Colin Montgomerie has hosted a select group of worldwide golf and sporting legends for the Riffa Views Invitational, a three-day opening extravaganza celebrating the completion of his signature design of the ‘Montgomerie’ 18-hole and ‘Wee Monty’ 9-hole par 3 course at The Royal Golf Club, Riffa Views, Bahrain.
Monty was joined by Retief Goosen, Michael Campbell, Camilo Villegas, Sir Steve Redgrave, Boris Becker and Kapil Dev for pro-am events over both the ‘Montgomerie’ and ‘Wee Monty’ courses, with the four golfing superstars topping off the celebrations with a $250,000 charity skins tournament over the ‘Montgomerie’ course
Despite the celestial guest list, the real stars of the show were the brand new, 7243-yard, par 72, ‘Montgomerie’ course and the 898-yard par 27, ‘Wee Monty’ course, both of which Monty has designed in collaboration with Robin Hiseman of European Golf Design.
Both courses embrace Monty’s Scottish heritage, with an emphasis on the links style approach to golf, where the opportunity to play low, running approach shots is often the best option. Dramatic, rocky desert landforms have been integrated within the design, so that the course embraces its unique Bahraini location. The usual desert beautification has been cast aside, with a preference for retaining the open, sparsely grassed dunescapes typical of the island kingdom. The ‘Montgomerie’ is wide open, windswept and rugged, all of which combine to authenticate the linksland character of the design.
Fundamental to the concept has been the promotion of strategic play, emphasised by the large, often dramatically undulating greens that offer up a multitude of fascinating hole location options.
Hiseman described the philosophy behind the design thus, “The Montgomerie is primarily a members golf course and we have sought to create a design with a rich vein of exciting playing options, which are always influenced by the hole location. It will never become a repetitive experience and there is a great deal of ‘local knowledge’ hidden away in the layout. Golfers will have great fun working out how to best play the course. It is a very complex but rewarding puzzle.”
The neighbouring ‘Wee Monty’ course proved to a delightful revelation at the Invitational. With holes ranging from 60 to 136 yards, it is aimed at promoting golf development for the young and inexperienced golfer, but has been designed to the same exacting standards as the ‘Montgomerie’, with giant sandy wastes, deep, lace edged bunkers, undulating greens and water hazards all playing a part. Both the ‘Wee Monty’ and the back nine of the ‘Montgomerie’ will be floodlit, allowing golf to continue deep into the night.
Monty summed up his satisfaction and pride with the finished courses by commenting, “With Riffa Views, I have created a design unique to the region, as it is styled as a classic links golf course. The ‘Montgomerie’, I‘m happy to say, has, as proven by the Invitational tournament, matched the challenge of some of the world’s leading players and will surely host major international events in the future.”
European Golf Design www.egd.com
The Royal Golf Club www.theroyalgolfclub.com