Matt Kuchar, the affable 15-year pro, shot a 7-under-par 64 today to take the lead on the opening day of the Northern Trust Open, hosted at Riviera Country Club.

Giving chase to Kuchar are the likes of Sergio Garcia, former world number one Lee Westwood, and rookie-sensation James Hahn.

However, Kuchar is not the star of the first day, nor will anyone be for the following three.

No, it’s Riviera itself that will play that role.

Riviera has played host to three major championships, and since the 1940s has been the primary host to the Northern Trust Open (formerly the Nissan Los Angeles Open, formerly the Los Angeles Open).

After opening in 1926 – the iconic Dr. Alister Mackenzie having a hand in the initial design and course plan – it’s fabled fairways have been home to Hollywood-types and the best golfers in the world ever since.

A handful of modifications have been made over time, most notably by the design team of Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore, they of Sand Hills, Bandon Preserve, and Streamsong fame, however for the most part, the integrity of the course has been maintained.

I’m no expert on golf course design and critique (for that, read here or here), but while watching on television, you can’t help but get a sense of familiarity with Riviera; a sense that you too could play there and enjoy the golfing experience.

Living through the wintery Toronto tundra, it’s the ultimate tease to see tour professionals descend on the vistas of Pebble Beach, Kapalua, and Torrey Pines at the beginning of the year.

However, if I was ever played at one of the aforementioned famed golfing institutions, I would be thoroughly distracted.

Would I enjoy myself? Of course. But Riviera, I could relate to, I could make my way around.

The first hole is a straight away par 5 of 503 yards. The tenth, a 315 yard par 4. And the third, although measured at 236 yards from the back tees, was once called “the greatest par 3 hole in America” by Ben Hogan.

Hogan should know. The place has been dubbed Hogan’s Alley as The Hawk triumphed there in 1947 and 1948 at the L.A. Open. And at the 1948 U.S. Open which was also contested at ‘The Riv,’ as the locals call it.

When Hogan made his return to golf in 1950 after the horrific car accident that nearly took his life, it was the L.A. Open at Riviera where he debuted.

Mike Weir, one of the shortest hitters on tour, has won at Riviera twice. He once told Globe & Mail golf writer Lorne Rubenstein that, “he plans every year not to try to drive the 10^th, but that the temptation is so great when he gets to the tee in the tournament he has to give it a shot.”

There’s one compelling hole after another. It’s a thinking-man’s golf course. And, the immaculate piece of property carries with it the mystique of modern and historical legends around every corner.

Kuchar may hold on for the next three days and win the tournament. Maybe he won’t.

But while watching the golf this weekend picture yourself at The Riv, think about how you may play a particular shot, and you’ll likely find yourself immersed in a pure golf experience.

And as a Canadian in mid-February, who wouldn’t want that? 

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Hitting the Links –

A meth lab yesterday. A kangaroo delay today. Jeez (Deadspin)

For the first time in nine years, the ‘Mario Golf’ game franchise returns to Nintendo consoles (Escapist Magazine)

Lee Westwood, Bubba Watson, and Hunter Mahan star in this new Ping commercial for the G25s (YouTube)

“Graeme McDowell” gets body-slammed in this new Srixon commercial (YouTube); aside, one of my proudest Twitter moments came courtesy of a Graeme McDowell retweet on Tuesday

Toronto.Com is running a contest to win 1 of 4 pairs of tickets to the Toronto Golf & Travel Show (Toronto.Com)

WestJet announces non-stop flights to Myrtle Beach (Fairways Golf Magazine)

Despite the overwhelming number of golfers in Canada – approximately six million, according to the National Allied Golf Associations consumer behaviour study released last year – golf courses across Canada, particularly municipal ones, are struggling to stay open.

This week two golf courses announced their respective sellings, and others in  may go through a similar fate before the first balls of spring are hit down the fairway.

In Calgary the city-owned McCall Lake Golf Course is set to close in 2014, with the municipality citing losses of over $200,000 per year and a waning interest in the sport. This, according to a report from the Calgary Herald.

The report continues to say that a new recreation centre is set to be built. Arguments for why the golf course is being sold range from financial, to multi-cultural, to logistical.

In Sudbury, the shareholders of Idylwylde Golf and Country Club decided today to sell some of the land of their club to the adjacent hospital. Why? To build a 700-900 spot parking lot. For a town with very few golf clubs to begin with, this should be seen as a blow to the northern Ontario golfing community.

Ontario has also seen it’s share of municipalities struggling with golf clubs and the land that they are on.

For example, in late January Kingston’s Belle Park Fairways was the focus of a multi-hour meeting where residents discussed the fate of the club. The recommendation was for the golf course to cease operations at the end of 2013 to make way for a solar panel operation, according to a Flagstick Golf Magazine recap.

Finally, in the nation’s capital, Ottawa’s Pine View was subject to a recommendation from a city councillor suggesting that the club may be better served if  a private operator took the reigns.

Interestingly enough, it seems that the courses owned by the City of Toronto – long-suffering from a financial perspective as they may be – had the most successful 2012, and has they have not been subject to any scrutiny so far in 2013.

In fact, the City of Toronto courses saw an increase in rounds played by nearly 12,000, and an increase in revenue by $454,000 between 2011 and 2012.

This, despite the fact that the City has not yet followed through on a communications plan recommendation to better market the courses to Toronto’s very large golfing population.

That’s not to say that Toronto golf facilities are immune to closure – for example, last fall the last balls were hit at Beach Fairway Golf Range, a fixture just east of downtown for 14 years.

With an increased spotlight on golf as an expensive, time-consuming sport, it will be interesting to see if the city councillors across Canada leverage golf for its benefits – financial or otherwise.

For the sake of an increased number of golfers in urban areas, hopefully we see more successful golf courses, and less parking lots, in the next few years.

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Hitting the Links – 

A meth lab was discovered in a porta-potty on a golf course. Yes, you read that right (News Channel 4 Oklahoma)

LPGA-hopeful gets bit by a spider. Keeps playing. Shoots 74 (Yahoo! UK)

Who else but Lorne Rubenstein gets an hour-long audience with Jack Nicklaus? (Globe and Mail)

Golf and rugby will be contested at the 2015 Pan-Am games prior to their 2016 Olympic ‘debuts’ (Hamilton Spectator)

BOOM, baby! Would you pay $18,000(!) to play golf with Jeff Overton? (Golf.com)

Power fantasty rankings for this week’s Northern Trust Open (PGA Tour)

TaylorMade trying to think of a new ‘golf-like’ game? (Canadian Golfer)

This past weekend, members of Golf Canada and its board of directors met in Vancouver for the 2013 annual general meeting and for the first time in a couple of years, there appears to be optimism from the Oakville-based organization.

Through this year, Golf Canada announced its commitment to what it feels is the four key pillars of success in order for its vision to be carried out. Those four are: grow participation, ensure excellence, expand capacity, and foster interaction. 

The full details of that report can be read here.

The usual giving of awards and the naming of a new president aside, much focus was on the year that was and the year ahead – especially from a financial perspective.

As the National Sport Organization for golf in Canada and the governing body for the game, Golf Canada relies on multiple sources of funding to stay afloat, and has been financially struggling for the last couple of years. For example, its expenses outpaced its revenues by over $2 million in 2011.

But 2012 was a different story.

The net loss for the organization last year was $328,332 – a significant improvement over the net loss of $2,347,278 a year ago.

The focus was on streamlining programs and reducing operating costs. Beginning this year, there will also be an increase in membership dues by $2 per member – the first increase of it’s kind since 2009 – and an initiative that will increase Golf Canada’s revenue by approximately $700,000.

The aforementioned efforts, coupled with having the RBC Canadian Open hosted at Glen Abbey – as opposed to another club that would require dues to be paid – should result in Golf Canada being positively in the black for 2013.

Further, Shaw Communications, whose Chief Marketing Officer is none other than Jim Little (the man who brought the RBC sponsorship to the Canadian Open in the first place) has committed itself to being a big sponsor of golf in Canada from a media perspective.

It has also stepped up to the plate as a premier sponsor of the RBC Canadian Open, joining other sponsors like BMW, TaylorMade, and Glenlivet. 

Suffice to say, Little’s move to Shaw was a good thing for Canadian golf.

With the Canadian Women’s Open now without a sponsor, it would not be surprising to see Shaw step into that role as well.  

That press release can be found here.

It will be interesting to see where Golf Canada nets out come this time next year, but it should be hopeful for a good 2013.

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Hitting the Links – 

Rick Young debates giving the winner of the Canadian Amateur Championship an exemption into The Masters (ScoreGolf)

Highlands Links members could see an increase in membership dues of 140% (The Chronicle Herald)

Luke Donald has turned to Michael Jordan to help his mental approach (Yahoo! Europe)

Want to win lunch with the Wanamaker Trophy? You can (Democrat and Chronicle)

So much for my expert prediction of Brandt Snedker winning the match play in two weeks. He’s withdrawn (CBS Sports)

McCall Lake Golf Course, owned by the city of Calgary, is being sold and closed (CTV News)

Careless driving sparked chase on golf carts. Awesome (The Courier)

A couple of new features being rolled out today. I’m going to do my best to have daily content uploaded to this blog, Monday to Friday. On Mondays I’m also going to feature “Hitting the Links” (pun, fully intended) a segment devoted to pulling interesting golf articles from around the web . Also on Mondays, I’ll be adding a reactionary podcast touching on (pun, again, fully intended) the happenings of the past weekend. It’s called “In Touch” and the first episode is featured below.

Keep ’em straight.

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Brandt Snedeker, the only competitor in the field this past week at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am – celebrity or otherwise – whose wavy locks matched the wavy surf of the Monterey Peninsula, emerged victorious after a near-flawless 65 on Sunday for 19-under-par 267.

Since the beginning of 2013, Snedeker has played in five tournaments, and has finished in the top-3 four times. A masterful performance that, he’s hoping, could turn into a victory at The Masters, or any of the other major tournaments yet to be played this year.

He commented after his round finished on Sunday that winning majors is his next goal, and why not? He has seemingly accomplished everything a young player should do at this point in his career.

Multiple victories, a Ryder Cup appearance, top-5 in the world ranking, and $10 million richer thanks to last year’s FedEx cup win (of which he says he has spent none).

Snedeker is the quintessential nice guy, who is primed for a huge season.

He’s second only to Rory McIlroy in terms of worldwide victories the last three years and if the beginning of the season is any indication, it may be Snedeker, and not McIlroy who should be the favourite heading into Augusta.

Snedeker is playing the best of anyone on the planet, and it will only help him down Magnolia Lane that most of the focus will be on McIlroy, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, and Louis Oosthuizen or Bubba Watson (they of last year’s playoff).

In his last ten starts on the PGA Tour, Snedeker is a combined 125 under par. Quite the performance. He uses a simple swing, has an enviable putting stroke, a brisk pace-of-play, and has clubs from six different manufacturers in his bag, simply because they work.

Snedeker, works. 

His most recent sponsor is Canadian bank RBC and according to the RBC statement announcing it’s signing of him (and former U.S. Open champion Graeme MacDowell), chief brand and communications officer at the bank Jane Broderick said Snedeker is “well respected, (has) global recognition, and will serve as (a) terrific ambassador for RBC.”

With his brilliant streak of success, it’s easy to give Snedeker any of the banal labels in golf lexicon. However, he isn’t the most flashiest of golfers, and none of the labels seem to work for this Tennessee-native. 

He doesn’t have the big sponsor contracts, the flat-brimmed hats, or the major championship trophies.  He’s got a down-home swing and a down-home attitude and Snedeker is just fine with the way things are.

Come the end of 2013,  it’s likely the third item on the aforementioned list will be crossed off.

I’m sure he’ll be just fine with that, too.

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In Touch – 

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Hitting the Links – 

TaylorMade’s financial success story (Wall Street Journal)

Canadian Brad Fritsch is currently 4th on the PGA Tour’s “Rookie Rankings” (PGATOUR.com)

Holocaust survivors stage a protest at the Allianz Championship, won by Rocco Mediate on Sunday (The Algemeiner)

Mike Weir snubbed by the Northern Trust Open (again) (The Globe & Mail)

Trump set to build a second course at his acclaimed Scottish resort (The Scotsman)

New Zealand couple both record holes-in-one at a tournament (STUFF – New Zealand)

15-year-old Lydia Ko wins her third professional tournament. She’s 15! (Global Golf Post)

TaylorMade gets pros and celebrities to wear ridiculous yellow bucket hats (TaylorMade)

Mustache of the year! And it’s not even Movember (GOLF.com)

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Photo of the Week –