[mr.x]

Shaughnessy Golf Club awarded 2011 RBC Canadian Open
Private Vancouver club last played host to the event in 2005

By Brad Ziemer, Vancouver Sun
April 15, 2009 12:01 PM

Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club was officially awarded the 2011 RBC Canadian Open today.

The Royal Canadian Golf Association made the announcement via teleconference late this morning.

Shaughnessy, a private club located on Southwest Marine Drive in Vancouver, last played host to the event in September of 2005, when Mark Calcavecchia won by a single stroke.

The Open was also held at Shaughnessy in 1948 and 1966.

“Part of our strategic vision for the Open is to continue to bring it to the finest golf courses in Canada,” said RCGA executive director Scott Simmons.

“The PGA Tour players absolutely loved Shaughnessy the last time it was played in Vancouver in 2005. It is a wonderful golf course, the type of old-style traditional layout the PGA Tour players love to compete on … It has been four years since Shaughnessy last hosted the Open, but the players have been talking about it ever since.”

The 2011 tournament, which coincides with Shaughnessy’s 100th anniversary, will be held in late July. It will follow the British Open, which is being held in 2011 at Royal St. George’s.

Shaughnessy’s tight 7,000-yard layout proved to be a tough test in 2005, when Calcavecchia won the tournament with a 72-hole score of five-under par 275.

As good as the course is, Shaughnessy presents some challenges from an infrastructure perspective. There isn’t a lot of land, which limits the number of corporate tents that can be squeezed onto the property.

The only real disappointment about the 2005 Open at Shaughnessy were the crowds. They were smaller than expected and the RCGA has pledged to do a better job of marketing the event in 2011.

http://www.vancouversun.com/Sports/Vancouver+Shaughnessy+Golf+Club+awarded+2011+Canadian+Open/1499419/story.html

[Kodii]

:previous: I have actually been there. Twice. For the most random opportunities.

Add another to the list of major sporting events coming to Vancouver :)

[LeftCoaster]

I'm sure many have been to Shaughnessy...?

or did you mean the Canadian Open?

[Kodii]

No, I meant Shaughnessy. I just found it amusing that in less than a year in Vancouver, and of all the places to host events, I ended up there for two of the most awkward experiences of my life.

[phesto]

The last tournament didn’t draw big crowds because the field was mediocre, and 2011 will not be any different. The field is mediocre because the tournament is the weekend following the British Open; at least in Ontario it doesn’t seem like such a trek for the players and they get a bit better turnout, but in Vancouver, we can’t expect too much.

Hard to get fans hyped when only 4 of the top 30 players show up (as was the case here in 2005)…obviously Tiger or Phil won’t be there, but c’mon!

As for the course, I’m not sure what players the article is referring to, but the reviews for Shaughnessy were mixed at best. In fact some of the players hated it, suggesting that all that was done to make the course difficult was growing the rough out ridiculously long and letting it get trampled. Having seen it (and played the course after) I could see how the complaints were justified. I think there were even some players who said they wouldn’t play the Cdn Open again if it was at Shaughnessy, (but obviously they weren’t big name players.)

It’s great that Vancouver is being kept part of a rotation for this tournament, but I think the best thing the sponsor RBC and the RCGA should be doing is lobbying for a new tournament date, which is a tough proposition I’m sure, but would go a long way to making this a bigger event that would bring recognition to Vancouver. After all, I think the players liked Vancouver, and the tournament is a great regional draw to the city during the summer months when it is actually nice to hang out at a beautiful spot like Shaughnessy. Hopefully RBC stays on as sponsor and given that they are now one of N. America's larger financial institutions maybe they can start to throw some $$'s into it. (in a few years)

[djmk]

I ended up there for two of the most awkward experiences of my life.

please tell. the doctor is listening.

[touraccuracy]

double post

[touraccuracy]

Yeah, you're going to have to expand on that, haha.


I've been lucky enough to play Shaughnessy before.

[Kodii]

Yeah, you're going to have to expand on that, haha.


Let's just say that high-class venues tend to host events for high-class people or people who I normally do not associate with. Basically, I was invited on two separate occasions to attend events where I completely did not fit in. One being a UBC Greek society event (:yuck:) and the other being a banquet for an organization of which I was a part of for only a couple months. And both times were the only times I have ever had coffee, to keep myself awake and occupied.

[mr.x]

^ lol, I was hoping that you were going to say you got chased down by geese. Unfortunately, that happened to me once while golfing at Musqueam...I had an expensive ball in the green, I wanted it back, and there were a dozen or so of those birds just sitting there around the hole. I won't go any further. :p

[djmk]

golf sucks. i have never played there.

however, my wife and i did inspect the venue for our wedding, and the place failed.
they gave us a tour, told us respectfully never come back wearing jeans, and we thought that the placed sucked. not because of the no jeans policy, but because the place was not classy or westcoast enough for us.

[Vancity]

:previous: I have actually been there. Twice. For the most random opportunities.

Add another to the list of major sporting events coming to Vancouver :)

Yay! Although, I admit, I don't watch a lot of golf (I do play, it's more fun), I'm glad that another major sporting event is coming to Vancouver. Hopefully, they can draw lots of people, as well, as more of the top players in the world (like Tiger, and Phil). Couldn't they find another venue that is larger than Shaughnessy? The article stated that Shaughnessy was running out of land...

[Vancity]

The last tournament didn’t draw big crowds because the field was mediocre, and 2011 will not be any different. The field is mediocre because the tournament is the weekend following the British Open; at least in Ontario it doesn’t seem like such a trek for the players and they get a bit better turnout, but in Vancouver, we can’t expect too much.


Is there any way they could make improvements to the playing field?

[phesto]

Is there any way they could make improvements to the playing field?

It is very difficult, but would almost certainly require them to change the date of the tournament. Most big name players are reluctant travel far distances on the week before or after a Major (ie. British Open), even if you increased the size of the winnings. The problem is that every tournament and sponsor are competing for the same players to show up, so it is not only difficult to convince the PGA to change their setup, but it costs a lot of money. Incidentally, the Canadian Open used to be far more relevant to the PGA schedule, but is now an average tournament date.

It would be nice to think that players would choose to play in Vancouver, but the reality is that big-name players choose tournaments based on travel, $$'s and sponsorship requirements.