Celtic Manor on course for top award

The Celtic Manor Resort, host venue for the 2010 Ryder Cup, has teed-off 2011 in style, after being shortlisted for two prestigious prizes at the Sport Industry Awards 2011. 

The five-star Resort, hailed as hosting the “greatest ever” Ryder Cup last October, is included in a shortlist of three for the ‘Sport Venue of the Year’ award and is one of six contenders for the ‘Best Use of PR in a Sport Campaign’ category.

 The latest recognition caps a memorable year for Celtic Manor.  It was crowned Europe’s ‘Golf Resort of the Year 2011’ by the International Association of Golf Tour Operators (IAGTO) and the UK’s Top Conference Hotel for the fourth year running in 201o.  

It was also the scene of triumph for two award-winners  at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards – Europe collecting the ‘Team of the Year’ award while ‘Coach of the Year’ was bestowed upon Captain Colin Montgomerie, who claimed Celtic Manor had taken the Ryder Cup standard to “seven stars”.

Ascot Racecourse and the O2 are the others on the shortlist for the ‘Sport Venue of the Year’ award which will recognise the venue that offered the most flexible, creative and meticulous approach to hosting events and serving the needs of its visitors in 2010. 

The Sport Industry Awards are Europe’s largest and most prestigious commercial sports awards and Celtic Manor has made the shortlist after a judging process involving more than 60 key industry figures and 50 hours of intensive scrutiny. 

The three venues remaining are regarded as representing the very best that the sports industry had to offer over the course of 2010, with Celtic Manor also hosting its 11th Celtic Manor Wales Open on the Twenty Ten Course during a memorable year. 

Reaching the shortlist for the ‘Best Use of PR in a Sport Campaign’ recognises a co-ordinated media and public relations strategy to maximise the exposure brought by the Ryder Cup, which was led by Celtic Manor’s London-based PR agency, Four Communications. 

The 38th Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor, which took place from 1 – 4 October, 2010, was one of the most memorable sporting events in recent history. 

Despite 55 per cent of October’s monthly rainfall falling in just three days over the course of the event, the team of 130 greenkeepers and support staff at Celtic Manor helped ensure it was played through to its exhilarating climax, as Graeme McDowell won the final point for the European Team on the 17th green of The Twenty Ten Course. 

Set in 1,400 acres of wooded parkland in the scenic Usk Valley,  South Wales, The Celtic Manor Resort boasts three hotels, two luxurious spas and health clubs, tennis courts, shooting, fishing and the choice of no fewer than six restaurants, as well as its three championship golf courses. 

The star-studded 10th Annual Sport Industry Awards dinner will take place on Wednesday, 11th May at Battersea Evolution in London, when the winners will be announced in front of all the key players and decision- makers in the sport industry. .