WALES AND WHISKEY LEAD PGA SHOW’S TRAVEL PARADE

by Vic Williams | posted February 2, 2010

As the second day of FG’s two-day blast through the 2010 PGA Merchandise show wound to a close, a worthy goal came into view: One of the mammoth Orange County Convention Center’s hundreds of meeting rooms, just across the hall from the third-floor media center. Occupying that room for a couple of hours Friday evening was a friendly and eager contingent of representatives from Wales, the small sovereign nation that occupies the southwest corner of Britain and will, this October, host the Ryder Cup for the first time, at Celtic Manor.

We walked in with dozens of other media and VIP types, heard the spiels from guys named Williams and Jones and such, dug into their impressive spread of heavy hors d’oeuvres (nothing Welsh there, unless they’re famous for quesadillas and mini-quiche) and then sampled a few nips of their whiskey. It’s some of the best booze we’ve ever had, all oaken smoke and no bitter bite, caressing the palate like the memory of a not-so-long-gone love, as I suspect Wales itself does to a golfer’s soul, too, after he’s had the pleasure of playing there.

This installment of our PGA Show roundup was dialed in to discuss products and services that caught our eye down on the roiling floor — selections from the ever-growing GPS sector, for instance (led by the iPhone-like On Par system, which offers thousands of courses at your touch-screen fingertips with no monthly fee), or delicious new snacks from the company that makes 1^st and 10^th Tee bars, or dozens of other goodies that we’ll touch on over the coming weeks, either here or in the March-April issue of FG. But that last sip of sublime whiskey sent us on a new course of discovery.

Though the show’s travel contingent was small, it packed a punch with booths featuring Ireland (a whole row for them in fact), Mexico, Spain, Turkey (!) the Bahamas and, of course, Wales, which has never had the golf cachet of its United Kingdom neighbors, at least among Americans. That could very well change that when the Cup plays out Oct. 1-3 in the city of Newport on the country’s south coast, a two-hour drive from London’s Heathrow Airport.

Not only does Wales boast some of the British Isles’ most stirring golf terrain over its 200-mile-plus span from north to south, from Irish-style links to mountainous inland courses to more American-style parkland circuits such as Celtic Manor’s new 2010 course built specifically for this year’s competition between the Europe and the United States. It’s also a quieter and more pastoral choice, with no bloated greens fees or crowded fairways to be found. And you’re as likely to bunk in a castle (over 600 of them dot the country) or B&B as in a mainline hotel, though folks who choose to make the 330-room, 32-suite Celtic Manor their base of operations will find a five-star hotel with all the trappings of any high-end destination anywhere in Europe — restaurants, spa, three golf courses, two health clubs, tennis, fishing, shooting, mountain biking and hiking trails spread over 1200 acres. But it’s the golf we’ll focus on when FG finally gets across the pond, not only on property but at nearby must-plays such as Royal Porthcawl, where Tiger Woods once lost a tournament after pumping a tee shot into the Atlantic. We can’t say when or if this dreamed-of trip to the fertile and beautiful flip side of “birthplace” golf will come to pass, but until it does, we’ll savor those sips of sweet hospitality down Orlando way.

Get up to speed on Wales golf at www.golfasitshouldbe.com. For more on the Ryder Cup’s host course, check out www.celtic-manor.com.

Vic Williams is editor and publishing partner of Fairways + Greens, a bi-monthly magazine dedicated to golf, travel and lifestyle for the West and beyond. He has written thousands of stories on golf and will cover every facet of the game right here, primarily travel but also the major tours, equipment, personalities and more. Contact him at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it