Future locations for RBC Canadian Open getting clearer

Bob Weeks

TSN Senior Reporter

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Just where the RBC Canadian Open will be played in the coming years should become clear in the next three months, according to Golf Canada CEO Laurence Applebaum.

The head of the governing body said the association is putting the final touches on a plan that it hopes will pave the way for the post-Glen Abbey years. 

That was one of the revelations in a wide-ranging interview that came on the heels of the association’s annual general meeting in Calgary at the end of January.

“I think in the next 90 days or so we’ll be releasing a future site strategy that will look at 2019, ’20 and beyond,” said Applebaum. “I think there’s an exciting future for the tournament.”

The RBC Canadian Open will be held at Glen Abbey this July, marking the 30th time the tournament has been contested at the Jack Nicklaus-designed course. It’s also expected to be the final time. 

ClubLink, the owner of the course, has been trying to get approval to develop the land on which the course rests, but the Town of Oakville has been working to preserve it as green space. The future is unknown and will likely involve plenty of legal wrangling.

Regardless of how that battle turns out, the tournament seems to have outgrown the urban sprawl that now surrounds Glen Abbey and makes it difficult to host the event from a logistical standpoint. New sites from both a short-term and long-term prospect are being investigated. 

Short-term, there are a number of interested locations that have inquired about hosting the national championship, reportedly including Hamilton G&CC, Toronto’s St. George’s G&CC and Mickelson National GC in Calgary, a course just being finished.

Long-term, Golf Canada would like to find another permanent home like Glen Abbey and a few sites west of Toronto have been discussed. However, that would take several years to construct, meaning some other hosts in the interim.

Overall, the governing body of golf in Canada came through a positive year that saw it turn a surplus, albeit a small one, and begin to advance a number of strategic programs. 

“The surplus was nice,” said Applebaum, coughing and hacking through a case of bronchitis. “And we put a ton of resources into a lot of our development projects. Overall, it was a really positive year.”

The bottom line showed a surplus of $1,904, not exactly the stuff to jam the vault at Golf House, but still in the black. And considering it had losses of $915,495 and $1,400,675 in 2015 and 2014 respectively, the result is a win.

Within the year, there were positive and negative stories. For example, sales at the CP Canadian Women’s Open increased for the fourth consecutive year with record ticket sales in Ottawa as fans flocked to follow Brooke Henderson in her home region. 

Applebaum said that trend should continue into 2018 when the tournament goes to Regina’s Wascana G&CC. 

“Saskatchewan fans are the biggest supporters of events like this,” said Applebaum. “Our sales are already almost 50 per cent ahead of where they were at this time last year.”

Not so rosy was the bottom line of the RBC Canadian Open, where sales were down $472,000 compared to the previous year. Applebaum stated there were big plans for 2018 to draw more people in. 

One example will be The Rink, a popular hockey-themed motif that wrapped the par-3 seventh. It will be expanded and enhanced although no details were given.

And the news this week that Dustin Johnson will return as part of Team RBC certainly will help sales. 

“I’m beyond thrilled to see this and the overall support that RBC has for the tournament,” said Applebaum. “I can’t imagine a better scenario. The phones have been ringing off the hook since the announcement.”

Applebaum also said that Golf Canada is in the final stages of hiring a new tournament director for the RBC Canadian Open after the embarrassing mid-event departure of Brent McLaughlin, who has parted ways with the organization.

Beyond professional golf there were also ups and downs for Golf Canada on the year.

A plus was the launch of the new training facility at Bear Mountain Golf Course in Victoria. Top amateur players will live in the area, attending school in the morning and then training in the afternoon. It means a 300-per-cent increase in the amount of time Canada’s top amateur golfers will spend with their coaches. It’s a model that’s worked well in other national sporting programs in Canada. 

On the down side was a slip in the number of members, dropping 4.1 per cent to just over 300,000. This is a slide that’s been continuous for some time and Golf Canada has not yet found a way to staunch the bleeding. 

Last year it started a program that gave those who paid a membership for insurance for stolen clubs, damaged golf carts and even broken windows. Of course the traditional access to Golf Canada’s handicap tracking program is also included. But it’s failed to catch on as more and more golfers seem less and less interested in what’s being offered. 

“It’s a fair criticism that we haven’t done a good job in telling people what we do and what we have,” Applebaum admitted. “If you don’t see anything of value you aren’t going to continue to pay.”

Golf Canada is looking ahead and hoping that it can find the answers to this and other questions for the game in Canada. Applebaum remains positive that there are good days ahead. 

He’s been in the job just over six months now after leaving the Women’s Tennis Association, which was headquartered in St. Petersburg, Fla. He has plans to bring improvements to the governing body but knows it will take time. 

Still, he’s excited for what’s ahead. 

“I didn’t leave sunny Florida just to come up and have them change the name on the office door,” he joked.