The RBC Canadian Open returns to Glen Abbey in Oakville, Ont., for the 29th time this week. The tournament, which includes stars like Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson, Matt Kuchar, as well as top Canadians Mackenzie Hughes, Adam Hadwin, Graham DeLaet and Nick Taylor, is often where new gear starts showing up in tour bags.
Here are several of the top Canadian storylines to keep an eye on during the 2017 RBC Canadian Open this week.
Adam Hadwin’s Epic approach
Epic. That’s a good way to describe Adam Hadwin’s 2017 campaign.
The British Columbia golfer carded a 59 in January and become a winner on the PGA Tour for the first time less than two months later. In the process, Hadwin also became the first PGA Tour winner to use Callaway’s Epic driver.
For Hadwin, the RBC Canadian Open isn’t just any other event—it is the equivalent of a major. With that comes a lot of demands on his time.
“The Canadian Open is one of those weeks when you just know you’re going to have to give some extra time,” he says. “You just build it into your schedule.”
Hadwin, who uses Callaway’s MB irons, isn’t one likely to switch his equipment on a whim. And the Abbotsford golfer isn’t going to blame his gear when things go wrong either.
“When I’m not driving the ball as well, I know it is me and not the equipment,” he says.
Why Epic then? Hadwin found he was more accurate and gained a few extra yards—a valuable commodity for a golfer who admits he’s not the longest on tour.
“I’m long enough,” he explains. “I like to play around with the new equipment, but I’m not quick to change.”
Tour winner Mackenzie Hughes a big fan of Ping G400 driver
Like a lot of the best on the PGA Tour, Mackenzie Hughes only changes his equipment when it makes sense for his game. That said, the PGA Tour winner, who grew up playing in Dundas, Ont. and has played Ping clubs throughout his professional career, will show up at the RBC Canadian Open this week with the company’s latest and greatest—the G400 driver.
“I’m always interested in the next step and seeing what the engineers have come up with,” Hughes said in an interview with Golf Town. “I don’t change gear very often and though I wouldn’t say I’m reluctant, I’m only going to switch if the change is for the better.”
With that in mind, Hughes checked his existing driver against G400 and made the switch quickly. He called it, “the easiest switch I’ve ever gone through.”
“It had the feel and sound that I’ve always wanted, so even before seeing numbers I knew I’d get into the new driver quickly,” he explained. “Then when I started to see the numbers increase, it was in my bag as soon as it was available to me.”
The benefit? A lot of confidence off the tee and a few more scoring opportunities.
“I’m excited for the rest of the summer stretch having the G400 in the bag,” Hughes said.
Nick Taylor at Golf Town in Burlington
Nick Taylor is a tour winner with $1.2-million in earnings and four Top 10 finishes this year. Nick will be in the field alongside other top Canadians this week, and he is stopping by our Golf Town Burlington location at 2:45pm on Wednesday, July 26 for an exclusive Facebook live interview! Visit any of our social media pages and post your questions for Nick in advance of his Facebook Live appearance, as he gets ready for the RBC Canadian Open week.
Interestingly, the Abbotsford, BC golfer is another TaylorMade staff player who gravitates to M2, using a 9.5 degree M2 driver, with a Fujikura Atmos shaft, as well as an M2 3 and 5-wood. He’s also using TaylorMade’s breakthrough TP5 ball.
Now a pro, Jared Du Toit returns to site of Canadian Open success
Last year few would have pegged Calgary’s Jared du Toit as the breakout star of the 2016 RBC Canadian Open. The golfer was an amateur and a member of the Arizona State golf team who was offered a spot in the tournament as a member of Canada’s national men’s amateur team. He played in the final group last year at Glen Abbey, finishing in a tie for 9th.
Now that his college career is behind him, du Toit is back at the tournament as a newly minted pro, with a deal to play Titleist clubs.
The golfer has Vokey SM6 wedges in his bag to go along with 716 AP2 irons, a 917 D2 driver, 917 F3 3-wood, and a TaylorMade Spider SI putter.
This year’s tournament will certainly be a change.
“I just freewheeled last year and had a lot of fun,” du Toit says. “And it is different being a pro. For the last four years I was part of a team. And you’re not wearing a uniform any longer.”
New Titleist clubs hit the tour
The weeks surrounding the British Open are when new clubs often start sneaking into the bags of tour pros. Titleist is known for allowing its tour pros to put its new clubs into play months ahead of when consumers get the chance to hit them. That’s the case with the company’s latest irons—which includes AP1, AP2, and even an AP3 iron. AP3, a new iron for the company, seems to fit a gap between Titleist’s game improvement AP1 iron, and its AP2 iron, which is aimed at stronger ballstrikers. Ian Poulter shared photos of the AP3 on social media at the end of June.
Titleist also launched its 818 hybrids at the John Deere Classic.