2015

Changing of the guard

Talk about having big shoes to fill.

When Bill Paul worked his first RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club 38 years ago, his boss, the tournament chairman, was a man… no, a legend … known as “Mr. Canadian Open”—Richard (Dick) Grimm.

At the time, Paul was a Grade 12 student in Oakville, Ont., and was painting for Grimm’s son, Bob. Dick asked Bill to consider working at the first Canadian Open in 1977. He pounded in stakes, strung gallery ropes, hung signs and did all the other grunt work. When Paul, a varsity athlete, graduated from University, he declined an offer from the Hamilton Tiger Cats of the Canadian Football League and came on board full-time at Golf Canada, learning the ropes (excuse the pun) about every detail of conducting a PGA Tour event under Grimm’s tutelage.

When Grimm left his post in 1992, Paul assumed the role of tournament director. Since then, he has indefatigably overseen much more than the convoluted logistics involved in putting on Canada’s only tour event, Canada’s national open championship. Starting in the mid-1990s, he ran our country’s first entry on the Champions Tour for several years, was the Tournament Director at the World Amateur in 1992, and ensured the LPGA Tour  went off without a hitch when Golf Canada took on the event in 2001. As golf grew, so did the scope of his job. Pounding stakes and stringing rope became the least of his worries. It was a whole new world with millionaire players, TV contracts, partnerships, sales, venue changes and more.

Now, four decades later, Paul and Golf Canada CEO Scott Simmons have determined that another transition is in order. As Chief Championship Officer, Paul’s evolving responsibilities have become enormous: liaison with players, the tour, sponsors, government, clubs, arranging for future tournament venues, assisting with business development, and much more. Inevitably, the ground-level logistics of both the RBC Canadian Open and the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open needed more constant and consistent attention.

Bill has played such an important role in championships and with our organization for so many years; now we have an opportunity to focus his experiences towards strategic activities that can impact the long term success of our championships,” said Simmons. “Succession planning is important and what allows us make this change with confidence is the quality of experts within our championship division ready to take on a larger role.”

“About 10 years ago, I saw that Brent McLaughlin was the one to succeed me in those responsibilities,” said Paul, 56. “He conducted himself so well with clubs and volunteers and has great attention to detail. He was the ideal choice.”

And so, in an orderly, seamless and predetermined transition of responsibilities, McLaughlin has been tabbed to be responsible for the successful operation day-to-day of both the RBC Canadian Open and the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open, an LPGA event. Big shoes to fill again.

For McLaughlin, it is a natural progression. For the past 15 years, McLaughlin has proven himself invaluable in various portfolios including Rules, amateur championships and handicapping, and for the past two years, has been Tournament Director for the CP Women’s Open.

“Conducting world class golf competitions is a big part of Golf Canada’s mandate and I’ve been fortunate over the past 15 years to tap into some incredible expertise,” said McLaughlin. “It’s an exciting time; we’ve got a solid tournament operations team in place ready to continue a legacy of championship excellence driven by Bill and Dick Grimm before that.”

For McLaughlin, this evolution means Paul will continue to mentor him in the increasingly demanding role of conducting professional championships. For Paul, it means he can take a longer-term view of these tournaments.

But no matter how big the shoes, there is no doubt that all concerned have hit the ground running.

2015

RBC Canadian Open recognized for environmental and sustainability initiatives

PHOENIX – Waste Management has announced that the RBC Canadian Open was named the winner of the second annual Sustainability Challenge, a contest sponsored by Waste Management to encourage all PGA TOUR tournaments to engage in and advance sustainable practices at their respective events. With this distinction, the RBC Canadian Open joins the ranks of the Sustainability Challenge inaugural winner, the Shell Houston Open and the Waste Management Phoenix Open as PGA TOUR tournaments that demonstrate the value of responsible sustainability practices.
The RBC Canadian Open received the highest cumulative score for Materials Management, Natural Resources Tracking and Conservation, Economic Impact and Overall Sustainability. Waste Management sustainability experts scored participating tournaments’ submissions and were pleased to note that ninety-one percent of the 22 PGA TOUR tournaments that submitted applications have a recycling program in place and track their diversion of waste from landfills. As the winner, RBC Canadian Open leadership will attend the upcoming Waste Management Phoenix Open and Waste Management’s fifth annual Executive Sustainability Forum.

 

RBC Canadian Open employs numerous sustainable practices at the carbon-neutral tournament including: diverting waste from landfills through recycling and organics collection;  providing free filtered water at water stations located across the grounds; donating unused food to local food banks; offering sustainable transportation options and more. The Royal Montreal Golf Club, home of the 2014 RBC Canadian Open, is also certified as an Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary golf course, a designation earned for its certification in six categories: Environmental Planning, Chemical Use Reduction & Safety, Water Conservation, Water Quality Management, Wildlife & Habitat Management, and Outreach & Education.

 

“We are committed to making the RBC Canadian Open a green event,” said Bill Paul, Chief Championship Officer for Golf Canada. “We are proud to work with RBC and all of our partners to ensure our tournament continues to be a positive example of best practices to reduce the event’s environmental impact within the markets we conduct the championship.”

 

“RBC is proud of our work with Golf Canada and our other event partners to ensure that the RBC Canadian Open continues to be a positive example of best practices to reduce the event’s environmental impacts,” says Sandra Odendahl, Director, Corporate Sustainability, RBC.

“As a zero waste event, the award-winning Waste Management Phoenix Open has set the ‘green’ standard for sustainability in sports,” said Jim Trevathan, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Waste Management. “The Sustainability Challenge provides Waste Management the opportunity to recognize the successes of a growing number of PGA TOUR tournaments like the RBC Canadian Open that are expanding their green initiatives so that others will continue to be encouraged to ‘green’ the game of golf.”

 

ABOUT THE 2015 RBC CANADIAN OPEN

Part of the FedExCup, stars of the PGA TOUR will compete for $5.8 million (US) at the RBC Canadian Open, July 20-26, 2015 at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ont. Conducted by Golf Canada for more than a century, the RBC Canadian Open provides an opportunity for Canada’s top talents to compete against the world’s best golfers while also leaving a significant impact in the event’s host community. The RBC Canadian Open is proud to support Ronald McDonald House Charities Canada as the event’s official charity partner. Established in 1904, Canada’s national open golf championship is the third-oldest national open golf championship worldwide next to the British Open and the U.S. Open. The RBC Canadian Open is proudly sponsored by RBC, Shaw Direct, BMW Group Canada, Molson Canadian 67, TaylorMade adidas Golf, Ballantine’s, Santa Carolina Wines and The Globe and Mail. For tickets or tournament information, please visit www.rbccanadianopen.com or call 1-800-571-6736.

 

RBC GOLF

RBC proudly supports golf around the world through high profile relationships with the PGA TOUR and Golf Canada. RBC is the Official Banking and Financial Services partner of touring professionals Luke Donald, Brandt Snedeker, Graeme McDowell, Matt Kuchar, Ernie Els, Jim Furyk, Mike Weir,  Graham DeLaet, Nick Taylor, David Hearn and Morgan Pressel. As the title sponsor of both the RBC Heritage and the RBC Canadian Open, RBC also supports emerging Canadian golfers through Golf Canada’s grassroots developmental programming, their Canadian Amateur Golf Championships and high performance national team. RBC is one of North America’s leading diversified financial services companies and among the largest banks in the world, as measured by market capitalization. www.rbc.com/canada.html

 

GOLF CANADA – LOVE THE GAME. GROW THE GAME.

Golf Canada is the National Sports Organization and governing body for golf in Canada representing close to 322,000 golfers at nearly 1,500 member clubs across the country. A proud member of the Canadian Olympic Committee, Golf Canada’s mission is to grow participation, excellence and passion in the sport while upholding the integrity and traditions of the game. By investing in the growth of the sport and introducing more participants of all ages to the game, our goal is to be relevant to and respected by all Canadian golf enthusiasts from coast to coast. For more information about what Golf Canada is doing to support golf in your community, visit www.golfcanada.ca.

 

Media Contact:

 

Dan Pino

Director, Corporate Communications

Golf Canada

(416) 434-5525

dpino@golfcanada.ca