Islington Avenue ramped up for golf tourney.
Due to the 2010 Canadian Open at St. George's Golf and Country Club, a section of Islington Avenue will be closed to traffic until July 30. Thousands of golf fans are expected at the tournament and shuttle buses will be provided to them as parking will be limited.
Staff photo/ANICE WONG
Just days before the first shot flies in the RBC Canadian Open, tournament director Bill Paul said formerly daunting logistical challenges have become opportunities.
Paul has repeatedly stated hosting the Open at St. George's Golf and Country Club in a quiet central Etobicoke residential neighbourhood proved the most complex challenge in his 20 years of planning the tournament.
One of the biggest obstacles - convincing the city and surrounding residents to close a portion of Islington Avenue, and prohibit parking from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. during the July 19-25 tournament in a so-called "blue zone" on 74 area residential streets.
"People understood closer to it they'd be affected by it," Paul said in an interview Thursday, July 15 from St. George's. "This road closure is significant. Their daily routine is going to be impacted.
"Overall, our goal has always been to protect the community and not let a bunch of insiders come in. I think we've done that. We've turned challenges into opportunities."
Starting in 2007, Golf Canada officials met regularly with city staffers, made presentations to city councillors, fire and police officials, and held public meetings with area residents.
Toronto City Council approved the Open venue in 2008.
"When I started the process, I didn't think it was doable," Paul said. "There were eight hurdles we had to cross - everything from closing (Islington Avenue), rerouting TTC, finding an offsite range (Islington Golf and Country Club), living with what I thought would be expensive staging cost, sponsors would have to give up a lot because it's not the biggest venue in the world."
Course grooming, topping off the rough and filling in the divets is well underway, as is parking, as well as going over policies and procedures for security, spectator checks and evacuation, Paul said.
"Eerie," Paul called it, when Islington Avenue closed Monday between Eglinton Avenue West and The Kingsway.
"I never thought in my wildest dreams this would come true. Probably a lot of people felt the same way... (Islington Avenue) looks like it was always meant to be a parking lot."
A "street festival" Paul called Islington, complete with sponsor areas, concessions, merchandizing, and a structure to overlook the first tee.
Official Open broadcaster CBS is setting up its media compound on Islington between Princess Margaret Boulevard and Eglinton Avenue West.
One-and-a-half lanes on Islington remain open to emergency vehicles, Paul said.
Residents of Ridgevalley Crescent, Ridgecross Road and Islington Avenue south of Ridgevalley Crescent can travel Islington Avenue via Prince George Drive through a hang-tag program.
Off-site spectator parking and shuttles to get the 22,000 expected fans to the course each day also proved a challenge at the "landlocked" course.
Spectators will park their vehicles for $10 at Woodbine Racetrack. A complementary shuttle will take spectators to and from St. George's.
TTC indicated 37 Islington bus will detour through the area throughout the tournament.
"It's the first time we've ever had public transit as a significant part of the tournament," Paul said.
People traveling to the Open by taxi will be dropped off at Richview Collegiate, to walk to the golf course.
Cyclists can ride to the open and store their ride in a secure cyclist lock-up area at the golf club.
The Stanley Thompson-designed course, opened in 1929, is consistently rated in the top three in Canadian course rankings.
It's the Open's first return to St. George's - and to Toronto - in 42 years.
Last month, players seemed eager to take to the course.
"It's an old traditional golf course," Mike Weir, who toured the course during a day-long visit with defending champion Aussie Nathan Green, told reporters at a press conference in June. "There's treeline, tougher greens. If you hit one off-line, you have a chance to recover and actually play the golf course...It's going to be very difficult. I think we're going to have a great championship here."
The 156-man field of the 2010 Canadian Open players include 13 of the top 50 players in the official World Golf Rankings.
Along with Canadian standouts Mike Weir and Stephen Ames, veterans Fred Couples and Retief Goosen will appear alongside three-time PGA Tour winners Sean O'Hair, Anthony Kim and Camilo Villegas; two-time PGA Tour winners Hunter Mahan, Luke Donald, Y.E. Yang and Matt Kuchar; world No. 8 ranked Paul Casey; rookie sensation Ricky Fowler, as well as Nathan Green.
Green compared St. George's traditional, tree-lined parks course with complex bunkering to Hamilton that hosted two Opens, both shot-making courses players love.
"It's great to be back up here. To win in the country where my golf career started 10 years ago is pretty special. To win the Canadian Open for me is probably the same as him winning the (2003) Masters..." Green said in June, pointing to Weir. "I'm hoping to find the same form I did last year and make a shake of trying to defend."