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our names, with prizes given out by former Ryder Cupplayer David Howell. And although it cost over £500 for the day, there were

plenty of people willing to pay that for the chance toemulate the stars. Thankfully I had been invited to take part.

dreamFollowing your golfing heroes in a top tournament,whether on TV or on the course itself, and then play-ing the same course is a dream for most amateurs. Andit is a dream which is far more achievable than youmight think.Many of the courses that host key events on the Euro-

pean, PGA and Asian tour circuits are open for thepublic to play. You might need to break open the piggybank to play some of them, but others are surprisinglyaffordable, given their lofty status.I have been fortunate to have played on many famous

courses over the years, albeit badly for the most part. Nomatter how you play, though, treading in the spike marksof the game’s greats leaves you feeling exhilarated.For me, nothing beats the spine-tingling

thrill of walking onto the first tee or stridingacross the Swilken Bridge of the Old Course atSt Andrews, the home of golf, or sending anapproach shot to the 18th green of the AilsaCourse at Turnberry, where a hard bounce afterthe perfect approach robbed Tom Watson of afairytale victory in the 2009 Open. Some of golf’s most famous holes which have

produced drama aplenty over the years are openfor amateurs to play. I have contrasting memoriesof playing two notorious 17th holes at coursesopen to the public.

At Spain’s beautiful Valderrama, scene of Europe’svictory in the 1997 Ryder Cup under captain SeveBallesteros, I managed to avoid the lurking lake with mythird shot and my birdie putt agonisingly lipped out ofthe hole. Whereas on the infamous par-3 17th of theStadium Course at Florida’s TPC Sawgrass – home tothe so-called “Fifth Major”, the annual Players Champi-onship – I gave up trying to land a wedge onto the islandgreen after sending three balls into the water.

iconicI didn’t fare much better when I played another of golf’siconic holes, the stunning par-4 8th at California’sPebble Beach Links. Having watched Graeme McDow-ell win the US Open at Pebble Beach on TV in 2010

Itried to shut out the huge spectator stand loom-ing behind the green from my mind as I lined upmy putt. I knew how it would break; the ball wasin almost the identical place as Ian Poulter’s justtwo days earlier in his play-off match with

Robert Karlsson for the 2010 Dubai WorldChampionship title. Replaying the par-5 18th hole of Dubai’s Earth

Course for the second time after they had finished allsquare, Poulter was left with a 30-foot birdie attemptputt. It came up agonisingly short – but he had acciden-tally dropped his ball onto his marker in any case,flipping it over and incurring a one-shot penalty. Karls-son rolled in his birdie and snatched the glory.The crowds had gone as I stood on the 18th, but with

the stand, press centre, hospitality marquees and giantscoreboard all still in place, I could imagine just how itmust have been for Poulter, putting for the 900,000 euro-plus (£750,000) first prize. I stroked the ball, watched ittake the double break…and in it went! Eat your heartout, Poults, I thought and raised my arms to acknowl-edge the cheers from the non-existent spectators. Sadly, that was the only memorable moment of my

round, but the day itself was amazing. I was taking partin a special “Ultimate Golf Experience” staged by theEuropean Tour, which allowed weekend golfers like meto play Greg Norman’s superb Earth course in competi-tion straight after the season-ending event, with the pinsin the final day position, greens and fairwaysconditioned as they were for the pros and even playingfrom the same tees as the stars – all 7,675 yards! The day also included using the same lockers as the

pro players, complete with personalised name badge(now adorning my office door) and a caddie bib with

star course packagesOne night’s bed and breakfast accommodation with one round at Gleneagles costsfrom £172.50 per person with Golfbreaks.com (www.golfbreaks.com).A seven-night stay on a room-only basis at Pebble Beach Resorts in California

with rounds at four courses including Pebble Beach Golf Links costs from £2,950per person with Bond Street Golf (www.bondstreetgolf.com).The price includes a large rental car but excludes flights.Enjoy an overnight stay at Celtic Manor Resort (www.celtic-

manor.com) with breakfast and 18 holes of golf on Ryder Cup hostcourse the Twenty Ten as well as sister course The Montgomerie,from £119 per person until February 15 and from £182 in March.Six nights’ accommodation with breakfast at the Mission Hills

Haikou resort costs from £1,499 per person with VGolfholidays.com(www.vgolfholidays.com) and includes unlimited golf on its 10 courses onweekdays, with a £10 supplement per course at weekends. Flights are extra.

pack your clubs n play where the stars play

“Treading inthe spikemarks of thegame’sgreats leavesyou feelingexhilarated”

Enjoy watching your golfing heroes play some of theworld’s top courses? Many of the venues that host keytournaments can also be played by weekend golfers, asPeter Ellegard discovered

Star-struckpars

n The Dubai WorldChampionship final n Amateur playing in

the Ultimate GolfChallenge at Dubai

n Island greenon the 17th

n The 18th hole atRoyal Lytham

Peter Ellegard

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and avidly followed Tiger Woods’s record 15-strokevictory in the 2000 US Open, I finally realised mydream of playing it on a visit last year.The setting, right on the coast of the spectacular

Monterey Peninsula, is to die for. The signature 8th holehugs precipitous cliffs before demanding a heroic shot tothe green across a yawning chasm with the churningblue Pacific deep below. Having already leaked my driveover a cliff, I hit a majestic third shot with my rescueclub and raced after it – only to discover the fairwaydoglegged more than I thought as I watched my ballplummet into the ocean.Playing Pebble Beach is no drop in the ocean at $495

a round, excluding caddie or rental clubs. You can alsoonly play if you stay at one of the Pebble Beach Resorthotels, where rooms start at almost $700 per night. Butfor devotees who can afford it, the cost doesn’t evencome into the equation. For bragging rights with theirgolfing buddies back home, it is priceless.Another of my favourite courses I have played is

Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course, in South Carolina. Hostcourse of the notorious “War by the Shore” Ryder Cup of1991, it is a stunning swampland layout next to the Atlanticwhich will stage the US PGA Championship in August.Closer to home, Celtic Manor in Wales brings back

special memories for me. I have played the Twenty TenCourse on four different visits, and was lucky enough tobe a spectator on “Magic Monday” during the 2010Ryder Cup with a grandstand view over the 18th fairwayand green. Playing it twice last year with that fresh inmy memory added excitement as I recalled how the prosplayed each hole.Conversely, I braved “Soggy Saturday” at Royal St

George’s during last year’s Open and marvelled at howthe stars were able to play with such finesse in sidewaysrain, when I was beaten into submission in perfect, calmconditions the day I had played it.We may play the same courses, but it’s a very differ-

ent game.

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pack your clubs n play where the stars play

where to play facts

Here are some of the world’s toptournament venues the public can play:

UK and IrelandAll nine Open Championship venuesare open to the public. The rotacomprises: the Old Course, St Andrew’s(www.standrews.org.uk), Royal StGeorge’s (www.royalstgeorges.com),2012 host Royal Lytham & St Annes(www.royallytham.org), Turnberry (www.turnberryresort.co.uk),Royal Birkdale (www.royalbirkdale.com), Muirfield(www.muirfield.org.uk), Royal Liverpool, Hoylake (www.royal-liverpool-golf.com), Carnoustie(www.carnoustiegolflinks.co.uk) and Royal Troon(www.royaltroon.co.uk).Recent Ryder Cup hosts include 2010 venue Celtic Manor(www.celtic-manor.com), 2006 host The K Club (www.kclub.ie)and multiple host The Belfry (www.thebelfry.co.uk), while Gleneagles(www.gleneagles.com) will stage the 2014 event.Wentworth (www.wentworthclub.com) hosts the European Tour’sannual flagship tournament, the BMW PGA Championship.

EuropeYou can play 1987 Ryder Cup venue Valderrama(www.valderrama.com) and France’s Le Golf National (www.golf-national.com), host in 2018.Finca Cortesin (www.fincacortesin.com) on the Costa del Sol stagesthe annual Volvo World Match Play Championship.

USANot all US Open venues welcome the public, but notable past hosts thatdo include Pebble Beach (www.pebblebeach.com) and Pinehurst(www.pinehurst.com), as well as Torrey Pines(www.torreypinesgolfcourse.com) and Bethpage State Park(www.nysparks.com/golf-courses), which are public courses, along with2015 host Chambers Bay (www.chambersbaygolf.com) near Seattle.Among US PGA Championship hosts open to all are 2012 venueKiawah Island (www.kiawahresort.com) and 2010 host WhistlingStraits (www.destinationkohler.com/golf).Most Ryder Cup venues in the US are private, but publicly-accessiblehosts include Florida’s PGA National (www.pgaresort.com), KiawahIsland and West Viginia resort The Greenbrier (www.greenbrier.com).Other courses you can play include Players Championship host TPCSawgrass (www.tpc.com/tpc-sawgrass), WGC-Accenture Match PlayChampionship venue Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain(www.ritzcarlton.com/dovemountain) in Arizona and the WGC-CadillacChampionship host Doral Resort (www.doralresort.com) in Florida.

Middle East/Africa/AsiaThe European Tour finale Dubai World Championship is played atJumeirah Golf Estates’ Earth Course(www.jumeirahgolfestates.com).South Africa’s Sun City (www.suncity.co.za) hosts the annualNedbank Golf Challenge.China’s 10-course Mission Hills Haikou resort(www.missionhillschina.com) is the host of biannual teamtournament, the Omega Mission Hills World Cup.

n Peter Ellegard aftersinking his putt on the18th at the Earth Course

n 9th hole on the TwentyTen Course at Celtic Manor

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