Host country boasts hopefuls in RBC Canadian Open
By Man In The Black Hat, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent
EDITOR'S NOTE: With the PGA TOUR in Canada this week for the RBC Canadian Open, PGATOUR.COM decided to ask its Canadian correspondent, the Man In The Black Hat, to give us his take on the state of golf in his home country.
With the RBC Canadian Open at Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club this week in Vancouver, B.C., the state of Canadian golf once again goes under the microscope north of the border. But there's a decidedly different focus than in years gone by.
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As the third oldest national championship in the world behind the U.S. and British Opens, and the second oldest PGA TOUR stop behind the BMW Championship, the RBC Canadian Open need not take a back seat in terms of prestige to any other. Yet in recent memory, we as Canadians spent more time worrying about what our national championship wasn't, instead of what it was.
When it had a pre-FedExCup late-September date on the PGA TOUR schedule, the RBC Canadian Open appeared to be an afterthought for some players, a fact that did not go unnoticed in a country that seems to require validation from external sources to feel legitimate. After all, if Tiger Woods or other notables weren't willing to attend, there had to be something inherently wrong with us, as a nation, as a host. If scores were too low, it meant our courses and setups were too easy and therefore unworthy of being branded as our national open. In general, angst and the RBC Canadian Open were interchangeable terms on a yearly basis.
But then, in 2001, the Royal Canadian Golf Association, recently rebranded as Golf Canada, recognized the need for change and began moving our national championship around the country. By showcasing a variety of layouts that would, on their own merit, slowly begin to attract stronger fields -- regardless of the date on which the event fell -- Golf Canada sent a clear signal to TOUR players and fans alike that it was time once again to focus on what mattered most. That if this was truly a national championship, it should act as such.
Take a glance at this week's field. You might recognize a few names: Ernie Els, Jim Furyk, Jose Maria Olazabal, Luke Donald, Paul Casey, Lucas Glover, Rickie Fowler, Anthony Kim and Masters champ Charl Schwartzel, to name a few. No wonder that tournament director Bill Paul said he was "thrilled" with the field.
Yet, there will always be a certain concern regarding the lack of a Canadian winner of the event, the last of which came in 1954 by Pat Fletcher.
Canada's last, and best chance for a Canadian winner since '54 came in 2004 when Mike Weir lost in a playoff to an almost apologetic Vijay Singh at Glen Abbey. Many feel that Weir has never fully recovered from that loss, and when Weir apologized to Canadians for not coming through and Vijay feeling sheepishly accepting victory -- well, nothing was more Canadian in golf than that.
Realizing and accepting the struggles of Canada's most decorated golfer, Fletcher's victory at Point Grey Golf Club, which lies only a couple of stout par 5s from Shaughnessy in Vancouver, is now more a point of reference, rather a lament.
For the first time in a long time, the somewhat unrealistic expectations we have foisted upon Canadian golfers are all but gone, replaced by a decidedly non-judgmental atmosphere from which a pleasant surprise or two just may emerge.
Take, for example, Matt McQuillan, a Kingston, Ontario native who was serving up Molson Canadian this time last year before deciding to give q-school another shot. Until two weeks ago McQuillan had made only one of 11 cuts in his rookie year on two, but then caught fire at the John Deere Classic, finishing in a tie for third. So there's certainly hope, if you need it.
It's also worth keeping an eye on Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., the top Canadian at last month's U.S. Open at Congressional, finishing tied for 39th; former world No. 1 amateur Nick Taylor, also of Abbotsford; and 2009 NCAA individual title winner Matt Hill of Bright's Grove, Ontario -- the same Bright's Grove from which Weir hails.
Other Canadians in the field this week include David Hearn of Brampton, Ontario, and Chris Baryla of Calgary, Alberta. Monday qualifiers Brad Fritsch of Manotick, Ontario, Darren Wallace of Langley, British Columbia, and amateur Mitch Evanecz of Red Deer, Alberta will also draw home support.
For inspiration about the future, Canadians can turn to the recent uproarious success of Northern Ireland, a country with a population roughly equivalent to that of Vancouver proper. Northern Ireland just so happens to have produced three winners of the last six major championships, though population is only part of the equation.
As most of Canada is locked into a deep freeze for the better part of five months of the year -- which explains our fascination with a certain alternative ball (puck) and stick game -- it is climatically more difficult to develop young talent. It's not an excuse, but it is a cold, harsh reality.
But Canadians should look forward with confidence. Golf Canada has a myriad of new development programs in place that would not be in existence if it weren't for the success of the likes of Mike Weir and Stephen Ames. These programs just need one ingredient before they begin producing results -- time.
In addition, Vancouver's temperate climate lends itself exceedingly well to the year-round development of the kind of elite players from which new Canadian stars will arise. It shouldn't come as any surprise that two of the aforementioned players in the field this week at Shaughnessy hail from Abbotsford, a city located in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, dirctly adjacent to Greater Vancouver.
Yes, we're looking at you Nick Taylor, and you Adam Hadwin, to break the drought. But no pressure, eh?
The Man In The Black Hat is a freelance columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily reflect the views of the PGA TOUR.
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