Saturday, May 8, 1999
MICHAEL GRANGE
Sports Reporter

Toronto -- Let's get down to brass tacks: Glen Abbey, the best-known golf course in Canada, will cost $225 to play this summer. Two hundred and twenty five.

It's the most expensive public golf ticket in Canada.

Is it worth it? There are two schools of thought.

The common sense view: The green fee would pay for three rounds of golf at a number of upper-echelon clubs in Greater Toronto.

The other view: No course in Canada has the cachet of the Oakville stadium course, the first solo-design project undertaken by Jack Nicklaus in the mid-1970s and home to 20 Canadian Open tournaments

Pony up and you too can stride to the 18th fairway -- the leader board from the Bell Canadian Open on your right, the shallow green beckoning you beyond the infamous pond that protects it -- and make your call. Go for it or play it safe.

The 1998 champion, Billy Andrade, went for it with the tournament on the line last year and just about killed a swan swimming placidly in the middle of the pond. You can't do worse than that.

The biggest changes at the Abbey this season are the ownership and the price. The RCGA sold the signature course to King City-based ClubLink Corp. for $40-million, which in turn raised the green fee from last year's rate of $155.

In fairness to the new owners, the RCGA was planning to raise the green fee to $175 or thereabouts this season, but the $70 increase over last year has raised eyebrows. It will be interesting to see if it has any impact on the demand at the popular course.

Perhaps to soften the blow, ClubLink is offering generous discounts that a price-conscious duffer should keep in mind: Until May 24 and after Oct. 9, the green fee is $115. For the rest of the summer, the discount price is available after 2 p.m. on weekends and holiday Mondays.

Still, the full-price fee is a watershed of sorts. It moves the Abbey into the same price point of the best layouts in the United States.

The question then becomes, can the Abbey provide a golf experience commensurate with the price? The cachet isn't going anywhere -- the Canadian Open will be held there this year, and will be played there at least four times in the next 10 years after that.

And the grooming at the Abbey is typically close to luxurious. It was already in good shape in late April, other than some winter kill on the first and fifth greens. In the summer, the humid, still air in the valley will cause problems on the holes there.

One step the new owners have taken was to cut the number of rounds played this summer back by about 20 a day to roughly 32,900 over the 180 day season.

This is being achieved by bumping up the interval between tee times to nine minutes. The 30-second increase has the pace-of-play consistently under 4 hours 40 minutes.

But perhaps the greatest strength of Nicklaus's design is that it delivers both an enjoyable golf experience for the average player -- the fairways are generally accommodating, and played from the right set of tees it's not a particularly long course -- and a challenge to the expert.

While the front nine at the Abbey has its moments, things really get interesting on the back. For dedicated golfers with a healthy credit limit, there is likely no price they wouldn't pay to work their way around the course's five infamous valley holes at something close to par.

And to stand in the fairway on the 18th, watching an approach curl close to the pin to set up an eagle putt, and the imaginary Sunday gallery packed on the hill roaring its approval, that would be worth something too.

Still, the challenge for ClubLink's Abbey staff will be meeting high-end expectations created by the high-end ticket.

A dry fairway here or there, some trouble on the valley greens, or a delay in being shuttled from the parking lot, those are the types of things that golfers laying down $225 will be less likely to forgive and forget. Unless they make the eagle putt on the 18th.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Where: Glen Abbey Golf Club is located about 30 minutes west of downtown Toronto. Exit the QEW at Dorval Drive and head north for less than a minute. Club entrance is on the right.

Director of golf: Chris Neale

Statistics: 7,112 yards from the tips with a course rating of 75.5 and a slope of 140; a more human 6,594 yards, 71.9 and 132 from the gold tees.

Fees: $225 with the following exeptions: $115 until May 24 and after Oct. 9. Between those dates it's $115 on Saturdays, Sundays and holiday Mondays after 2 p.m. Green fees include cart, range balls, pocket pro guide, shoe bag and bag tag.

Facilties: Practice range; putting green; chipping area; club rentals; fully equipped pro shop and clubhouse; dining room; showers and lockers available.

The Word: At the full freight, one might think twice, but every golfer should play the Abbey once. If you can get a tee-time during the one of the discount periods it's a great deal. The restaurant's Sunday brunch is always sold out.

Contact: They start taking bookings for the entire season every year starting on March 1. Call 905-844-1811.