2023 RBC Canadian Open Betting Card Picks and Preview
Ryan Noonan
3 years ago
Sandwiched between last week’s prestigious Memorial and next week’s U.S. Open is a tricky spot for the Canadian Open, the Tour’s third-oldest event. Add the new wrinkle of designated event status, or in this case, lack thereof, and it’s not shocking to see just 24 of the OWGR’s eligible top 100 teeing it up at Toronto’s Oakdale Golf & Country Club.
Canadians are famously polite, so of course, they rotate venues for their national open. This is our first look at Oakdale, a par 72 tree-lined Parkland-style course with an official distance listed at 7,264 yards, though reports say distance can and will vary based on the tee placements.
For more course details, check out Ron’s course preview. It’s the best in the business, bar none. We can all learn about Oakdale together:
Oakdale lies on a great piece of rolling terrain with elevation changes throughout the property. Whether it’s the holes that play uphill, the undulating fairways, or the crowned greens with false fronts, there aren’t many flat sections on this course. Hitting from uneven lies will be one of the challenges that golfers face this week. Players will get a taste of this on the very first hole as they will be hitting off an elevated tee down into a valley and then uphill on approach into an elevated green.
While Oakdale is a par-72 course, it only has three par-3s along with three par-5s. The par-3s are standard in length (193, 208, 172) and are each quality birdie opportunities. All of the par-5s are reachable in two shots, with the 590-yard 7th hole offering a downhill drive off the tee. With two additional par-4s compared to a traditional par-72 layout, par-4 scoring takes on added importance this week. Five of these holes being in the 350-400 yard range emphasizes the priority of accuracy over distance off the tee and allows for players to take less than driver in order to stay out of the rough.
My goal with this piece is to touch on the golfers I’m targeting this week. There are millions of ways to bet on this beautiful game, so I’ll share my opinion on the best way to bet on each golfer in my player pool at this week’s event. When pricing out finishing position bets (T5, T10, T20s, etc.), I’ll often lean towards BetMGM even if there’s a better number elsewhere because of MGM’s advantageous dead-heat rules. So know the rules of the books that you’re betting on!
Please take advantage of the Discord feature and community. It’s the best way to get up-to-the-minute lines and advice, and if you need help getting started, please reach out. That’s where my full card will be posted, along with any live in-tournament bets from myself or other contributors. Betting markets are fluid, but I’ll note the best number available at the time of this writing.
*Betting lines are accurate when posted in Discord.