Tournament: The RBC Canadian Open
Course: Glen Abbey Country Club
Course Architect: Glen Abbey was designed in 1977 by Jack Nicklaus, which turned out to be his first (and some say best) solo golf course design.
Course Grass: Glen Abbey CC features Pencross Bermuda greens, Penntrio Bermuda fairways and Poa Annua tees.
Course Stats: Glenn Abbey will stretch the tees out to 7,273 yards, which is a little less than the average length of a PGA tournament.
Course Features: The historic Glen Abbey Country Club plays host to the RBC Canadian Open this week, marking the 27th time it was chosen to represent the Canadian Open. It is the 3rd longest running tournament in PGA history, dating all the way back to 1904, when John H. Oke won the inaugural edition. The Canadian Open is part of the Triple Crown of National Golf Tournaments, along with the US and British Opens.
Glen Abbey was designed in 1977 by Jack Nicklaus, which turned out to be his first (and some say best) solo golf course design. The tournament will the stretch tees out to 7,273 yards, which is a little less than the average length of a PGA tournament. The course will yield its fair share of birdies; the last three winners at Glen Abbey finished (-14), (-17) and (-25). Also consider this, while starting on the back nine, Mark Calcavecchia the set the PGA record for consecutive birdies (9), birdieing holes 12,13,14,15,16,17,18, 1 and 2. It is a record that still stands today.
The lush fairways and greens, rolling hills and elevation changes make Glen Abbey a fantastic spectator course. The gem of the course is the stretch of “Valley Holes” (holes 11-15), that starts out with a giant 100 ft. elevation drop from the tee out onto a vast fairway. This is also where the “16 Mile River” enters the course from seemingly nowhere, and stands guard in front of the 13th green. At 558 yards, the 13th hole is a true risk-reward Par 5. If you can hit two great shots, they are rewarded with an eagle putt. If you miss the long approach, you are staring at a wet ball, and most likely a tough bogey. There isn’t a ton of trouble on the course, which will allow the longer drivers to bomb the ball off the tee and have short irons into many of the par 4’s, and both can get home in two easily on all the par 5’s.
Key Metrics: Strokes Gained: Putting, Driving Accuracy, Proximity to Hole, Par 5 Scoring and Strokes Gained: Approach.
1st Round Matchups:
Patrick Cantley (-110) over Tony Finau
Kevin Chappell (-120) over Ian Poulter
Jim Furyk (-120) over Ben Martin
Adam Hadwin (-105) over Ollie Schneiderjans
David Hearn (+130) over Shane Lowry
Futures: To Win
Dustin Johnson (+605)
Matt Kuchar (+975)
Bubba Watson (+3000)
Patrick Cantlay (+3000)
Kevin Chappell (+4200)
Jim Furyk (+5000)
Adam Hadwin (+6000)
David Lingmerth (+7500)
Sung Kang (+8000)
James Hahn (+10000)
