I’m out this morning doing an interview at Wyndance, ClubLink’s Greg Norman course on the east side of Toronto. With that in mind, here are some thoughts on news I’ve been hearing…
- Talk is that Terrebonne, the long delayed project Angus Glen owner has been working on (it is supposed to be a Tom Fazio design and long ago completed) may have hit a fork in the road and may not ever be finished. The RCGA must be breathing a sigh of relief, since the Terrebonne deal was one struck by Stephen Ross, the former ED. It would open the RCGA up to including Royal Montreal in the rotation, a course that held up well at the Presidents Cup.
- So now that the RCGA have announced St. George’s, we’re told several others will be announced in coming weeks. I’m told London is not a key market for RBC, which means London Hunt is likely out, regardless of how deserving it is. Royal Montreal would appear to be back in the rotation if Terrebonne fails, and Shaughnessy is a near certainty unless this University Course swap goes forward. But what else? Westmount? Hamilton? Something newer like Eagles Nest or Coppinwood? Makes one appreciate how hard it is to set up a rota.
- Apparently the RCGA’s Canadian Open qualifier, being held at Rattlesnake Point on July 21, is already full. So despite the fact there are two courses at Rattlesnake and the cut off was three weeks from now, anyone applying to qualify won’t get in. Hope those Canadian Tour guys close to making it through the money list got their entry in…
- Speaking of the RCGA, they will announce the Canadian entries to the Canadian Open on Monday at a media day. While some are obvious — Weir, Ames, Mills — and probably a bulk of the Canadians on the Nationwide Tour guys, I can guarantee there will be a surprise along the way. Not an exciting one necessarily, but a surprise nonetheless.
- Maple Down’s head pro Mike Miscio is heading to Muskoka Bay to take a new role at the Doug Carrick design.
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RT says quite clearly, “…I’ve been hearing. Talk is that Terrebonne…..” He’s not drawing any conclusions. If you have some inside knowledge and insight, feel free to share what you can.
I would agree that continued delays and missteps at Terrebonne are a relief to the RCGA, as they would likely love to exit any association with that project. BTW, what significance is it whether or not the Terrebonne property has value? A garbage dump has value; but that doesn’t make it a suitable site for a Canadian Open.
As for an Open rotation, I think they should go with a course in Vancouver/B.C. area, one in Alberta/Calgary, maybe 2 in Ontario/Toronto area and one in Quebec/Montreal. Take the 5 main courses and add in 2 more random ones which don’t have to be regulars. I think Glen Abbey would likely be in the regular rotation, but something like Coppinwood could be one of the 2 randoms played once every 15 years or so.
can you tell us more about the “proposed” university club land swap with shaughnessy??? this is a rumour i have not heard.
Phil: The Globe and Mail was reporting on the weekend that Shaughnessy had been in talks with the First Nations band that was given the University course about swapping it for Shaughnessy, allowing the natives to develop Shaughnessy sooner rather than later. I’ve not played the University course, so I can’t comment on the quality.
3-Wood.: I never said anything about the “value” of the site. I just said there is talk it may not move forward, or at least Gordon Stollery may not move forward with it. My source is strong, but you’re welcome to discount it. And yes, I agree projects are stopped for a reason, and I suspect there is a good one in this instance.
http://www.pgatour.com/players/02/71/24/scorecards/2008/h096.html
What the $%@#$% happened to Chris Baryla today….
96 at The Georgian Bay Club….
Oh My…
Bundy: This is from Chris Armstrong, Baryla’s agent:
“Chris aggravated his back injury and refused to quit because he was on a sponsor’s exemption…didn’t feel he could make it any worse so grinded it out…class act
He will be shutting it down while we determine next steps for the balance of the year.”
I’d rather see someone shut it down and WD then potentially risk further injury…
Just couldn’t find anything out there at the time…
Interesting stuff…
I find it interesting that St. George is perhaps the #3 ranked course on the PGA tour rotation.