat up.  Curry sandwiches satisfies our carb requirements.

220pm:  The tank pulls up to the main entrance to the Celtic Manor Hotel.   Weâ??ve flagged the park and ride as our tickets are with the reception to the hotel.  This is an issue as there are 4 serious looking blokes manning the entrance.  A series of wags appear to be entering the property.  The gruff looking Welshmen advise us weâ??re not going up. I ring our contact at reception to check that itâ??s ok.

230pm:  The gruff looking Welshmen come up to us sitting disgruntled in our car 50 yards down the driveway and tell theyâ??ve got it all wrong.  Weâ??re allowed to drive on up to the hotel to pick up our tickets.  Once at the Hotel the ratio of staff to non-staff is about 30-1.  This is a serious operation going on up here.  Weâ??re looked after like weâ??re guests of the Hotel, given our tickets (left with the Hotel courtesy of Steve Williams â?? thanks mate!) and given a car parking pass to park underneath the hotel.

243pm:  The tank is parked and we arise at the Hotel foyer where one of the concierge organise for a courtesy BMW to drive us down to the course.  Minutes later weâ??re pulling up in the VIP area right by the 18^th green.  Lucky lads â?? weâ??ve done well with this one.

302pm:  Look in vain for our man Eamon Kinnelly from Golf Vacations Ireland who weâ??re supposed to meet on course.  Trouble is there are 40,000 spectators and no cellphones (although somehow Jamieâ??s has made it through the back entrance).  We donâ??t have any luck.

345pm:  We have our bearings and take our seats by the 1^st tee and watch as the delayed third session starts.   The crowd are going crazy.  There is singing and chanting like Iâ??ve never heard at a golf tournament before!  Banter flies left right and centre towards the players.  Bubba is asked how his mum is â?? to which he points off into the distance and gives the thumbs up.  The odd Tiger joke is greeted by an awkward silence and the odd giggle from both spectators and players.  G-Mac is absolutely pumped up for his match as he and Rory McIlroy take on two Americans who, you can tell right there and then, have absolutely no show.

530pm: The three of us are now out on the course watching the Europeans take to the Americans. Theyâ??re up in all 6 matches and all across Celtic Manor there are waves of wild cheering.  Celtic Manor is buzzing.

535pm:  The aim of the game is to try not to slip as we wander down the 5^th hole in the turf that has been churned to mud from two days of solid rain.  Then we find ourselves right next to Steve Stricker playing from the left rough where Tiger has left him in their foresomes match.  From prime position (ahead of the ropes which have been temporarily moved) I try to get Steve Williams attention to thank him but to no avail.

7pm:  the light is fading and we wander back up to shuttle pick up area where we get a shuttle back to the hotel.  An abnoxious Englishmen on the bus thinks we donâ??t fit the demographic and asks if weâ??re in the right place.

710pm:  weâ??re about to set sail from a magic afternoon at Celtic Manor but first a stream of golfers and their partners file in to the hotel.  Bart is beside himself with excitement but is also trying to blag us another carpark entry for tomorrow.

At that point we drive up to Cheltenham to see an old pal Nick Anderson aka POM!  We visited the famed cafe 21 and along with Pom and Cub had a cracking night out in Cheltenham. 

Whilst I have the opportunity Iâ??d like to thank Jan and Keith Anderson for having all of us stay with them in Cheltenham â?? it was a great weekend and was very cool to be able to catch up with Nick again.  The next two days blogging are in his capable hands so over to you mate!