WHEN the rain stays away, the Celtic Manor is the ultimate Ryder Cup venue, something we thankfully fleetingly saw on Saturday.

The players would ultimately be out on the golf course for the best part of 11 hours, playing resuming at 8am before the two teams eventually wearily trooped off the course just shy of 7pm with darkness descending.

The Argus spent Saturday walking around the course with friends and experienced exactly what the paying public did, a well-organised staff and wonderfully designed golf course contributing to a fabulous day of play.

The Celtic Manor is different from other British golf clubs in that its feature attraction – the Twenty Ten course – has been designed entirely with the Ryder Cup in mind.

That means vantage points for supporters unrivalled by any course in the UK, it’s hard to imagine, for example, holes with more visibility than 17 and 18, capable of giving a decent view to every spectator, regardless of where they are on those particular holes. Even 200 yards from the greens, you don’t miss a bit of the action.

Sir Terry Matthews has been mercilessly mocked for his “drainage, drainage, drainage,” mantra that he was repeating even on Friday morning (before the seven-hour delay, we should add) but it was evident that the Twenty Ten course looked utterly immaculate and the players seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Under foot things were difficult; imagine Glastonbury with golf shoes and fancy dress.

This has been a Ryder Cup to separate the casual golf fan from an absolute fanatic, because to find the motivation to keep trudging through the mud to get to point A or B on the course takes a special kind of enthusiast.

At no point did the support diminish, just like on Friday when the vast majority sheltered for seven hours in hospitality areas, sipping over-priced beer and praying that the £100 or so they had spent would yield some dividend.

The punters on Saturday got value for money and then some, as well as the Sunday supporters, who of course have the option of coming back today to watch the singles.

The action on Saturday ebbed and flowed wonderfully, McDowell and McIlroy continuing to attract the biggest European following, their final couple of holes and subsequent defeat briefly deflating the Europeans.

As a side note, does any event in the world do more to aid the ‘united Europe’ cause of the EU more than the Ryder Cup?

Flat as things were possibly getting among the muddy and weary public, thankfully they were lifted by sensational golf from the Europeans in the third session as they blew away the USA, a sea of blue and chants of olé, olé, olé ringing round the Celtic Manor as play finally finished in almost total darkness.

But then the rain came.