The Celtic Manor Golf Resort Roman Road & Montgomerie

The Roman Road Course at Celtic Manor

The original course at the ever-impressive Celtic Manor Resort and designed by Robert Trent Jones and tastefully named after the “old Via Julia Roman highway”. The road initially meandered through the sloping fairways on the resort with an incredible history and the former site of the Lydia Beynon Maternity Hospital, which has a fantastic story.

The Roman Road course at Celtic Manor is a very fair test of golf for anyone considering a golf break in Wales. Although only a Par 70, it offers golfers imaginative shot-making opportunities over the 18 holes of Championship Golf. While at the resort, we recommend you include the signature Twenty-Ten Course too.

European Tour Tournament Venue

The Roman road has held its fair share of European Tour and Senior Tour events over the years. Although most illustrious events have now moved on to the Ryder Cup-designed 2010 course at Celtic Manor, The Roman Road still holds fantastic memories and is a class in design.

The Roman Road is not what you would call long “In new money terms.” At only just over 6,000 yards from the yellow tees, one would expect this to be the lesser course of the three now on offer at Celtic Manor.

The Roman Road course comfortably sits as an equal in the company and as an individual course with the two later designs, The Montgomerie and the 2010 course.

The romantic in me always takes time to appreciate original layouts. Although the Roman Road can feel a bit “American” in places, you get a great sense of what Robert Trent Jones was initially looking for in his design. The layout of the holes does preserve some of the old Roman archaeology, and this would have been the vision of Jones.

The Roman Road last held a prestigious event in 2007 when it played host to the Celtic Manor Wales Open and played as a Par 69. It was the final course to play this length on the European Tour. South African Richard Sterne won the event.

The Montgomerie Golf Course at Celtic Manor

As the name suggests, designed by Ryder Cup legend Colin Montgomerie, the new Montgomerie golf course opened for play in 2007 and was designed around the first and last holes of the old Wentwood Hills golf course and the land from the Coldra Woods academy. This incredible, challenging Parkland-style golf course is a fantastic addition to the sterling Celtic Manor Golf Resort. Colin wanted to combine a traditional parkland layout with an almost links-like feel in some of the golf course's features, including deep pot bunkers and largely sloping greenside drop-offs. Whether this has been accomplished has often created debate among knowledgeable golfers who are always fascinated by the golf course design. However, what is unanimous in opinion is that the Montgomerie course is challenging, rewarding, and exciting. Playing at a Par 69 and just under 6,400 yards from the black tees, the Montgomerie is always enjoyed when staying at Celtic Manor.

Our Guide to Play The Montgomerie Golf Course

Some tee shots require decent carries over the Welsh Valleys and some pretty theatrical scenery.

The third hole is considered by many to be one of the best holes over the entire three courses at Celtic Manor. A daunting tee shot between a tight set tree-lined fairway with sloping natural contours left to the right requires an accurate and powerful tee shot to give you any hope of getting close in two shots on this great par 5.

In the winter, the sensible play is to get as far down the right-hand side of this fairway, leaving your second to set up a pretty straightforward approach shot to a green. However, in the summer, the potential is to use the contours, get as close to the green as possible, and set up for a likely birdie.

All eighteen holes offer lots of elevation changes and various golf shots that will be required to be played.

The Montgomerie is arguably the prettiest of the three courses on offer at Celtic Manor and provides an entirely different test to the 2010 Course and the original layout of the Roman Road.