Shaughnessy a test for some of world’s best

Just 21 players beat par on opening day at RBC Canadian Open

By: Brad Ziemer Posted: 1:00 AM CDT Friday, Jul. 22, 2011

VANCOUVER -- Six years later, not much has changed -- Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club is continuing to confound some of the world's best players.

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VANCOUVER -- Six years later, not much has changed -- Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club is continuing to confound some of the world's best players.

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VANCOUVER — Six years later, not much has changed — Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club is continuing to confound some of the world’s best players.

Given nearly perfect scoring conditions, with rain-softened greens and fairways and barely a breath of wind, no one could go deep on the menacing Southwest Marine Drive layout in Thursday’s first round of the US $5.2-million RBC Canadian Open.

Kris Blanks of Jupiter, Fla., shot a 3-under-par 67 early in the day and the score held up as Shaughnessy’s gnarly rough and postage-stamp greens proved to be a considerable challenge.

Darryl Dyck / the canadian press
Ontario's Matt McQuillan tees off on the 17th hole during the opening round of the RBC Canadian Open Thursday. — Darryl Dyck / the canadian press Ontario's Matt McQuillan tees off on the 17th hole during the opening round of the RBC Canadian Open Thursday.

Only 21 players in the 156-man field broke par 70 and many went a whole lot higher than that.

It’s a similar story to 2005, the last time the Open was played at Shaughnessy and Mark Calcavecchia won with a score of 5-under. The course played tough then and no one seems to be expecting anything to change now through Sunday’s final round.

And for many players, especially some of the guys who have been around the block a time or two, that’s just fine.

“I love hard golf courses,” said veteran Woody Austin, who is one back after his 68. “It’s nice, especially in this day and age where the best guy does not win on a regular basis. It’s the guy who can putt his butt off who usually wins. It’s nice to play golf courses like this where you are going to know who is playing the best. You’re not going to allow a guy to hit it wherever he wants to and just putt his butt off. I think that’s great.”

Matt McQuillan of Kingston, Ont., is the low Canadian after shooting an impressive 2-under 68. He is one of 10 players one shot out of the lead.

South African Ernie Els doesn’t seem to mind, either. The three-time major winner suggested he has no problem with the way Shaughnessy is set up.

“It is what it is,” said Els, who shot 68. “You know, it’s Canada’s national open and I’ve played in many a national open, Scottish Opens, British Opens, South African Opens. You know, there is a way a national open should be played. It should be played as tough as possible, on a very stern test and that’s what you’ve got here.”

Blanks seemed to feel right at home Thursday, which makes a certain amount of sense.

After all, his wife is from White Rock, B.C. Blanks met Tami Dougan, a former junior golf star in B.C., while both were playing mini-tour golf in Florida.

“We met not too far from where we live right now so we have come full circle,” Blanks said.

His round was highlighted by an eagle three on the par-5 seventh hole — his 16th of the day — when he holed a shot from a greenside bunker.

“I saw (Greg) Chalmers hit an unbelievable flop shot from over by the cart path and seeing his ball land I saw how soft it was in that area and it gave me a little more confidence in how I could go ahead and fly it in the air and it wouldn’t run away,” Blanks said. “I was able to get it down there and fortunately enough it went in.”

It was one of those days where players seemed to have to hit those kinds of shots to go low. Austin eagled the par-4 16th from 121 yards with a pitching wedge to get it to 3-under.

Barring rain, Shaughnessy probably played as easy as it’s going to get.

“We had perfect scoring conditions today,” Blanks said. “The rain (Thursday) morning softened the greens up a little bit. I felt fortunate to get the ball in the fairway a lot today and was able to capitalize on the good shots I hit.”

Several of the tournament’s big names struggled Thursday and will need to rebound today to survive and play the weekend. Defending champion Carl Pettersson and two-time Canadian Open champ Jim Furyk both shot 74. Australian Stuart Appleby and England’s Paul Casey both fired 76.

— Postmedia News