Caddie Confidential: When does fan behavior go too far?

OAKVILLE, Ontario – Golf Canada CEO Laurence Applebaum said the 2018 RBC Canadian Open would return to Glen Abbey Golf Club at a news conference Saturday morning. “Together with our partners at RBC, we are excited to announce the RBC Canadian Open will be contested at Glen Abbey Golf Club again in 2018,â€� Applebaum said. The course first hosted the Canadian Open in 1977. Canada’s national open will return to the Jack Nicklaus-designed course for the 30th time next year. “I’m very proud of Glen Abbey,â€� Nicklaus said on Tuesday. “I think it’s contributed a lot to the game of golf in Canada.â€� Although developers are poised to convert Glen Abbey into real estate, that process is unlikely to begin for another five years or so as the Town of Oakville – about 35 minutes from downtown Toronto – continues with legal deliberations. 2018 will mark the fifth time in six years that Glen Abbey will play host to the Canadian Open – Royal Montreal Golf Course hosted the 2014 event, won by Tim Clark – while from 2010-2012 the Canadian Open visited three different courses: St. George’s Golf and Country Club (2010), Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club (2011), and Hamilton Golf and Country Club (2012). One of the hot topics of late is whether a national open should move around the country, not unlike the U.S. Open, with a rotation of courses all playing host. But Glen Abbey remains the only course in Canada that was built with the main objective of hosting the Canadian Open. “Glen Abbey has proven to be one of the world’s premier stadium courses for spectators and fan engagement,â€� explained Applebaum, who continued to say Golf Canada would be looking at a permanent site in the Greater Toronto Area to not only host future RBC Canadian Opens, but also Golf Canada’s offices and the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame. Nicklaus also believes the event should have a permanent home. “I think if you look at Augusta (National) and what’s happened at Augusta (National) and have one location that’s helped grow it. I think the other tournaments struggle a little bit from time to time moving from site to site,â€� he said. “I can understand it’s your national championship and wanting to move from site to site, but if you really want to grow something into something significant, I think probably the best you can do is be at one place.“

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JACKSON, Miss. – Holding a Sunday lead on the PGA TOUR is hard enough, especially for a rookie. It’s even more difficult when the strongest club in your bag breaks minutes before your tee time. Cameron Champ was warming up for the final round of the Sanderson Farms Championship when he noticed a squirrely ball flight on one of his tee shots. After one more shot, the club’s crown cracked open. An old driver got the promotion from the trunk to the staff bag. A slightly different swingweight required compensations to keep the club in the fairway. “I just tried to hit as many balls as I could on the range, just to get used to it a little bit,â€� he said. Champ, 23, overcame the obstacle to win the Sanderson Farms Championship by four shots, shooting a 68 in the final round to finish four shots ahead of Corey Conners. Champ already has a reputation for drives that are longer than a Ken Burns documentary. His prodigious length landed him on the cover of Golf Digest before his second PGA TOUR start. His win Sunday at the Sanderson Farms Championship proved that he’s more than a sideshow. After losing a four-shot lead on the front nine Sunday, he sank several crucial putts to hold off Conners on the closing holes. Champ’s driver was important this week – he led the field in driving distance, averaging an incredible 334 yards on the two measured holes at the Country Club of Jackson — but the shortest club in his bag also played a starring role. He finished second in Strokes Gained: Putting. He looked discouraged on the front nine, letting go of the club with one hand on the follow-through of several tee shots. He took solace in the fact that he’d dominated the Country Club of Jackson’s inward nine all week, making 16 birdies and no bogeys. He let an easy birdie opportunity pass when he failed to get up-and-down from in front of the green on the par-5 11th, though. Two holes later, Champ was staring at a 10-foot birdie putt. He knew that if he missed, Conners could take the lead for the first time Sunday. Champ pumped his fist after making his putt. It was the strongest emotion he’d shown thus far in the final round, but it was just a taste of what was to come. Conners then sank his own birdie putt to stay tied with five holes remaining. “I just felt like it was big,â€� Champ said, calling it his first realistic birdie opportunity since the sixth hole. “It gave me a little momentum going into the par-5, as well.â€� Once again, Champ was just short of the green on a par-5. He opted for the putter this time and it paid off with a birdie. After Conners failed to get up-and-down from a greenside bunker, Champ sank his 7-foot birdie putt to take a one-shot lead. They matched birdies on the next hole, a drivable par-4, after Conners’ eagle putt slid by the hole. Champ got up-and-down from short and right of the green, pitching over a greenside bunker to a green that ran away from him. Conners called their halve the turning point. “I knew if I made that one it would give me a lot of momentum going into the last three holes,â€� Conners said. On the next hole, Champ was the one who holed a crucial putt. His approach shot to the 479-yard, par-4 16th, the course’s hardest hole, was 30 yards shorter than Conners’. It was Conners who had the shorter birdie putt, though. Champ pumped his fist when his 38-foot putt curled into the hole. It gave him a two-shot lead with two holes remaining. “That wasn’t a putt I was trying to make,â€� he admitted. “I was just trying to just have good speed and get it down there for an easy par. Obviously, it had perfect speed and read it perfectly and just dropped in there.â€� Champ holed a 12-foot par putt at the next hole to maintain his two-stroke lead. He closed the tournament with a 7-foot birdie putt after an impressive recovery from the left trees. He holed all five putts that he faced Sunday from 5-10 feet. He holed nine putts from outside 10 feet this week. He gained more than nine strokes on the greens this week, including seven in the final two rounds. He saved his best for last, gaining 4.02 strokes on the greens in the final two rounds. “That’s definitely been a part of my game I’ve worked extremely hard on,â€� Champ said. “I’m just trying to slowly [develop] other parts of my game … because my ball-striking has been so good.â€� Champ is more than a long driver. He proved that Sunday at the Sanderson Farms Championship.

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