Q&A: Taylor Pendrith

Written By Brian Decker

In our exclusive Q&A with Taylor Pendrith, journalist Adam Stanley talks with the world’s 45th-ranked player about the North course, how he thinks Tour players will take it on, and his hopes for Canada’s national open in 2025.

Taylor Pendrith teeing off during the final round of the 2019 Osprey Valley Open, in which he finished runner-up

By Adam Stanley

Out of the full field of PGA Tour competitors who are set to tee it up at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley’s North Course for the 2025 RBC Canadian Open, Taylor Pendrith may be the most experienced of them all.

And he’s already got a pretty great moment in the memory bank – on a significant hole to boot.

Pendrith, who broke through for his maiden PGA Tour title last year at The CJ Cup Byron Nelson, has played TPC Toronto dozens of times – and was runner-up in 2019 at the then-PGA Tour Canada event hosted on the North Course. Late last year at The Corby Classic charity event, hosted by fellow Canadian PGA Tour golfer Michael Gligic, Pendrith made an ace on the par-3 14th.

That hole is set to be The Rink for this year’s RBC Canadian Open.

Now while Pendrith did sit on the same tee box all day hitting shots, he wants to make it very clear that the ace came on just his third swing of the day.

“Oh,” Pendrith says with a smile, “that kind of counts.”

TPC Toronto caught up with Pendrith as we inch closer to this year’s RBC Canadian Open and just before Pendrith headed off for an overnight trip to a little place called Augusta National, as he prepares to make his Masters debut this April.   

Here, Pendrith dishes on why he thinks the renovated North Course will make for a great championship venue, what it means to have the RBC Canadian Open at a public course, and much more.

Taylor Pendrith made a hole-in-one on the 14th hole - The Rink hole for this year’s RBC Canadian Open - last September

Q: What were some of your initial thoughts on the big changes to the North Course?

A: They did a really good job. I’ve seen it once and I think they definitely made it more challenging. Added some length. Changed some holes around. I remember stepping onto the ninth tee and it doesn’t even look like the same hole! There were a lot of cool things that they did. The 11th hole is a big change and will be a tricky hole in the tournament.

Changing a couple par-5s to par-4s will make it play half a shot harder here and there but, overall, I think the re-do is awesome and I think the players are going to love to play the golf course. It’s going to be a test if the conditions are tough. It’ll play hard. Hopefully it’ll be a little bit firm and it’ll be a fun week.

Q: We saw during the PGA Tour Americas event last year (Note: the winning score was 5-under par, with an average score of 72.13 for the week) that, yes, when the conditions are tricky then scoring is tough to come by on the North Course. Do you think we’ll see the same from you guys?

A: If it’s firm and fast I think it’s going to play awesome. The rough will be up. It’ll play like a really difficult course. The fairways are pretty generous and some of the greens are big, so if it’s soft and no wind there are some scores to be had out there – but it’s a good track. A good test. You still have to hit the fairways, and you have to be good around the greens. You’ll need some good hands because I’m sure the rough is going to be thick. But overall, it’s going to be an awesome venue.

And the property is amazing. It’ll hold a lot of people – and that 18th hole will provide some excitement and it’ll be a pretty cool backdrop with the new clubhouse.

Set in front of the new Main Clubhouse, the 18th hole of the North course offers a championship-style atmosphere.

You grew up not close, but not too far from TPC Toronto and have played your share of public golf courses in the Greater Toronto Area. What’s your big thought on the RBC Canadian Open, our national open, being hosted at a public facility?  

It's really cool. When you’re on the property it doesn’t feel like a public golf course, I’d say. Conditions-wise it’s always in awesome shape. They’ve got three golf courses that are on the property, and they are all pretty damn good. Having a national open at a public course is pretty cool.

We play a few public courses on Tour – Torrey Pines is probably most notable – but it’s neat to have our national championship at a public track that everyone has access to if they want to and it’s going to showcase really well for golf in Canada. The golf course itself is awesome – I’ve played there probably 50 times and it’s just a really cool spot to go to and I think everybody will love it.

Side-by-side images of the 14th hole and The Rink infrastructure under construction

You, of course, made an ace at what will be The Rink hole for 2025. In years’ past, The Rink par-3 hasn’t always lent itself to scoring but at first blush, ours will. What do you think of The Rink as a concept overall and our version of it? 

That’s probably the coolest hole of the RBC Canadian Open. Every year it’s the loudest hole. The Canadian players get welcomed pretty nicely every time you step up onto the tee and the crowd gets rowdy which is awesome. It’s loud and the people are right on you, too. They’re right on the boards. It feels like they’re right there. It’s a pretty cool atmosphere.

Last year I think I was hitting 4-iron; The birdies at that hole were pretty rare. So having a rink hole where some of the holes may be in bowls, maybe you’ll see a hole-in-one – but you’ll see a lot of birdies and that’s going to pump the crowd up. It’ll be that much cooler of a hole, and an experience.

I hope they play it on that box (where Pendrith made his ace). One forty-five to the middle (laughs).

It’ll be cool to have some sort of wedge or maybe a 9-iron into that hole and provide some excitement. It’s a perfect hole for it.

TPC Toronto has worked closely with Golf Canada to create the new Home for Canadian Golf, with plenty more exciting projects to come. As someone who has been to TPC Toronto a lot, to see what’s already been done – and knowing what the future looks like – how much excitement do you personally have for the PGA Tour’s best to check it out?   

Obviously, it’s a new venue for this tournament but everything is there. It’s going to be a big week showcasing that course and they definitely take a lot of pride in it. Having Golf Canada there and the Hall of Fame there – it’s just an awesome piece of property. I think guys will enjoy playing the course. You drive in, kind of through the trees, and you’re around the corner and there’s that huge, massive new clubhouse. Big range. Great practice facilities. Everything is on site. The first and 10th tee are a 30-second walk from the putting green. It makes sense when you get there. It’ll hold a lot of people and it’s going to be an awesome tournament. It’ll look great on TV. It’ll be lush and green, and it’ll be an awesome venue.

I’ve said it for many years: “It would be a great RBC Canadian Open venue at that place.” They made it harder, did what they had to do to get it there, and I think there will be many more to come.

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Brian Decker
Next

Part Two: Q&A with architect Ian Andrew