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Riffa Views - In the Groove |
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Jan 21, 2008: "Riffa Views will be splendid – a very special development"
Colin Montgomerie is the most successful European golfer of his generation. Since joining the Tour through Qualifying School in 1998 he won 31 Tour titles, 10 international events, played in eight Ryder Cups (winning five times), 10 Alfred Dunhill Cups (winning in 1995), nine World Cups (individual winner in 1997, winner in 2007), five Seve Trophies (winning four times and captaining the team four times), two UBS Cups, and amassed more than £19 million in the process. In his 20 years on the European Tour he has had 14 top-10 finishes, winning the Harry Vardon Trophy eight times – seven times in succession between 1993-1999 – and has only once finished outside the top 30, in his first year on Tour. Having dominated European Golf for so long he is also applying the same skills and single-minded dedication and commitment to his work as a leading golf course designer:
WWG: Your victory for Scotland in the 2007 Omega Mission Hills World Cup showed that in team golf your game is second to none. What is it about team golf that makes you such a formidable opponent?
MONTY: I really don’t know. I just love the thrill of competition and when you are playing in a team you are always trying to do your best for your partner.
WWG: You said after wining at Mission Hills that you and Marc had won it in the alternate shot format. You clearly inspired Marc and brought out the best in him, as you have done over the years in the Ryder Cup. It seems that you take as much pleasure out of winning as a partnership as you do in single. Is that how you feel?
MONTY: Definitely. Winning the World Cup for Scotland was fantastic, especially as Marc and I were so disappointed to have lost out to Germany in the World Cup play-off last year in Barbados. It’s a great feeling to be part of a winning team and Marc and I really played well together and helped each other through the week. I think Marc and I made a really good team.
WWG: Omega and Mission Hills have pledged to return the World Cup to its former glory with the top two players from each country competing – do you think this is achievable?
MONTY: It would be great if that could happen. I don’t really know if it is achievable as players have very different schedule at the end of the year but it’s a wonderful event and to represent your country at any sport is always very special. I think Omega hosted a really great event this year.
WWG: With so many tournaments being played around the world throughout the 12 months of the year do you think it’s possible to avoid fixture clashes?
MONTY: I think the Tours try to work the schedules out for the year as best they can. It’s probably inevitable that there will be some clashes but I think they work hard to keep them to a minimum. Given the challenges there are so many continents, the European Tour staff, led by George O’Grady, do a remarkable job and will need to plan even more carefully with the changes being announced for 2009, but I have every confidence this will be handled as it should.
WWG: You’ve proved again in 2007 that you continue to be a force in world golf. How much would it mean to you to win a ninth Order of Merit and that long-deserved Major in 2008?
MONTY: I’ve been very fortunate to have won eight Orders of Merit on The European Tour and I am proud of each and every won. If I won another, it would be fantastic. My sole aim at each event I play is winning, so there is no reason whey I couldn’t win a ninth Order of Merit, even though I will be 45 next year. Equally, I wouldn’t be the oldest person to win a Major so that is still something I’d like to achieve – but it wouldn’t be the end of the world if I didn’t win one.
WWG: You’ve been a great supporter of golf in the Middle East over many years. Do you think it is now fast becoming a genuine golf tourist destination?
MONTY: Yes, definitely. Dubai was where it started and I have a course there – The Montgomerie Dubai, which I am very proud of and which is doing very well. I won the Dubai Desert Classic at the Emirates Golf Club and I’ve been a regular visitor to the UAE for many years. I’ve always enjoyed playing the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship too, and now there are events in Qatar and soon in Bahrain, among other places. I am particularly proud of the course I am designing at Riffa Views in Bahrain at the moment and they hope to attract a lot of visitors there. The Middle East is very much a booming region and many more people holiday there and go out to play golf. The weather is fantastic. There are great restaurants and hotels and plenty for families to do.
WWG: You spoke passionately at GolfEx Dubai last January about your work at Riffa Views. How much pleasure has it given you being the driving force since the beginning of the project in designing and creating the course?
MONTY: I’ve thoroughly enjoyed being involved in designing the course at Riffa. It’s a very important project for me and I’m extremely excited about the whole development. It will be a splendid course and I was very impressed with what I saw on my last site visit last month. I was pleased to see that the work was on target and my design specifications had been incorporated. I was able to hit a few shots on some of the holes to see that we’d got the layout and yardages correct. The difference between the look of the course now and when I was last there was amazing. The front nine has been shaped and will soon be grassed. I’m really looking forward to seeing the back nine take shape.
WWG: What characteristics does Riffa Views have in making it so outstanding?
MONTY: Riffa Views has dramatic natural Wadi Landforms which are being retained as an intrinsic feature. There will be deep Scottish-style links bunkers. Some parts of the course run through the historic Al Hunaniyah Wadi – a dry riverbed valley. Designing the course has been a challenge but I think we’ve got it right. It will be a challenging yet enjoyable course to play. We’ve got six tees on every hole set at different angles towards the pins on the par 3s and different lengths on the par 4s, and different bunkers.
WWG: Is the site of a new golf course development all-important in the design or can the designer create something special by using his own experience, imagination and knowledge?
MONTY: The site is extremely important and as a designer it is important to utilise and work with what features are already available. However, the shaping and bunkering can be created to put your own stamp on a course.
WWG: Would you regard Riffa Views when it is finished as being one of the most outstanding courses in the Gulf region on a par with the likes of Emirates and The Montgomerie, Dubai?
MONTY: Yes very much so – I think it has all the characteristics to make it one of the top courses in the Middle East. Riffa Views will be a very special development and the course will be a very special layout to play, I’m very proud to have my name attached to it. My role as a designer is to challenge golfers who are not only at my standard of play, but the average handicap golfers as well. I want to make them want to come back and play the course again and again.
WWG: Have you taken from your own knowledge and enjoyment of certain holes around the world in creating Riffa Views – and which holes in particular?
MONTY: I like to take the bunkering from the style of Scottish links courses and make it a course that players have to think their way around. We have tired to embrace some classic strategic elements from the world’s most enduring courses and bring them together in a design which has both risk and reward choices and the opportunity for creative shot-making. Some of my favourite courses are built on sand and the Riffa Views site has all the components I like, ensuring that it be a classic test of golf. The seventh hole at Riffa Views will have a hint of the 12th at Augusta and with the green angled to the line of play and a water hazard directly in front.
WWG: Are you equally pleased with the design of the nine-hole par-3 course as you are with the Championship course?
MONTY: I regard the short course as just as important as the Championship layout. We are giving it as much attention because this is the future of golf. All the kids taking up golf in Bahrain will be playing the short course first. It will also benefit new golfers taking up the sport. It will be a mix of short and long par 3s. Some will play like short par 4s to the juniors and beginners. I’m keen to see that the shots experienced on the Championship course will be replicated on the short course so that it will also be a true test of golf for the experienced player.
WWG: Accepting that real estate is a vital part of any golf course design, particularly in the Middle East, how difficult is it to design a great golf course and still keep the developers happy – and were there any limited restrictions in Bahrain?
MONTY: It’s a fine balance that has to be struck. On the one hand, the homes want to have a great view of the course, but we need to keep them far enough back from the line of play to keep residents safe from any stray shots. The Riffa Views housing boundaries were pretty much set before we got too far into the design, so this was a limited factor in so much as we had little choice of which land we had to work on, but happily we had the most interesting terrain in any event. Other than that, we have had to skirt around the various oil pipelines and well structures that are such a characteristic landscape feature of Bahrain. We have definitely got a very interesting and unique layout.
WWG: Do you get some sort of kick out of designing a great golf course as you do out of winning a great tournament?
MONTY: I take great pride in both and certainly get a kick out of both and– although they are very different. I always aim for perfection in my job, whether it’s playing a tournament or designing a golf course – and I always give it my best efforts.
WWG: One of your sponsors is Electronic Arts (EA Sports). Do you play the video games with your son, Cameron, and if so who plays which golfer when you play each other on screen?
MONTY: Yes, we play lots of games. I would usually be myself and Cameron would be Tiger Woods. The competition is fierce, as you could imagine!
WWG: Ecco and Yonex also sponsor you. Are you pleased with the development of the shoes and your clubs?
MONTY: Yes both Ecco and Yonex are wonderful sponsors and we are always looking at new products, designs etc to get the optimum product for me and I would not hesitate to recommend them.
WWG: Do you continue to work closely with the R&D team at Ecco and Yonex and what are the key characteristics of a great club manufacturer?
MONTY: Yes – I recently went to visit the R&D team at Yonex in Japan, the week before the World Cup and did some testing with some of the new Yonex Cyberstar Nanospeed clubs they have made for me. It was great to be able to talk to them in person and describe the features I like and any changes to improve my game. I played with the new clubs at the World Cup and found that I was hitting much further than I had done previously. I’m also planning to visit the Ecco factory in Denmark at some point so I can have a Monty-designed shoe. The Ecco shoes are so comfortable and have been made to my exact foot size. As any golfer will tell you, a comfortable show is a key piece of equipment.
WWG: You seem a lot happier off the course. You have always been very close to your children. Do you feel that you are a lot more contented than you were a few years ago? What’s your perfect day when the clubs are locked away?
MONTY: Yes – I have a great relationship with my children. I see them as much as I can and we have a lot of fun. My perfect day would be spending the day with children and fiancée, Gaynor, in Scotland.
WWG: Have you set any goals for 2008?
MONTY: To win a few tournaments and to make the Ryder Cup team on merit.
WWG: You have your Academy at Turnberry, have you any plans to open up other Colin Montgomerie Academies worldwide?
MONTY: Hopefully, yes I am extremely proud of the Academy at Turnberry. It is a terrific facility and if we can expand that around the world that would be great.
WWG: You clearly enjoy working with youngsters, as demonstrated with your coaching of the HSBC Wee Wonders. Is this something you would like to do on a larger scale – time permitting?
MONTY: Yes I very much enjoying doing clinics and coaching with youngsters. Some of them are incredibly good at such a young age. I did a clinic for some youngsters at one of my Golf Days for Aberdeen Asset Management in Singapore recently and there were some very young children who had a lot of talent and I’m sure we will see many of them in the future. I don’t have a great deal of free time at the moment so I enjoy chatting to the children at these golf days. Perhaps I will be able to do more in the future.
WORLDWIDE GOLF – The Middle East’s No.1 Golf Magazine
January 2008
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