BURLINGTON, Ontario, Canada -- St. George's Golf and Country Club has held its No. 1 position among Ontario's best courses. In a tight race for top spot in the 2009 edition of Ontario Golf Magazine's TOP 50 Golf Courses, the Stanley Thompson classic, located in Etobicoke on the edge of Toronto, edged by The National Golf Club of Canada in Woodbridge, Ont., by less than a quarter of a point. It was the fifth edition of the biennial ranking of the province's finest layouts; the results of which are featured in the Fall edition of Ontario Golf Magazine.

This year, Ontario Golf has extended its online edition of the rankings to include the Top 100 Courses (www.golfontario.ca), owing to the depth of quality facilities in a province that boasts in excess of 800 courses. But it was a familiar name once again atop the standings.

"This is very exciting for the club and the community—especially with the Canadian Open here next year," says St. George's CEO Joe Murphy, whose facility has finished first in each of OG's past four rankings. "It's a great honour considering the sophistication of Ontario Golf's rankings process. It's also a tribute to the heritage and longevity of a course that's still a great test of golf today. When you get a great architect like Stanley Thompson working on a wonderful property, you end up with something very special."

"Stanley Thompson designed many of the courses that define the game in Canada, and St. George's is truly at the top," notes Steve Waxman, one of OG's 65 panel members. "Thompson had the benefit of working with an amazing piece of land with a variety of elevation changes and undulating fairways. The bunkering is a work of art and once you get to the greens you are presented with a whole new challenge."

For the Tom and George Fazio-designed National, it marked the club's highest finish since placing first in the inaugural ranking in 2001. The National had placed third in the previous three rankings.

The race was extremely close throughout the top 10, with less than a half point separating sixth from 10th position. Here's how the top 10 break down:

1. St. George's G&CC, Etobicoke, Ont. (43.64)*
2. The National GC, Woodbridge, Ont. (43.40)
3. Hamilton G&CC, Ancaster, Ont. (42.00)
4. Westmount G&CC, Kitchener, Ont. (34.66)
5. Beacon Hall GC, Aurora, Ont. (29.94)
6. Bigwin Island GC, Lake of Bays, Ont. (28.49)
7. Devil's Paintbrush, Caledon, Ont. (28.42)
8. Muskoka Bay GC, Gravenhurst, Ont. (28.40)
9. Coppinwood GC, Uxbridge, Ont. (28.22)
10. Oviinbyrd GC, Muskoka, Ont. (28.00)
*Scores are out of a possible 50

Ontario Golf Magazine's biennial rankings are the nation's most thorough golf course evaluations, conducted by a carefully selected panel of 65 experts who have played an average of 135 of the province's top 330 courses (Ontario's estimated 830 courses represent nearly 40 percent of all courses in Canada). The results are counted at two different stages before being professionally audited, with the scores for each of the Top 100 courses being published along with the top five votes from each panel member to ensure both the integrity and the accuracy of the process.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Ted McIntyre
Editor
Ontario Golf Magazine / GolfStyle Magazine / BIZ Magazine
1074 Cooke Blvd.
Burlington, ON L7T 4A8
(905) 634-8003 ext. 327
tedbits@golfontario.ca
www.golfontario.ca