Rosedale Golf Club is a private golf club in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, founded in 1893 in Moore Park. The course hosted the Canadian Open in 1912 and 1928.

History

Founded in 1893 in Moore Park as a 9-hole course and moved to

Rosedale, Toronto Rosedale is a neighbourhood in central Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was formerly the estate of William Botsford Jarvis, and so named by his wife, granddaughter of William Dummer Powell, for the wild roses that grew there in abundance. It is loca ...

in 1895–1896 on what is now

Rosedale Field Rosedale Field was a grandstand stadium located in Rosedale Park at 20 Scholfield Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Originally called Toronto Lacrosse Grounds, it was linked to St. Andrew's College, Aurora, St. Andrew's College located in the are ...

. It was an eighteen hole course on 15 acres that ran along Highland Avenue from just west of the Rosedale Field to as far as Glen Road and just north of Summerhill Avenue. This location was short-lived as the land was owned by The Scottish Ontario and Manitoba Land Company and the area was being acquired to become a residential development called North Rosedale. In 1909, the course moved north along the

Don River The Don ( rus, Дон, p=don) is the fifth-longest river in Europe. Flowing from Central Russia to the Sea of Azov in Southern Russia, it is one of Russia's largest rivers and played an important role for traders from the Byzantine Empire. Its ...

to its current site between the neighbourhoods of

Teddington Park Teddington Park is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is bordered by Yonge Street to the west and Bayview Avenue to the east, and from Snowden Road in the south to north of Glen Echo Road and Rosedale Golf Club. Development occurred ...

to the west, Lawrence Park to the south,

The Bridle Path The Bridle Path is a residential neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is characterized by large multimillion-dollar mansions and two to four acre (8,000 to 16,000 m²) lot sizes. It makes up part of Bridle Path–Sunnybrook–York M ...

to the east and

Hoggs Hollow Hoggs Hollow is a residential neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Don River Valley and centred on the intersection of Yonge Street, York Mills Road, and Wilson Avenue. Hoggs Hollow is named after the Hogg family. James ...

to the north.

Controversy

In 2004 the club was sued by

McDonald's Canada McDonald's Restaurants of Canada, Limited (french: Les Restaurants McDonald's du Canada Limitée) is the Canadian master franchise of the fast food restaurant chain McDonald's, owned by the American parent McDonald's Corporation. One of Canada ...

chairman and CEO

George Cohon George Alan Cohon, (born April 19, 1937) is an American-born Canadian businessman who is the founder and senior chairman of McDonald's Canada and McDonald's Russia. Early life and education George Alan Cohon was born to a Ukrainian-Jewish fathe ...

who alleged that the club rejected his membership application due to his

Jewish heritage Jewish culture is the culture of the Jewish people, from its formation in ancient times until the current age. Judaism itself is not a faith-based religion, but an orthoprax and Ethnoreligious group, ethnoreligion, pertaining to deed, practic ...

Tournaments

The club has hosted several tournaments including the Canadian Open in 1912 and 1928. In more recent years, the club has elected to only host tournaments that cause little disruption to the membership. The course record of 63 is held jointly by

Greg Norman Gregory John Norman AO (born 10 February 1955) is an Australian entrepreneur and retired professional golfer who spent 331 weeks as world number one in the 1980s and 1990s. He won 89 professional tournaments, including 20 PGA Tour tournament ...

and former Rosedale assistant pro, Lorne Rowe.

Current course

The present course was initially designed by the American designer

Tom Bendelow Tom Bendelow (1868–1936), nicknamed "The Johnny Appleseed of American Golf" and "The Dean of American Golf", was a Scottish American golf course architect during the first half of the twentieth century. He is credited with having designed some ...

, but within a decade was re-worked by golf course architect Donald Ross. It plays to par 71 (73 for ladies) and is 6,525 yards in length. Each hole on the course is distinctive, with water in play on 9 of the 18 holes, big elevation changes and tight, rolling fairways. Because of its exclusivity, Rosedale has not been played by many golf writers or professionals, and therefore does not appear on many of the golf course ranking lists; however, those who have played the course rank it as one of the best "classic" golf courses in Canada.

References

External links