Sagebrush: Rod Whitman and Richard Zokol have created a fascinating course full of a options near Merritt, BC.
On Saturday I catch the early flight to Kelowna for a couple of days of a FAM Trip to Predator Ridge, Tobiano and Sagebrush before taking the bus to Vancouver for the RBC Canadian Open. I’ll be reporting all week for Sympatico there, plus adding things to the blog along the way.
It’ll be interesting to see what kind of reception the Canadian Open gets this time in B.C. The last time it appeared at Shaughnessy, fans failed to come out and support the tournament. This time the field is much stronger, but I’m still not certain that will change things. And if the fans don’t come out, it’ll be the last time the tournament comes to Vancouver for a very long time.
It also strikes me that I’ve never done a proper course review of Shaughnessy, despite having played there numerous times. I like the course a lot — it isn’t among the upper elite in Canada, but it is a very solid course that can be easily walked. There are also some excellent holes (10, for example) and the players liked it a great deal when the Canadian Open was last there. It is certainly a shotmaker’s course, one that can’t be overwhelmed easily and the greens are tricky. Not that different, in some ways, than St. George’s last year.
I’ll also be attending the Golf Journalists Association of Canada dinner, and Richard Zokol’s Hall of Fame induction. It’ll be a busy week.
Anyway, I’ll start posting this coming weekend, and am looking forward to Westjet’s inflight live TV — it’ll allow me to catch up with the British Open.
A bestselling author and award-winning columnist, Robert Thompson has been writing about business and sports, and particularly golf, for almost two decades. His reporting and commentary on golf has appeared in 
Interested to know if Westjet had live T.V alllowing you to watch the OPEN.
“And if the fans don’t come out, it’ll be the last time the tournament comes to Vancouver for a very long time.”
I don’t know, evidently this year’s Canadian Open is the deepest & most talented in history, something the sponsors love.
Perhaps they should leave Ontario permanently.
Neo, I’d imagine that talented depth of field comes at great expense to the sponsor! I know the PGA Tour doesn’t allow appearance fees, but there are ways around it.
There’s no Canadian Open buzz in Vancouver, so the gate will again be a bust. The daily $80 ticket won’t attract many walk-ups. What was that thinking? The LA Open can’t draw flies at half that amount.