The Ryder Cup is the third largest sporting event in the world, behind the World Cup and Olympics, in terms of spectator viewing. Next year it will be hosted by the Celtic Manor Resort and is the perfect opportunity for Wales to show itself to the world stage. KM Group sports editor went along to see what awaits the world's best golfers next October.MIKE REES

On Friday, September 28, 2001, the announcement was made that the 38th Ryder Cup would be held at the Celtic Manor Resort in the autumn of 2010.

The event is destined to become one of the most significant occasions in the country’s sporting history.

Luxury is undoubtedly par for the course at Celtic Manor, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary. It has been a worthy venue for the European Tour's Wales Open for years now and has been the country's premier golf retreat.

The original Wentwood Hills and Roman Road courses were built by Robert Trent Jones Snr but since the Ryder Cup announcement was made, Celtic Manor has been making dramatic upgrades and additions, playing musical chairs with the routings and names of its courses.

Over the last few years, they've created new holes and upgraded existing holes to create its current offering of 54 holes of championship golf.

The Twenty Ten Course is the first of its kind to be built with the sole intention of hosting the Ryder Cup matches.

Nine holes were renovated from the original Wentwood Hills course and nine new holes were built from scratch. It's designed to challenge the world's best - and it's not going to disappoint.

An overwhelming desire among those behind the design of the Ryder Cup course was to develop 18 holes that would provide a supreme challenge to the world’s best golfers in matchplay conditions.

The extensive use of water features have been designed to present players with classic match dilemmas. Long-driving players are offered the chance to chance their arms over long carries of water but those that do so will be spurning the safety-first.

The course is a par-71 and measures 7,493 yards. The first 14 holes play on flat terrain with native grasses lining the sides of each hole, creating the feel of an 'inland links.' The holes are framed by the lush, green mountains of the Newport-area countryside.

The focal point of the course is the closing stretch, where matches will be won and spectators will flock. The 15th through 18th holes are cut into the side of a mountain, creating a natural amphitheatre for each of the final four holes.

It will be the first course hosting the Ryder Cup where the gallery will be able to watch the action not only on the hole they are on but on the entire finish.

The mountainside has the capacity to hold nearly 60,000 spectators along the 16th, 17th and 18th holes.

The closing hole provides a long and dramatic downhill finish, as befits a course designed to host The Ryder Cup.

A slight right-to-left dog-leg calls for a gentle draw off the tee for the right hander. Anything aimed left, however, will bring into play a pair of deep fairway bunkers.

A well-placed drive allows the possibility of reaching the green in two with a tough long approach shot across water required to reach the raised green on the other side of the valley. The green is further defended by a pair of sizeable bunkers that can easily snare anything too ambitious and, at the last hole, in front of a huge crowd, any player would be keen to avoid them.

The staff at Celtic Manor are fantastic, they always make you feel special and like you’re the most important person in the world. You are met with a smile from the minute you check in and the smile stays until you leave.

Celtic Manor is one of the UK's finest five-star resorts but don’t take my word for it. Give them a call on 01633 413000 or visit www.celtic-manor.com

Specifically developed for golfers whose live outside of a 75-mile radius of the Celtic Manor Resort, the Twenty Ten Country Membership offers all the benefits of Full Membership but with a saving of £1,000 on both the joining fee and the annual subscription.

For just £2,000 joining fee and £2,000 annual fees, country members will enjoy full playing privileges on the spectacular Twenty Ten Course. They will also receive a highly sought-after season ticket to the Ryder Cup as well as the chance to buy another one, with both tickets including hospitality places in a members’ pavilion.

Country Membership also includes two season tickets to The Celtic Manor Wales Open.

Two championship courses – Roman Road and The Montgomerie – form part of the membership package as well as use of the award-winning Forum Health Club.