Seven magic moments on The Belfry’s Ryder Cup course and how you can play it

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Seve Ballesteros applauds during the Ryder Cup at The Belfry

Matt Cooper
August 31, 2024

In the 1989 film Field of Dreams Kevin Costner stars as a farmer who hears the words “if you build it they will come”.

He dreams of a baseball diamond in a corn field, builds it and is startled to discover the ghosts of the sport’s greatest stars turn up to play.

There is something about this story which is reminiscent of the Brabazon Course at the Belfry.

It, too, was originally part of a farm and the fields were full of potatoes.

Then it was transformed into a golf resort and the course was designed by Dave Thomas and the BBC commentator Peter Alliss.

They built it and, since the 1970s, the stars of golf have come.

The first event there was the 1978 Hennessey Cup, a match between Great Britain and Ireland and Europe, and the great Seve Ballesteros did something which guaranteed that he’d be more associated with his little part of Birmingham than any other golfer.

The 10th hole is a short par-4 which at the time played to 280-yards but every yard of that is carry because of the pond in front of the green.

Ballesteros took little heed of the threat in his match against Nick Faldo, launching a drive over the trees with his persimmon headed driver.

His ball settled eight feet from the flag and right there and then the course entered the consciousness of all European golfers.

Over the next two decades that very hole would witness many other examples of players driving the hole – even Ian Botham managed it – but the plaque on the hole commemorates the time Seve did it.

It’s the most important memory on the Belfry’s Field of Dreams but there are many of them and you can attempt to replicate them.

1. The first tee

It’s the 2002 match. Europe and the USA are tied at eight points apiece. The home team’s captain Sam Torrance desperately needs a player to lead his singles roster with pride. Step forward Colin Montgomerie.

He emerged from the clubhouse in classic Monty style. Chest out, cheesy grin on his face, a wobble of pride.

And then, with that distinctive S-shaped swing, he swished his ball down the fairway and he was away. Swept up by the honour of leading the team and cheered off every tee and onto every green, he destroyed Scott Hoch 5&4, setting up Europe’s three point win.

Nervous ahead of your opening blow? Think of the Monty stroll and repeat it.

2. The par-3 14th

Scene of Nick Faldo’s hole-in-one in the 1993 Ryder Cup. Hitting the green will do for us and might be worthy of a classic Faldo hand flap as we walk to the putting surface.

3. The 16th green

Phillip Price versus Philip Mickelson in the 2002 singles. Everyone thought it was a case of welsh lamb to the slaughter but how wrong we were.

On the 16th green, Price had a lengthy curving putt, right across the top tier of the green and it dropped. What followed was glorious carnage.

Pumped beyond belief he wandered to the cup twitching his mouth and snorting his nostrils, less like a lamb than a randy bull. Seconds later Mickelson missed his own putt and Price had completed a sensational win.

4. The 18th tee

By the end of the 1980s the Americans had turned to drink. To be specific: in the 1989 singles, from the 18th tee, they kept driving tee shots into the lake. Payne Stewart tried to chop his ball out, failed, and said: “I’m gonna give this one more try.”

The tee shot remains intimidating, especially for amateurs. Finding dry land provides great joy.

5. The 18th fairway

Christy O’Connor Jr versus Freddie Couples in 1989. Christy had 202 yards across the lake to the pin and a 2-iron in his hands. The weight of the Ryder Cup’s fate was on his shoulders.

He hit the shot of a lifetime and The Belfry roared. He held his arms aloft and looked to the heavens like a priest celebrating the Eucharist. He looked about 61 but he was actually only 41!

It’s easy to appreciate just what O’Connor Jr achieved: there’s a plaque to mark the spot.

British Masters Top 10 Belfry moments

6. The 18th green

Where Sam Torrance confirmed the outrageous triumph in 1985. Such magical scenes. The low hands. The exultant cheers. The fact he knew the ball was in before it dropped. His arms aloft as the ball broke from right to left and then disappeared. A first European win for 28 years and then a big party.

If you get the putt, you’ll know the break. And if you miss the green left you’ll know how Paul McGinley got up-and-down in 2002 or how Paul Azinger holed his bunker shot from that angle in 1993. Memories, memories, everywhere.

7. Signing you card

Padraig Harrington would have been an accountant had he not become a professional golfer. Maybe just as well he worked hard at the golf.

In the 2000 Benson and Hedges Open he famously led the field by five after 54 holes whereupon, by sheer fluke, someone noticed that there were two signatures on the card of his course record first round 64 but neither were his. “At least it’s made it into a better tournament,” he said after being disqualified.