Oakville’s Glen Abbey Golf Club was the home of the RBC Canadian Open for almost 25 years before Golf Canada started moving the tournament around 15 years ago. But Canada’s only PGA Tour event will be staying put, Golf Canada announced today, saying the tournament, which is at Glen Abbey this July, will also be at the Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course in 2016 as well.
“I personally think this is the best site in the world as far as hosting goes,” said Scott Simmons, Golf Canada’s chief executive officer.
Glen Abbey, which was built specifically for the Canadian Open, first hosted the tournament in 1977, and with a few appearances elsewhere, was the home of the event until 2000, and is the site of some of the most famous Canadian golf moments. That includes Tiger Woods’ historic 6-iron shot from the bunker on the 18th hole to win the 2000 Canadian Open. The following year Golf Canada started moving the tournament to other venues, including Angus Glen in Markham, Ont., Shaughnessy in Vancouver and Royal Montreal, where the tournament was held last year.
Event organizers said the goal for Glen Abbey is to engage spectators by creating more of a festival atmosphere with food trucks, stadium seating and free tickets for those 17 and younger.
“We are so focused on how to engage the fans,” says tournament director Brent McLaughlin. “Innovation and engagement are our goals. We really want to turn this into a festival.”
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Players for the tournament were not announced, but one can expect the golfers sponsored by RBC to be in the field. That includes top stars like Matt Kuchar, Jim Furyk, Jason Day, Ernie Els, and others, as well as Canadians like PGA Tour regulars Mike Weir, Graham DeLaet, Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin.
The tournament will be underway at the same time the Pan Am Games are taking place in and around Toronto. Though there might be some traffic hurdles to overcome, Canadian Open officials said spectators will get free access to the GO Train with their tickets. As well, the winner of the golf tournament at the Pan Am Games will receive an exemption into the RBC Canadian Open.
With RBC’s sponsorship of the Canadian Open currently not renewed past 2017, Simmons says he’s uncertain where the tournament will head from here. The event struggled to gain attention from spectators in Montreal last year, prompting speculation the tournament could find a semi-permanent home at Glen Abbey.
“It is a national open, so you do like to move it around,” Simmons admitted, though he added Golf Canada is also considering options for a permanent home for the tournament.
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