Let’s hope that the Ryder Cup has put Wales on the international map.
We love our own little communities in Wales. However, sometimes, we take it too far and we can be too parochial and inward-looking. The Ryder Cup is a great opportunity for us to look outwards and to showcase Wales to the world, and it has been great to welcome so many visitors from overseas.
There is something very endearing about the Sir Terry Matthews story. Most of us know about the Celtic Manor having probably passed it on the M4 near Newport. It was once, however, the Lydia Beynon Maternity Hospital and that is where Terry Matthews was born. When Terry Matthews saw the place and recognised its potential it had been closed since 1975, was boarded up and fast going to rack and ruin.
We know the rest. According to the information we receive, the only sporting occasions that have more television viewers world-wide are the football World Cup and the Olympic Games. Naturally, the population of the U.S.A. has a lot to do with that.
Anyone who has visited the U.S.A. will tell you that they can be even more parochial than we are. The sports supplements of the American papers are dominated by American football and baseball. This year we have already seen the Super Bowl that determines the best American football team and soon this autumn we shall find who wins the World Series in baseball. Despite being called, the World Series only teams from the north American continent participate.
So remember, if you send Christmas Cards to distant cousins in the U.S.A. tell them about the delights and attractions of west Wales. They will doubtless have heard about the Ryder Cup being played nearby in Newport. Tell them that Llanelli, with our splendid Machynys Golf Club, is only a little way up the road. Well, it may not be to us, but it will be to them!