POT OF GOLD!

Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie is forging a burgeoning reputation as a course designer with a natural feel for the game and an empathy with professional and amateur players alike.

His golfing vision will come under close scrutiny in January when the sport's spotlight shines on the Royal Golf Club course in Bahrain as it hosts its first televised European Tour event.

The received wisdom is that 'Golf is a game for life,' and never was that truism more apposite than in the case of one Colin Stuart Montgomerie, OBE.

The man they call 'Monty' may have started late in making money from the game, turning professional aged 24, but as the big 50 approaches, he's making up for lost time.

Approaching £20million - and counting - in prize money alone in a career closing in on a quarter of a century, the Scot, who steadfastly rejects the prospect of playing on the Seniors Tour when he becomes eligible in June 2013, remains one of the highest-earners in world golf.

Even as his on-course earnings dwindle to a fraction of the seven-figure annual emoluments he accumulated over the course of 40-plus professional wins - he won at least once every year between 1993 and 2007 - Monty is said to be second-only to Tiger Woods as the 'sponsors' sweetheart,' playing the game to perfection, polite, professional, practiced, pragmatic.

His recent Ryder Cup captaincy is rumoured to have netted Monty an immediate £5million-plus, lucrative sponsorship deals with the likes of Emirates airline, Sky Sports, EA Sports and Aberdeen Asset Management, together with what the European Tour euphemistically calls 'image rights and promotional activities,' or 'appearance money' to the rest of us.

But don't begrudge Monty a penny of it; he is as comfortable in the boardroom as he is in the locker room, the first-pick in the pro-am, his after-dinner speaking, golf clinics, company days and pressing-the-flesh the epitome of professionalism, the antithesis of the grumpy old man after a bad day at the office.

However, it is in the field of course design that Montgomerie is making his latest mark.

Selective rather than prolific, from his early creation, the Montgomerie Course in Dubai to Rowallan Castle, his first but surely not his last venture in his native Scotland, and the Montgomerie Course at the Royal Golf Club in Bahrain, which hosts its first European Tour event, the Volvo Golf Champions in January, quality is the watchword ahead of quantity if it is to bear the name - and the hallmark - of the most successful European golfer of all time.

"If something is carrying your name, you personally ensure that you give it your full attention, believe me," insists the Scot, explaining, "you want it to be something special, not just for yourself but for all golfers who give up their time to play your creation - and, hopefully it leaves them with a long lasting impression."

There are those, it is said, past champions who sign up for yet another 'signature course,' the moment the developer's cheque book is flourished, but, it must also be said, Montgomerie is different.

Phil Jones, director of golf at the Royal Golf Club, said: "Colin first visited the island in 2006 and after carefully studying the topography and prevailing weather conditions of the site, and using his years of experience playing top golf courses around the globe, he maintained a close personal overview of the project, returning regularly during each phase of the work, clearly ensuring that anything bearing his name was done in the same professional manner as everything he is associated with."

The eight-time European Tour Order of Merit winner, who became the first man to put his name down for Bahrain's first-ever European Tour event over his eponymous course, explained: "I borrow heavily on my lifetime on the links and the vast experience of playing the world's greatest courses.

"I particularly believe in working with the natural contours of the land and ensuring that, as with the great Scottish designs, nature is not tampered with unnecessarily.

"I take great pride in both and certainly get a kick out of both (playing and designing) although they are very different. I always aim for perfection in my job, whether it's playing a tournament or designing a golf course, I always give it my best."

Montgomerie is also smart, smart enough to leave the detailed design and construction work to his colleagues at European Golf Design, who collaborate with him in Europe and IMG Design, his partners in Asia and the Middle East.

"Each member of the team has been hand-picked for their skill and ability to create great golf courses, and we all play to our particular strengths," continues Monty, explaining, "it is very much a team effort, that way, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

"I have been working on the project with Robin Hiseman from European Golf Design and have made many trips to Bahrain during the design and construction phase (and) I am delighted with the end result," was the Scotsman's end-of-term report when Camillo Villegas, Michael Campbell and Retief Goosen joined him for the Celebrity Skins event to mark the opening of the course.

"We also had Sir Steve Redgrave, Kapil Dev and Boris Becker taking part and I won $80,000 for my charity, The Elizabeth Montgomerie Foundation," said the Scot.

But a big-money European Tour event is a different matter to a 'hit-and-tickle' skins match, so, having put his name in the frame for the inaugural Volvo Golf Champions, how will the Scot feel about having his handiwork judged by his fellow professionals in Bahrain in January?

"Quite nervous," was the honest reply, casting his mind back to 2005 when his Carton House hosted the Irish Open.

"Under normal circumstances I would be a bit worried about facing 155 critics," said Montgomerie. "But this is not a normal golf course and I don't think I will have one critic out there - I will go there with my head held high."

To be precise, the Royal Golf Club commission was not so much a design but a remodelling job on the original layout created in 1999 when the original Riffa Views was inaugurated, hosting a number of important regional events such as the Pan Arab Golf Championships in 2000 and 2004.

New investors had a bigger, bolder vision, closing the golf course in 2007 and two-years-later Monty's grand design was unveiled to the world.

"The Montgomerie at The Royal Golf Club, is very personal to me," Monty insists, "I have had the good fortune to spend a great deal of my time outside my playing schedule here in Bahrain, which I've dedicated to this project.

"The Royal Golf Club course is only the fourth of my signature courses, making it very special indeed," says Montgomerie, who rejects the notion of him having a 'definitive design style'.

The Volvo Golf Champions takes place at the Royal Golf Club from January 27- 30.

TOP SIX DESIGN FACTS & FIGURES

The Montgomerie Course at the Royal Golf Club, Bahrain is 7,243-yards, Par-72

Design work commenced in August 2006 and the course re-opened for play on November 18, 2008.

500,000 cubic metres of earth were moved during the construction phase.

Only five holes, 1, 2, 9, 10 and 18 are contained within the footprint of the original Riffa Golf Club, the remaining 15 holes constructed on virgin desert lands.

The back-nine on the Montgomerie Course and the entire 'Wee Monty' course are floodlit, with play regularly going on until, and occasionally after midnight each day.

Being a desert course, some ingenious solutions to irrigation challenges have been found; reverse osmosis plant produced approximately 5,500 cubic metres per day, whilst the water recycling plant will produce a further 2,000 cubic metres of water per day once the adjacent properties are occupied.