More Opens on tap for Hamilton

HAMILTON— Golf Canada has confirmed that the 2019 and 2023 RBC Canadian Opens will be coming to the Hamilton Golf and Country Club. They just can’t say when.

“The PGA Tour is currently working toward announcing its 2019 schedule in the coming weeks and at this point we won’t be commenting on any potential dates,” Golf Canada CEO Laurence Applebaum said at the press conference at the historic Hamilton course.

That’s not surprising. While there has been broad speculation that the Canadian Open date could move to the week before the U.S. Open in June, or, perhaps even stay where it is in late July, there’s no way that Golf Canada was about to announce their dates before the PGA Tour released them.

What Golf Canada did announce, in addition to the two Open championships coming to Ancaster, is that they want to make the Hamilton area a golfing hub.

Although they were light on details Bill Paul, director of championships for Golf Canada, said that could include bringing some amateur championships to courses in the Hamilton area as well as Canadian Open and U.S. Open qualifiers..

Next year’s open will be the sixth that the Hamilton course has hosted and in more recent years — 2003, 2006, and 2012 — the PGA Tour players raved about it and Golf Canada is no doubt hoping that will help guarantee a good field.

“Few clubs can equal what Hamilton represents through its storied history and excellence,” said Applebaum. “I can tell you from conversations with PGA Tour players and with the PGA Tour itself that they are very excited about coming back to this golf course.”