Islington Sees Benefits To Its Open Connection

Apologies to GNN reader TV who asked if members at the Islington Golf Club will only have 16 holes to play during RBC Canadian Open week at nearby St. George’s, when the Islington club will serve as the practice facility for the visiting PGA Tour players.

Due to a crazy schedule, it took me a couple of days to get back on that question, but it turns out that the front nine will be shut down with the practice facility located on the first two holes. Members will play the back nine that week.

To answer another question from TV, the Islington club is only a couple of kilometres from St. George’s, so a shuttle will only take a couple of minutes, especially with traffic shut down around the host course.

The original plan would have made Eglinton Flats the practice facility, but Islington is a better solution. That plan began to take shape in early September.

“This whole thing came together fairly quickly,” said general manager Dave Fox. “Within two-and-a-half weeks of the (Royal Canadian Golf Association) approaching our board of directors, we sent a communication out to our members.”

That communication included letters from the club and RCGA executive director Scott Simmons, as well as a Q&A sheet on how it would affect members with information on benefits to the club, members’ access, security and other matters. Members could also see a video from Simmons.

“We just tried to go through any questions we thought might come up and we tried to answer them,” said Fox. “I think we actually had about 85 per cent of the members voice a positive feedback on the whole project. It was quite interesting and nice to see.”

Fox points out that interruptions in member play have occurred a few times in the past year. In 2008, the club hosted the Ontario Amateur event and earlier this year, the installation of a new irrigation system and reservoir affected play.

He says members can see the benefits involved in having the practice facility at their club, particularly the profile the club will receive by getting involved.

“I think that’s part of it,” said Fox. “The exposure the club can get in the media is something we couldn’t get otherwise. We’re hoping some exposure helps the club in terms of people knowing more about it.

“You do pass it briefly when you go over the bridge on Kipling. It’s not right on a main street like St. George’s where everyone sees it and looks at it. I think getting our name out there a little more is important, something we wanted to do whether this came about or not.”

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