McCARTHY: Did RBC Canadian Open's new venue make the grade?

Article content

CALEDON, Ont. — A fan with fake abs shaved into his hairy beer belly is flexing for mobile phones as the masses prepare for another well-lubricated rendition of our national anthem.

The rowdiest of the Saturday afternoon crowd at TPC Toronto hang and bang on the makeshift hockey boards. The well-heeled are also in the vicinity, but kept safely above the fray in cozy corporate suites. CBS stars Amanda Balionis and Colt Knost are minutes from charging onto the tee in duelling Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers hockey sweaters.

Social media teams buzz about, trying to decide which part of the intentional chaos to point their cameras. In the middle of it all, Mackenzie Hughes and caddie Julien Trudeau stand on the tee box having a conversation about the wind.

Welcome to the RBC Canadian Open. More specifically, welcome to the Rink Hole.

“It’s a lot of fun. I’m very proud to be Canadian. It’s a great country. I’m very proud to be from here. I can feel that pride out there for us and just for people being Canadian,” Hughes said after firing his way into contention during Saturday’s third round. “Yeah, really enjoying it. Like I said, the support’s been phenomenal.”

The rink hole, now in its seventh iteration, has become a microcosm of the RBC Canadian Open, and of modern professional sports as a whole.

In a media and entertainment world fighting for the next viral moment, big events are spending plenty of time, money, and brain power on figuring out how to put all the ingredients together to create perfect bite-sized content that will find its way into your algorithm.

“We’re not just a golf tournament, we’re a sports and entertainment property,” tournament director Ryan Paul said. “I know we continue to try to build on the Canadiana of this event and where we can add to that.”

In a sea of sameness on the PGA Tour schedule, the RBC Canadian Open is showcasing its differences.

We might secretly cringe at listening to the 10th off-key version of O Canada belted out at the Rink Hole or at seeing Mounties used as models for a world audience, but the shame of selling out was strictly a 90s thing. When getting noticed is the end game, it’s simply called leaning into your strengths.

Looking around TPC Toronto this week, all you see is lots of people having fun, some watching golf, some not. And if you ask around the PGA Tour, the tournament has developed a reputation, both for its vibe, and for punching above its weight as a tournament and a product.

“It’s become a very, very good tournament,” two-time champion Rory McIlroy said before missing the cut for the first time in five appearances. “I think because of that, and you see guys playing each and every year, I think the field then starts to become stronger because you see your peers do something, and we’re all like sort of sheep out here. Once one person does something, we all sort of try to do the same thing.”

None of this would be possible without a compelling tournament and world-class competition on the golf course. And McIlroy has done a lot of the heavy lifting to deliver on both of those items. The superstar golfer hasn’t been shy about his appreciation for national opens, and his strong relationship with RBC has guaranteed the Canadian Open retains a very healthy status as long as it can retain the Northern Irishman.

All this recent success has given Golf Canada the positive energy and upward trajectory it needed to make the rather ambitious move to rural Caledon and TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley for the first time in 2025.

With Golf Canada in the midst of moving its headquarters to this new venue 75 km northwest of downtown Toronto, it’s no secret that TPC’s North Course (one of three at the sprawling three course facility) will be the de facto home for the tournament for at least a generation of golfers.

There will still be trips to classic private golf clubs such as St. George’s and Hamilton, but with each of those courses only willing to open their gates to the tournament every five years or so, expect plenty of stops here in Caledon.

There was always to be some bumps in the road this week, perhaps even literal ones as upwards of 80,000 people over the course of the week attempted to make their way from GTA cities to rural Caledon.

Wednesday night’s storm only exacerbated parking issues as grass lots turned to mud, even causing lot closures during Thursday’s opening round. The tournament’s social media team spent much of the early rounds apologizing to ticketholders who made their voices heard loudly on social media.

There will undoubtedly be some changes and logistical improvements made based on what is learned this week, but the tournament’s future at TPC Toronto is now a reality.

On the links, the ability of the North Course to stand up to PGA Tour competition will remain something of a mystery after the greens were never able to dry out over the four days, allowing players to stay in attack mode and possibly causing some problems with putting speeds. A tricky breeze on Friday gave some hope that the course could show some teeth down the road.

“I thought the greens were maybe a little bit on the slower side than we normally face, and they never really firmed up over the week,” Adam Hadwin said on Sunday. “But the fairways started to roll out and made hitting some of the fairways a little bit more difficult. The angles had to be spot on. Yeah, rough was up. I thought it provided a good test.”

In the end, it once again wasn’t to be the week for Hughes, who will no doubt be back in Caledon next year to try to live out his childhood dream of winning his national Open.

“I just do the best I can to control what I can control, and whatever happens happens,” Hughes said.

Good advice, and all you can do, whether playing in a tournament or organizing one.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.

Play Video