Excuse me, I have a few questions
Photo: TPC Toronto
As most everyone knows by now, the RBC Canadian Open will be held on the North Course at TPC Toronto in 2025. The three-course facility is spectacular and everywhere you turn there is something new being added, from a new home for Golf Canada to a new clubhouse for the Heathlands course to a series of townhomes that will have 85 bedrooms.
It’s all part of a master plan to turn the Osprey Valley property into a golf destination. With restaurants, a high-performance learning centre, an 18-hole community putting course and the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame, there will be plenty to do off the courses too.
I took advantage of an invitation this past week to listen to CEO Chris Humeniuk and Golf Canada CEO Lawrence Applebaum detail future plans for the complex, particularly as they relate to the RBC Canadian Open next year. And then I had an opportunity, along with some other media members, to play the North Course. I’ll have a full review next week but for now, let’s just say it’s very impressive.
Us media types are prone to question everything, and questions certainly arose as we made our way around, primarily about how many people will visit the RBC Canadian Open next year and how will they get there. Also, where will the players stay?
By definition, destination resorts are somewhat remote. It’s part of the charm. TPC Toronto is just outside Alton, about 90 minutes north of downtown Toronto or an hour from Lester B. Pearson Airport. Brampton and Orangeville are closer. Will golf fans travel that far for a glimpse of their favourite players and to experience a national championship? Golf Canada obviously thinks so. They will have their home there and while no one is saying so definitively, it seems likely that TPC Toronto will host many more Opens in the future
As for the players, most are young guys with families and an entourage that like to experience whatever city they’re in. It’s likely many would opt to stay downtown or near the airport, so getting to and from the course comes with increased travel time, not to mention possible delays due to traffic congestion. There’s an opportunity here for some enterprising types to set up a helicopter service for the week to shuttle players and VIPs. According to Chris Humeniuk, TPC Toronto will have a helipad.
For real folks that don’t typically chopper around, the land routes to the course funnel to a two-lane country road that runs in front of the property. Plenty of adjacent farmland could be available for parking, providing it doesn’t rain. Better yet, shuttles from Brampton and Orangeville could move large numbers efficiently and offer accessible large lots to park. Keeping single car traffic congestion around the course to a minimum seems like a smart idea.
Golf Canada has a year to figure this out and I hope they do. TPC Toronto is as good as it gets as a golf course and a facility to house all the infrastructure that comes with the 2025 national championship and more in the future. Whether they can get the fans to go and how they will get there are two of the important mysteries yet to be resolved.
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The Framework Agreement
June 6th is known worldwide as D-Day and this year marks the 80th Anniversary of the massive Allied invasion of France that eventually led to the defeat of Nazi Germany and the end of the Second World War.
June 6th is also notorious as the day in 2023 that PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan used a sneak attack to spring the Framework Agreement on his unsuspecting players. The surprise announcement came during the RBC Canadian Open, with Monahan projecting the Agreement would end the legal wrangling with LIV Golf, open new revenue streams for professional golf and bring joy and peace to the land by Christmas.
A year later, no agreement has been finalized and there appears to be conflicting schools of thought on how everything is progressing. Two independent PGA board members have resigned, citing no progress, while player directors Jordan Spieth and Tiger Woods suggest things are moving along quite nicely. One notable change is that players now outnumber independent directors on the Board. Whether that’s a good thing or not is yet to be determined but the animals are definitely running the farm.
Apparently, there will be a very important pow-wow soon where Tiger, Rory, Jay and others will get together with Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the head of the Saudi Public Investment Fund, to learn what he wants, how much he may be willing to invest and what could, might or will happen with LIV Golf.
The players are somewhat content right now, thanks to a $1.5 billion investment from the Strategic Sports Group and a long-term equity plan. Some argue they don’t need the PIF. However, that doesn’t eliminate the LIV threat and the potential for more poaching in the future. It also doesn’t bring all the best players together, as most everyone says is the objective.
Meanwhile, all the best PGA Tour players are at Jack’s place this week for the Memorial and huge payouts all round and the jumpers will be at LIV Golf Houston for even more money. Stay tuned for another surprise announcement. Or not.
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Sky-high prices for everything
Brand name drivers at $900 each; high-end golf resorts that easily top $1,000 per night; new private clubs where the initiation fee runs $500,000 and more. These aren’t isolated examples. Every day brings a new high. Apparently, there’s an endless supply of rich dudes out there with no limits on how much they’re willing to spend to get the kind of first-class golf experience they want.
But it doesn’t come cheap.
Even a lot of the top public courses in the U.S. and internationally come with price tags that used to be what you’d call a mortgage payment: green fees at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas are $1,250, TPC Sawgrass are $1,000, Pebble Beach and Pinehurst No.2 north of $500 and several of the Open Championship courses in Britain pushing $600 US.
At home, things are a bit more reasonable but here in Ontario we now have more than a dozen public courses that charge upwards of $200 CDN and at least three dozen over $100. You’d be lucky to find a private club with an opening right now but over a dozen would be happy to add you to their waiting list for a minimum of $100,000.
I posed this question to my playing partners recently, “What’s the most you’d pay for a single round of golf on a public course?” It was phrased that way to rule out Augusta National where some people would pay almost any amount. The answers ranged from a few hundred dollars for a really good course to $500 to play Pebble Beach. I didn’t want to discourage them by telling them that Pebble requires you to stay at the Resort to get that rate and the total price tag would easily top $1,000. But whatever!
For me and most people I know, those courses are maybe on the Bucket List but more likely just a fantasy. I’m good with that. I still subscribe to the idea that if the beer is cold and the company is good, it’s gonna be a good round no matter where you play.
What’s the most you’d be willing to play for a round of golf on a public course?
Some of the best courses (public) I’ve played have been in the $80 price range. (some on holidays with some lower pricing by operators). Top I’d pay for a premium course is $125. Fees and resorts are ridiculous for most of us moderate folks!
I think it comes down to whether it’s just about the golf or if you’re seeking a broader travel experience. Plenty of great courses everywhere at reasonable prices as long as you don’t need six restaurants, valet service, Egyptian cotton sheets, a Grecian spa and a lazy river.
We are travelling to New Zealand this winter and thought it was our chance to play bucket list course Cape Kidnapper’s Bay. Looked it up and $800 / person plus you need to stay at their resort for a few more grand. So much for that wish.
As in most countries, there are plenty of very good golf courses in New Zealand at reasonable prices, just not the “name” courses. Play where the locals play. Enjoy your trip!