A dark cloud had hung over Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ontario for more than three years. Last week, the sun broke through, hopefully for good.
After pursuing development plans on the site - to the tune of up to 3,000 homes, plus office buildings - Canadian club owner and manager ClubLink has agreed to keep Glen Abbey a golf operation after all, according to Canada's CBC News.
Opened in 1976, Glen Abbey was Jack Nicklaus' first solo golf course design. Its short par-5 18th hole was the stage for one of the iconic shots in modern golf history: Tiger Woods' all-or-nothing 6-iron from 213 yards from a fairway bunker, over trees and water to a sliver of green, to secure a winning birdie over Grant Waite on the final hole of the 2000 tournament.
More than the site of a highlight-reel shot, Glen Abbey has become the de facto home of the Canadian Open. It has hosted the event 30 times, including every year from 1981 through 1996. It is also the home of the Golf Canada, the country's administrative body for the game, and the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame.
During the 2018 tournament, won by Dustin Johnson, uncertainty about Glen Abbey's future made it feel like a possible swan song. With the COVID-19 pandemic canceling both the 2020 and 2021 editions of the championship, and with the event going to a rota that includes nearby venues like St. George's Golf and Country Club and Hamilton Golf and Country Club, plus the addition of Oakdale Golf Club to the host site slate, it may be a few years before Canada's national championship comes back to Glen Abbey. But until then, members and the general public can continue to enjoy one of the PGA Tour's most recognizable courses.
Very nice to be able to play this course again. Third time this season 2021. Hopefully it will be around for a long long time
Other golf course news and notes
CLASSIC RESTORATION - Montclair Golf Club in West Orange, N.J. has an interesting assortment of golf: three nines by Donald Ross and a fourth added by C.B. Macdonald and Seth Raynor collaborator Charles Banks in 1928. The club has been restoring its golf course over the last few years, and the Ross-designed Third Nine just reopened, along with some improvements to other club amenities. [LINK: The Golf Wire]
LONG-AWAITED 'BACK NINE' - After years of acclaim for their bold 9-hole Sweetens Cove Golf Club in Tennessee, architects Rob Collins and Tad King were eager to find another canvas. They found it in the former Rondout Golf Club in upstate New York, which they turned into another mold-breaking 9-holer at Inness, a new wellness-centered resort in the Hudson Valley. [LINK: Hudson Valley Magazine]
CAMPUS COURSE CLOSED - Built in the 1930s, the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay's Shorewood Golf Course has closed. "It's not our mission as a university to run a golf course," said university chancellor Michael Alexander. [LINK: WeAreGreenBay.com]
PERRY DYE: 1952-2021 - The elder son of Pete and Alice Dye, golf course architect Perry Dye passed away at age 68 on July 8. In addition to collaborating with his parents and brother, P.B., Perry Dye built many golf courses in the American West, Latin America and Asia, spreading the family business internationally. [LINK: Obituary, Architect page]
GOLF-ADJACENT - Three new unplanned holes opened at Florida's The Villages, a retirement golf mecca for swinging seniors. [LINK: WFTV 9]
