Courtesy: SportingWales.com

Here's a tip for Canadian billionaire, Jim Balsillie, of Research in Motion fame (the Blackberry people).

Balsillie has tried twice now to throw his enormous financial wealth at the National Hockey League in the hopes of buying a struggling American team and moving it to his hometown of Hamilton, Ontario.

And twice he has been ambushed, Taliban-style, by the league.

So my advice is follow in Sir Terry Matthews' footsteps.

Sir Terry is another Canadian billionaire (Mitel, Newbridge Networks) with plenty of money to play with.

Matthews owns the Celtic Manor in Wales, the sight of the 2010 Ryder Cup.

The Welsh-born Canadian has decided to do it right. He ordered the rebuilding of nine holes on Celtic Manor and the work is complete.

The new Celtic Manor is now open to the general public and in October, gets its public unveiling.

The new course will be a real test for both Ryder Cup teams: it measures nearly 7500 yards from the championship tees.

Six of the holes have "notable" water hazards. Not only have nine new holes been constructed but the other nine have been heavily modified.

This is one tough buggar of a course. And it will test the mettle of every Ryder Cupper who tees it up.

More than a ton of earth and rock were moved; more than 15 MILES of drainage was installed!

And on the closing three holes, the spectators will have a clear view of the action on all three, thanks to banked arena areas.

No golf organization has told Sir Terry how to spend his money; the R&A hasn't vetoed his decision to redesign the course. Sir Terry has made Celtic Manor a venue for great international tournaments well into the future.

So, Jim Balsillie, forget the NHL; they don't want your billions of dollars and couldn't care less about your desire to put a world-class hockey franchise in Hamilton, Ontario. They want to continue to put teams in American cities where there is no desire for ice hockey to begin with.

Hie thee to the world of golf, Balsillie. Build a world-class course in southern Ontario worthy of more than just made-for-TV Skins Games.

Build a course that will have the touring pros panting to tee it up and compete. It'll be a lot cheaper than a hockey club.

Your money is welcome in golf-dom.