Wales Open facts for kids
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Location | Newport, Wales, U.K. |
| Established | 2000 |
| Course(s) | Celtic Manor Resort Twenty-Ten Course |
| Par | 71 |
| Length | 7,354 yards (6,724 m) |
| Tour(s) | European Tour |
| Format | Stroke play |
| Prize fund | €1,000,000 |
| Month played | September |
| Tournament record score | |
| Aggregate | 260 Robert Karlsson (2006) |
| To par | −22 Scott Strange (2008) |
| Current champion | |
 Romain Langasque |
|
The Wales Open is a professional golf tournament on the European Tour. It was founded in 2000 and played annually through 2014, when a 15-year deal between the tour and the Celtic Manor Resort, that included staging the 2010 Ryder Cup, came to an end. The tournament returned in 2020 as part of a revamp of the European Tour's schedule in response to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The event was part of a 6-week "UK Swing" and was again be hosted at Celtic Manor.
The Celtic Manor Resort Wales Open was originally played over the Newport, South Wales resort's Wentwood Hills course, through 2004. While that course was being redeveloped for the Ryder Cup, the Wales Open was played for three years (2005–07) on the Roman Road course, a par-69 venue. Since 2008, the event has been played on the Ryder Cup Twenty-Ten course.
ISPS Handa (International Sports Promotion Society) became the title sponsor in 2012 and the prize fund that year was £1.8 million. The tournament was titled as ISPS Handa Wales Open through 2014; it had previously been titled as the Saab Wales Open under a one-year deal with Saab in 2011, and the Celtic Manor Wales Open before then, as the resort itself held title rights.
Records
In 2006, Sweden's Robert Karlsson broke the European Tour's 36-hole and 54-hole scoring records by shooting 124 for the first two rounds and 189 for the first three. However, as the Roman Road course was a par-69, rare at the professional level, his to-par scores were slightly less remarkable 14-under after two rounds and 18-under after three. Karlsson shot two-over-par for the final round, but still won. In the same year, Phillip Archer posted a score of 60 in the first round, which would have been a 59 but for a missed birdie putt on the 18th green.
Course
The 2013 course layout, at the Twenty-Ten Course of the Celtic Manor Resort
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yards | 465 | 610 | 189 | 461 | 433 | 452 | 213 | 439 | 580 | 3,842 | 210 | 562 | 458 | 189 | 413 | 377 | 477 | 211 | 613 | 3,510 | 7,352 |
| Metres | 425 | 558 | 173 | 422 | 396 | 413 | 195 | 401 | 530 | 3,513 | 192 | 514 | 419 | 173 | 378 | 345 | 436 | 193 | 561 | 3,211 | 6,724 |
| Par | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 36 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 35 | 71 |
Winners
| Year | Winner | Score | To par | Margin of victory |
Runner(s)-up | Purse (€) | Winner's share (€) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ISPS Handa Wales Open | ||||||||
| 2020 | Romain Langasque |
276 | −8 | 2 strokes |  Sami Välimäki |
1,000,000 | 156,825 | |
| 2015−19: No tournament | ||||||||
| 2014 |  Joost Luiten |
270 | −14 | 1 stroke |  Tommy Fleetwood Shane Lowry |
2,254,680 | 375,780 | |
| 2013 | Grégory Bourdy |
276 | −8 | 2 strokes |  Peter Uihlein |
2,101,373 | 348,660 | |
| 2012 |  Thongchai Jaidee |
278 | −6 | 1 stroke |  Thomas Bjørn Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño Joost Luiten Richard Sterne |
2,229,228 | 372,720 | |
| Saab Wales Open | ||||||||
| 2011 |  Alex Norén |
275 | −9 | 2 strokes | Grégory Bourdy Anders Hansen |
2,040,689 | 344,358 | |
| Celtic Manor Wales Open | ||||||||
| 2010 |  Graeme McDowell |
269 | −15 | 3 strokes |  Rhys Davies |
2,118,254 | 350,940 | |
| 2009 | Jeppe Huldahl |
275 | −9 | 1 stroke | Niclas Fasth |
2,073,926 | 343,086 | |
| 2008 |  Scott Strange |
262 | −22 | 4 strokes | Robert Karlsson |
2,270,187 | 376,671 | |
| 2007 | Richard Sterne |
263 | −13 | 1 stroke | Bradley Dredge Søren Kjeldsen Mardan Mamat Mads Vibe-Hastrup |
2,216,194 | 368,812 | |
| 2006 | Robert Karlsson |
260 | −16 | 3 strokes | Paul Broadhurst |
2,177,968 | 364,352 | |
| 2005 | Miguel Ángel Jiménez |
262 | −14 | 4 strokes | Martin Erlandsson José Manuel Lara |
2,207,900 | 362,568 | |
| 2004 | Simon Khan |
267 | −21 | Playoff | Paul Casey |
2,274,124 | 375,092 | |
| Celtic Manor Resort Wales Open | ||||||||
| 2003 | Ian Poulter |
270 | −18 | 3 strokes | Darren Fichardt Jonathan Lomas Jarrod Moseley |
2,112,186 | 347,360 | |
| 2002 |  Paul Lawrie |
272 | −16 | 5 strokes | John Bickerton |
1,753,869 | 291,432 | |
| 2001 | Paul McGinley |
138 | −6 | Playoff | Paul Lawrie Daren Lee |
1,228,125 | 201,685 | |
| 2000 | Steen Tinning |
273 | −15 | 1 stroke | David Howell |
1,213,353 | 199,839 | |
Source:
