Glen Abbey Golf Club

The verdict

Glen Abbey is the most famous public course in Canada, and it earned the title the hard way. Jack Nicklaus took it on in 1976 as his first solo design, with a brief to build a permanent stage for the Canadian Open, and he shaped natural amphitheatres around the greens so galleries could watch the drama. The course has hosted the championship roughly 30 times since 1977, more than anywhere else, and it is home to Golf Canada and the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame.

For the traveling golfer the appeal is simple: you can tee it up where the tour played and walk the holes you have seen on television for decades. The front nine and the closing stretch sit on a broad parkland plateau, but the heart of the round is the descent into the Sixteen Mile Creek valley. Green fees are premium for a daily fee course, yet the chance to play a genuine championship venue with this much history keeps it on the Ontario must list.

The holes worth the trip

The valley holes are the reason Glen Abbey is remembered. The run from 11 to 15 plunges off the plateau into the Sixteen Mile Creek ravine, beginning with the par 4 eleventh, where you drive from a cliff top tee to a fairway some sixty feet below. Down on the valley floor the creek snakes through the next few holes, framed by steep wooded banks, and the change in scale and mood from the open upper holes is dramatic.

The closing par 5 eighteenth is the other signature, a reachable two shotter guarded by water that has produced some of the most famous moments in Canadian Open history, including Tiger Woods's shot from the fairway bunker over the pond to win in 2000. It is a true risk and reward finish that invites the bold line and punishes the loose one.

Around the marquee holes, the Nicklaus design is demanding but fair, with large bentgrass greens, generous landing areas off the tee and bunkering that asks for position rather than brute carry. From the right tees it is very playable, and from the tips it still has the length and the water to test a strong amateur. Take a cart for the valley climbs and savor the history.

Where to stay nearby

Glen Abbey sits in Oakville, an affluent lakeside town between Toronto and Hamilton, so the practical bases are the Oakville and Burlington hotels a few minutes away, a downtown Toronto hotel if you want the city at night, or a base near Pearson airport for an easy fly in fly out trip. Oakville itself has good waterfront dining and is handy to the wider region.

For golf, Glen Abbey is the accessible centerpiece of a southern Ontario tour. Pair it with the private classics of Harry Colt's Hamilton and Stanley Thompson's St George's, all within an hour of each other, and add the Niagara wineries and the Falls for a complete trip that mixes championship golf with the region's sights.

Looking for a base? See our recommended hotels and resorts near Glen Abbey.