For those of you hoping (like myself) that Mickelson National will finally bring the Canadian Open to Calgary, it's looking like more of a longshot after comments made by the new head of Golf Canada:
Quote:
After formalizing the tournament’s return to Glen Abbey GC in 2018, and suggesting an end-of-year announcement about 2019 (possibly Glen Abbey again or maybe Hamilton G&CC, which hosted its first Canadian Open in 1919, but is apparently seeking a larger cash guarantee than last time around in 2012), Applebaum was asked about the possibility of the tournament once again moving around the country to cities such as Vancouver, Calgary or Montreal.
“We are really happy in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area),” Applebaum stated after a preamble about embracing the passion fans across Canada have for the tournament.
The reason for a GTA location is largely economical, with the tournament struggling to make money when it moves away from Canada’s largest centre. While the event ran a small deficit in Vancouver in 2011, it lost a whopping $1.2 million in Montreal in 2014 due chiefly to poor attendance. It stands to reason that RBC isn’t in the business of losing money.
With Glen Abbey owner ClubLink Corp wanting to develop the Jack Nicklaus-designed course into homes and retail shops in the near future — i.e. as soon as it can gain approval to do so — to cash in on a sky-high real estate market, where in the GTA the Canadian Open will go is the question. Golf Canada’s plan is to create a new public facility — perhaps in partnership with other national sports federations — that will replace Glen Abbey as a permanent venue. As such, the governing body is currently looking at sites around Toronto — three in particular with an apparent clear leader in Vaughn — to accomplish this.
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https://scoregolf.com/blog/jason-log...canadian-open/
In my opinion, a national open should move around and showcase the best courses our country has to offer. This continual hosting at Glen Abbey or another bland permanent GTA venue in the future makes for boring golf and hurts the tournament overall.
The sponsorship excuse is ridiculous. The Shaw Charity Classic has been hugely successful in attracting sponsorship, attracting a great field, and drawing PGA Tour size crowds over the past four years. Having attended a number of tour events, I think that Golf Canada does a relatively poor job of organization, which leads to poor sponsorship and attendance figures.