Why Mississaugua Golf and Country Club is One of Canada's Best Courses

You know you're in for something special when Walter Hagen, Sam Snead and Gene Littler all hoisted trophies on the same fairways.

This week, Brooke Henderson and the LPGA's best players get their shot at Mississaugua Golf & Country Club — a layout that has been humbling professionals since 1931.

The intentional misspelling says everything. This club doesn't care what you think about proper spelling — they've been Mississaugua with an extra "u" instead of Mississauga, the neighboring Toronto town its located in, since 1906 — decades before the city even existed, and they're not changing now.

Percy Barrett started the whole thing with nine holes carved along the Credit River valley. Smart man, Barrett. He knew good bones when he saw them, using every ridge and hollow the land offered. Those elevation changes? They weren't obstacles — they were opportunities.

George Cumming added nine more holes by 1909, but then Donald Ross showed up in 1919 and changed everything. The same Ross who gave us Pinehurst No. 2 turned his attention to these Canadian fairways with surgical precision. His philosophy was simple: hit good shots, get rewarded. Hit bad ones, pay the price.

Take the par-3 16th — looks harmless until the pin goes back. Suddenly, your comfortable wedge becomes an exercise in prayer. Miss by a yard, and you're wondering why you didn't take up tennis.

Ross saved his masterpiece for the finish. The 18th measures just 385 yards — sounds like driver, wedge, right?

Wrong.

That green sits 30 feet above the fairway like someone balanced a dinner plate on a flagpole. Members have dubbed it "the longest short hole in golf," and after you skull your fourth wedge attempt into the slope, you'll get the joke. Long means your ball disappears into thick woods behind the green. Short leaves you chipping from a hillside so steep that caddies have been known to lose their footing.

Stanley Thompson put the finishing touches on this masterpiece in 1927. The Canadian architect had a gift for working with nature rather than against it, and he stretched the course without disrupting its gorgeous flow through the Credit River valley. Thompson's most inspired addition might be the rolling mounds he sculpted around the ninth green — earthwork so perfectly proportioned that photographers still flock there decades later to capture the par-5's dramatic finish.

Six Canadian Opens validate Mississaugua's championship credentials. Hagen kicked things off in 1931, shooting a final-round 67 to overcome a four-stroke deficit. Snead's 1938 victory came during persistent winds off Lake Ontario. The war years brought Craig Wood's 1942 triumph, decided by a single stroke over Byron Nelson.

Gene Littler's 1969 victory stands out — he never hit a shot out of bounds during four rounds on a layout where penalty areas seem magnetized. Bobby Nichols claimed the final Canadian Open here in 1974, closing with back-to-back birdies on holes that had been yielding double bogeys all week. Each champion proved that power alone won't conquer this course — the 7,115-yard, par-71 layout rewards intelligent play over brute force.

What separates Mississaugua from typical tournament venues is its emphasis on course management over raw distance. The par-4 seventh hole exemplifies this — a 420-yard dogleg right where the aggressive line over mature maples can shave 40 yards off the approach but leaves no margin for error.

The greens tell the story of Ross' genius. Built with subtle internal contours that become more pronounced as pin positions move toward edges, they reward players who think two shots ahead. The par-5 12th green slopes so dramatically from back to front that putting from above the hole requires a surgeon's touch.

Modern equipment hasn't diminished the course's defenses. GPS yardages mean nothing when you're judging how a 7-iron will react on a green running at 12 on the Stimpmeter while sloping away at a 4 percent grade.

The CPKC Women's Open marks the first LPGA Tour event at Mississaugua — a $2.6 million tournament bringing professional golf's brightest stars to this storied venue. So far, the cream of the crop has risen to the top, with Minjee Lee, Henderson, Jeeno Thitikul and Nelly Korda all with in striking distance.

The setup will emphasize accuracy over distance, likely playing around 6,600 yards. Tournament officials are using pin positions that Ross himself designed, creating scenarios that will separate the field quickly.

The weather could shift the entire dynamic, too. Lake Ontario's proximity means conditions change rapidly, turning manageable approach shots into survival exercises when winds gust off the water.

As it has for centuries, Mississaugua doesn't care about your reputation. The same elevated greens that frustrated legendary names of yesteryear will test today's stars, proving that brilliant design ages like fine wine. Ross built something timeless here, and no amount of modern technology can change the fundamental truth — you still have to hit the shots.

PGA of America Golf Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. Read his recent Monday Recap on RG.org and his stories on Athlon Sports. To stay updated on his latest work, sign up for his newsletter and visit OneMoreRollGolf.com.