Golf Community Rallies Around Open At St. George’s

Joe Murphy is general manager of the St. George’s Golf and Country Club, the host site of the 2010 RBC Canadian Open next month in Toronto. Murphy will contribute a guest blog each week about operations at the host club leading up to the national championship.

As I mentioned in my previous blog, several clubs in the area around St. George’s Golf and Country Club have rallied behind the RBC Canadian Open being held here next month.

In addition to our own staff, we will have several staff members from other clubs on hand to help us during Open week. For instance, a key food and beverage supervisor at XYZ Country Club might have called and asked, `Can I send one or two of my people to work for the week.’

That club continues to pay their salaries while they work here and get the experience from the week, so that’s worked out quite well. We even have a few club managers who are willing to help out for the week.

What’s really cool is that the Open is a community effort and I sent a letter to clubs in the area in late March and early April and said, `Look, here’s an opportunity, predominantly in the food and beverage area, but if you want to sign on for the week, we’d be more than happy to have you.’

We’ll give them gifts and we’ll certainly give them meals. In most cases, it will be their salaried staff, with the criteria being that the respective clubs continue to pay them while working here.

The community aspect of the RBC Canadian Open goes beyond staffing. Of course, nearby Islington Golf Club is serving as the range for the players and a number of clubs have stepped up and offered playing privileges for our members for the two weeks that our course will be down.

That list of clubs includes

Beacon Hall , Thornhill, Credit Valley, Country Club of Buffalo, Mississaugua, Bayview, Weston, Cutten Club, Sunningdale, Oak Hill, King Valley , Cherry Hill, Toronto Golf Club, Hamilton, Donalda Club, Burlington, OslerBrook, Westmount, Devil’s Pulpit, Scarboro, Markland Wood, Crag Burn and Bigwin Island

Other clubs may also be added to this list between now and July.

This extensive list just goes to show how golf is more than just a game. It’s also a community of people helping each other out.

Related Posts:

• They’re Replacing Some Highly-Respected Pros
• Hall Of Famer Plans To “Be In The Moment”
• DeLaet Still Plans To Start At Sony Open
• Toronto Golf Club Names New Director Of Instruction