Inside Golf House

The 2010 RBC Canadian Open at St. George’s Golf and Country Club was a huge success and I’m absolutely thrilled with how the entire event came together. It was the combined efforts of so many special groups and individuals that helped contribute to this year’s event.

We kicked off tournament week with the Mike Weir Charity Classic and were thrilled to have notables such as Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin Dillon from the hit HBO series Entourage, Olympic gold medalist Jon Montgomery and NHLer’s Dion Phanuef, Martin Brodeur and Rick Nash join PGA Tour notables Paul Casey, Luke Donald, Stephen Ames, Sean O’Hair, Fred Couples, Camilo Villegas and Retief Goosen as well as our event host, Mike Weir. The event helped to raise $350,000 in support of our national charity partner, the Mike Weir Foundation.

Philanthropy has become a major focus of the RBC Canadian Open and together with our partners at RBC, our charitable vision for the event is to raise $5 million over the first five years of RBC’s involvement with the event. To that end, I’m thrilled that year’s event helped to raise almost $1.3 million in support of the Mike Weir Foundation as well as our community charity partner - Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation - and several other service clubs and community groups involved with the Open.

A special thank you goes out to the membership of St. George’s Golf and Country Club for giving up their course and allowing us to contest the Open at arguably one of Canada’s finest venues. Year after year the stars of the PGA Tour cite the golf course as the most important factor in their decision to play. No doubt St. George’s has left a lasting impression on this year’s entire field of competitors.

While heavy rain mid week led to some low early-round scores, the golf course held strong and proved a worthy challenge for the world’s best players. When the final putt dropped on Sunday, the winning score was 14-under par, and the true measure of St. George’s was more accurately reflected in the feedback of the players – each to a man speaking so highly and respectfully of the venerable St. George’s layout.

Players are also in for a treat the next two years with a return to a pair of Canada’s most renowned venues - Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club in Vancouver next year and the historic Hamilton Golf and Country Club in 2012.

I can’t say enough how pleased we were with how the operational logistics of the event came together. Closing a section of Islington Avenue was a huge part of the puzzle in bringing the event to St. George’s and I can’t stress enough how appreciative we are of the all the support we received from the city of Toronto to make it happen. When it comes to road closures in the city, they are the experts and their guidance over the two years leading up to this year’s Open was a tremendous help to Tournament Director Bill Paul and his efforts.

I also want to personally thank the 1,700 volunteers that played a part in this year’s Open. We absolutely could not conduct the event without the commitment and support of our volunteer committee – year after year they are engine that drives our success and we are so thankful of their passion and support for the RBC Canadian Open.

A lot of credit also needs to go to the membership at Islington Golf Club, proud partners in this year’s open hosting the offsite practice facility. Hosting the practice facility offsite was a point of concern for many leading up to the event and I can’t stress enough how thrilled we were with the feedback we got from all the players. The offsite practice facility drew rave reviews from players and media alike – from the casual experience for players at the range to the effortless shuttle back and forth to St. George’s, we were thrilled with the response.

Congratulations also go out to each of the 18 Canadians that challenged for this year’s RBC Canadian Open. Competing for our national open title is a dream for all aspiring Canadian golfers. No doubt each of our Canadian competitors feels the added pressure and heavy expectation of a strong showing on home soil. At the end of the day, the excitement and enthusiasm of young Adam Hadwin captured the attention of Canadians and gave us all reason to cheer. Adam’s strong showing as well as that of our other young Canucks emphasizes the bright future that lies ahead for Canadian golf.

For Golf Canada, hosting the 2010 RBC Canadian Open at St. George’s has opened our eyes to future possibilities. Together with RBC, our vision is to host the Open at the country’s finest venues and the success of St. George’s in 2010 will spark the debate over which other courses previously counted out might now be considered for the Open. If nothing else, the success of 2010 will fuel the discussion over where Canadian golf fans believe we should bring the event.

But before we look too far ahead to what the future holds, join me today in congratulating our champion and celebrating what was a terrific 2010 RBC Canadian Open.