Rookie golfer Sam Snead is shown in action during the opening round of the Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Ga., in this April 1, 1936 photo. Snead, the golfing great known as ``Slammin' Sam'' who used the sweetest swing in the game to win seven major championships and a record 81 PGA Tour events, died Thursday May 23, 2002. He was 89.The Associated Press
It's always a pleasure to visit a club that honours its history while not being afraid to walk boldly into the future. I toured Toronto's Lambton Golf and Country Club Tuesday, and it falls into this category.
The club has been around since 1902, and black and white photos on the clubhouse walls - the stylish clubhouse is modern, having been opened in 2003 - are evidence of its storied history. Club member Geo. S. Lyon won the Olympic gold medal for Canada in 1904, the last time golf was played in the Games. Lyon also won eight Canadian Amateurs. The great players Ted Ray and Harry Vardon played an exhibition at the course during their North American tour in 1913. Ray had won the 1912 Open Championship, while Vardon had won five Opens and a U.S. Open by then.
The club hosted the 1907, 1910, 1925 and 1941 Canadian Opens. Sam Snead won in 1941.
Lambton is a city course, and the former third and fourth holes ran parallel to Scarlett Road. That became a problem over the years, as more and more balls sailed onto the busy thoroughfare. The club also ran into drainage problems. It was time to do something, and the club eventually hired the renowned U.S. architect Rees Jones. Jones is known as the "Open doctor" for the work he's done on U.S. Open courses.
Now he and his design associate Keith Evans can be considered Lambton's doctors. They brought a unified vision and a well-thought out philosophy to a course that had seen its share of architects over its many years. The course has gone from being a hybrid to being of a piece. And it's a fine piece indeed, as members will find out when the revised and renovated course has its grand opening on Aug. 13.
Evans led the tour Wednesday, and he made it clear that the idea was to enlarge the greens while not introducing too much slope. The slope is never more than 2.7 per cent when measured against a flat surface, and that's enough to challenge players. Nick Price once told me that it's harder to read a putt with a little break than a lot. Price knows a bit about the game, having won three major championships.
What about the third and fourth holes? They became the second and third holes after the first hole was lengthened and the short par-three second eliminated. They've effectively been pushed to the west, so that golfers will be less likely to slice balls on to Scarlett Road. Some badly-sliced tee shots are still likely to find the road, while some shots into the third green, where the road is only 25 yards or so right of the green, could pose a problem. But all in all, Jones and Evans have gone a long way to solving a serious and dangerous threat to safety.
Without going through the course hole by hole, I'll simply say that I think golfers will feel comfortable playing Lambton. The course did feel cramped before. No more. The course feels more open, although plenty of trees remain and plenty more will be planted to replace those that have been removed. In fact, the club is required to plant three new trees for every one taken out. That means 1,200 new trees.
The entire project cost $7-million, including a new reservoir that will dramatically improve drainage. Jones's bunkers are certainly more challenging than those that were there before, and some golfers will find them menacing. The long, deep bunker short left and then running up beside the 13th green is going to penalize the lesser player who misses his approach, although I see its value in forcing the long hitter to think twice about whether he wants to drive the green. The hole is only 315 yards, so longer hitters could try to have a go.
Overall, though, the bunkers add a lot of interest to the holes, while Jones does offer open entrances to many of the greens.
The work isn't complete, in one sense. The powers-that-be at the club still have to sell their members on a new 17th and a new 18th hole, whose cost will be part of an additional budget. But club officials feel that members will approve this concluding phase. Having seen the impressive work that Jones and Evans have done, I see no reason this shouldn't be the case.
Golf Canada's executive director Scott Simmons was on the course tour.
I didn't ask him his reason for being there, although I know he's trying to stay in close touch with members clubs across the country.
But it does occur to me that Lambton would be a wonderful site for its first Canadian Amateur since 1932. Or maybe it will host another Ontario Amateur. The Golf Association of Ontario's executive director Dave Mills was also on the tour, so who knows what could be in the works?
Lambton remains a grand old club in Canadian golf. But now it's a grand old club with a new face - almost a new course - to accompany its rich history. Something tells me Lambton hasn't stopped making Canadian golf history.