National Golf Club of Canada

About the club

George Fazio teamed up with his nephew Tom Fazio to devise a course that even thirty years later is still considered among Canada's most challenging. No women are allowed at this exclusive club on the edge of Toronto, which became known for its difficulty in 1979, when Lee Trevino, after clinching the Canadian PGA tournament (and earning a score that still stands as a course record) declared the National to be the most daunting course that he had ever encountered. Taking advantage of a splendid setting among ravines and creeks, the holes become progressively more demanding, leading up to the punishing uphill par 4 18th. The designers have made some renovations over the years, adding length to the course and rethinking some of the holes, not always with great success (the 16th in particular looks out of place), but the national maintains its standing as Canada's toughest course.