Sports in Canadian culture

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Originally Posted by Denscity

Will the Canadian Open ever leave Toronto?

Next year! Well not far. It's in Ancaster in Hamilton. And then again like four years after that. In between is anyone's guess right now. Could still be Glen Abbey but it seems inevitable that the land will be developed. Which is unfortunate, because I live around the corner and I like the energy the tournament brings even if it shuts down one lane on Dorval for that week.

St. George's in Toronto or Angus Glen in Markham have hosted in the last 10 years and I've read St. George's is in negotiation.

They tried rotating it in recent years (Shaughnessy in Vancouver and Royal Montreal) but Golf Canada lost millions. I don't understand the finances of pro golf tours but it is a shame since it's the national open. The British, US and Australian Opens rotate every year. Canadian Open used to back in the day. Spanned many provinces.

Bernie Ecclestone built up F1 but then began to bring it down through greed. Traditional homes of motorsport were suddenly left off the calendar. No French GP for a decade! And Montreal had to miss out one year. There are several other examples. Races suddenly couldn't make any money since Bernie kept upping the hosting fees.

Golf is different. But I don't in which way. I do know that RBC lobbied to have it at Glen Abbey and money talks.

Glen Abbey is probably top 10 courses in the country but I read pro golfers give the edge to Shaughnessy in terms of the actual course. And then there's Cabot Cliffs or something like that out east in NS. There's two I think like that. Those are often ranked the best in the country, but the infrastructure and population are the issues. A guy I know went to go visit his nephew last year who got accepted to a school out there. But he used that as an excuse to his wife because the main intention was to go play that course.

If they are keeping it in GTA and Glen Abbey does shut down, they'll probably have to renovate a couple other courses in places like King City, Kleinburg or rural Milton. I'm not sure St. George's wants to be semi permanent like Glen Abbey.