Reed On The Greens June 25, 2021
Canada Life Championship Leaves London Legacy
by Jeffrey Reed, Editor, LondonOntarioSports.com
When PGA Tour Canada – now the Mackenzie Tour PGA Tour Canada – brought its season-ending championship to London in 2013, it was the talk of the town. But when the Mackenzie Tour released its 2021 schedule – minus the Highland Country Club-hosted Canada Life Championship – one June 10, only LondonOntarioSports.com reported on the fact, Highland and Canada Life are no longer part of the Mackenzie Tour.
Perhaps that’s a tell-tale sign that, in the end, few in our community cared about the Mackenzie Tour’s flagship event.
That’s not to say the season-ending championship at Highland CC was a complete flop. In fact, minus dismal attendance, it was a huge success and has left a lasting legacy in terms of promoting the game and supporting local charities.
Highland Country Club’s No. 9 hole. Photo: Jeffrey Reed/LondonOntarioGolf.com.
But during tournament week at Highland from 2015 to 2019, and at Sunningdale Golf and Country Club in 2013 and 2014, horrible attendance was always the elephant in the room – rather, on the golf course. Everyone knew this was more of a family and friends-attended event, but no one talked about it – other than the avid golf fans in attendance, who wondered where everyone was.
And in the end, tiny galleries at Highland were at least part of the reason why Canada Life pulled its sponsorship of the Canada Life Championship.
Any way you look at it, this is a classic case of not knowing what you’ve had until you lose it. And while the door is open for both Highland and Canada Life to jump back on board with the Mackenzie Tour, for now the removal of the tournament from the local golf calendar leaves an empty hole for those golf fans who cared about the event.
Sponsorship, Host Clubs Cyclical
The Mackenzie Tour has secured a new tournament venue and title sponsor for 2022, according to Mackenzie Tour PGA Tour Canada executive director Scott Pritchard. He said a formal announcement will be made at season’s end.
Scott Pritchard. Photo: PGA TOUR.
The seven-year run of the Tour Championship of Canada/Freedom 55 Financial Championship, which became the Canada Life Championship beginning in 2018, represented a solid run for this tournament, according to Pritchard. In fact, without the COVID-19 pandemic cancelling the 2020 tournament, it would have had a respectable eight-year run in the Forest City.
But according to Pritchard, title sponsorship and host clubs are both cyclical by nature.
“Events have a life span, and so, too, does sponsorship,” Pritchard said. “We’ve known for some time that Canada Life was not going to renew our agreements in London and Vancouver (host of the now-defunct Canada Life Open). They wanted to move in a different direction, and we saw that last week (with the naming of the Canada Life Centre, home of the Winnipeg Jets).”
Without a title sponsor – one which continuously emphasized the fact they wanted the event in London, home to its corporate headquarters, and at Highland CC – the writing was on the wall for Highland, according to Pritchard.
“Highland has been a great partner, but ultimately, sponsorship drives our events,” Pritchard said, “and you need a title sponsor – in addition to significant sponsors – to ensure financial success of your event. We weren’t able to secure a replacement for London at this time.”
The 2013 and 2014 tournaments at Sunningdale were hammered by cold, wet weather and galleries at times measured less than 100 fans, even on championship Sunday. The Sunningdale membership did not embrace the tournament, either – but to their credit, Highland members welcomed the tournament with open arms. It’s a shame few others did.
Highland CC, Freedom 55 Financial Championship supports Thames Valley Children’s Centre. Photo: Jeffrey Reed/LondonOntarioGolf.com.
Yet despite perfect weather on almost every tournament day at Highland from 2015 through 2019, Londoners stayed away from this event. Sunday galleries measured about 800 in 2015, 1,400 in 2016, 1,000 in 2017, then only about 500 during the final two years of the championship. Thursday-Friday-Saturday rounds resembled more family and friends events than a professional golf tournament.
And while you can’t measure the true success of a Mackenzie Tour tournament by the size of its gallery, Pritchard did hint that lack of attendance did weigh on the minds of Canada Life like a large elephant.
“Having fans there or not isn’t going to make or break a tournament,” Prichard said. “That being said, had the community embraced the event, and had scores of people come out, then certainly it would have been hard for a sponsor to say, ‘We won’t continue.’”
Pritchard said during every single meeting with the Highland tournament committee, attendance was discussed. But he said Highland – which assumed many of the tournament responsibilities previously handled by Golf Canada from 2013 through 2016 – as well as the Mackenzie Tour could not “crack the code in London in terms of getting fans out. It just never happened.
“I would say we had core golf fans at Highland, but that’s it,” said Pritchard. “The (London) market looked at the event as a Highland event, rather than a community event.”
Canada Life Championship tournament chair Justin Wismer (left) and Highland CC ambassador and former head golf professional Mike Silver (right) with 2018 top-five Order of Merit finishers who graduate to Korn Ferry Tour. Photo: Jeffrey Reed/LondonOntarioGolf.com.
After taking over from Golf Canada, there was a one-year learning curve for the host club, but its strong army of volunteers and committee executive displayed their A-game moving forward, with strong initiatives including free golf clinics, a summer-long million-dollar hole-in-one contest ending at Highland on tournament Saturday, pro-am events and much-improved corporate hosting during the week-long event.
“The (London) market looked at the event as a Highland event, rather than a community event.” – Scott Pritchard, Executive Director, Mackenzie Tour PGA Tour Canada
Then there’s the charity element, one which will be dearly missed now that the tournament no longer exists. Beginning with Golf In Schools, then later Thames Valley Children’s Centre and finally Childcan, local not-for-profits will forever see the spinoffs of the Canada Life Championship.
Pritchard spoke of other spinoffs, too, for local restaurants and suppliers of tournament signs and tents, for example. And he said there was much value added for the players and their entourages in lifetime memories made at hospitality offered at Budweiser Gardens, at concerts and Knights hockey games.
Paul Barjon captured the 2016 F55F Championship at Highland CC. Photo: Jeffrey Reed/LondonOntarioGolf.com
“The entire Highland crew – the red coats (executive) and the members – did an amazing job. And quite frankly, when I’m speaking with other facilities about taking on an event, in terms of Highland’s responsibilities, then I ask them to speak with (Highland),” Pritchard said.
As for the season-ending championship, much rumoured to be heading to TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley (which already hosts the Tour’s Osprey Valley Open in August), Pritchard said the Tour has instead opted for a new venue offering a “fresh start. We want a community which will embrace the event and where it will be a big deal.”
The Canada Life Championship was a big deal – the Tour did its job in hosting a top-level professional golf championship, complete with stars of tomorrow, and certainly used social media and the Canadian golf media to get their message out to the public.
But now, just like the golfers who took in a Knights game or Keith Urban concert, all local golf fans have now are memories of the championship which brought them stars like Tony Finau, Mackenzie Hughes, Corey Conners, Aaron Wise and C.T. Pan.
Timeline Highlights – Tour Championship of Canada/Freedom 55 Financial Championship/Canada Life Championship
2013
Tour Championship of Canada launches at combination Thompson-Robinson hybrid layout measuring 7,089 yards at Sunningdale Country Club
Winner: Max Gilbert, St. Georges, Quebec (field 132)
2014
Field reduced to Top 60 on Order of Merit
Second year of a three-year deal with Sunningdale
Golf Canada’s Bill Paul said, “I told (PGA Tour Canada president) Jeff Monday, I only wanted to go to one spot (with the Tour Championship), and that one spot was London.”
Winner: Ryan Williams, Vancouver, $27,000 of total $150,000 purse
London Hunt and Country Club also hosted a big event this year: the CP Canadian Women’s Open, which drew only 16,500 fans – down from 65,000 fans who attended the 2006 CN Canadian Women’s Open at London Hunt. Then Golf Canada CEO Scott Simmons asked LondonOntarioSports.com, “Where are all the people. London has changed (since 2006). There’s a different vibe.”
2015
Tour now named Mackenzie Tour with title sponsorship from Mackenzie Investments
New tournament name, Freedom 55 Financial Championship, inked through 2020, moves to Highland with a new three-year deal with the host club – insisted upon by the Highland committee
Paul said terminating the Sunningdale deal was “mutually agreed upon by all parties,” and explained that Highland wasn’t Golf Canada’s only choice. “We looked at other options, but some of the other clubs couldn’t do it because of previous commitments. Some didn’t want to commit for more than one year.” He said FireRock GC, St. Thomas G&CC, Redtail GC, The Oaks G&CC and West Haven G&CC all entered the conversation. Added Paul, “London is a tremendous golf market, and bringing the tournament close to downtown London at Highland will be a great opportunity to showcase the event to new fans in the community.”
Highland played at par-70 6,584 yards, with the par-5, 460-yard No. 14 hole playing as a par-4
Thames Valley Children’s Centre receives more than $44,000
Winner: Jason Millard, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, beat 2014 winner Williams in playoff, claimed $36,000 of $150,000 purse. Field includes likes of Taylor Pendrith, J.J. Spaun, C.T. Pan.
Curtis Reed of Castroville, Texas shot course-record 60 (since tied)
2016
Purse jumps to $200,000
Tournament now played with classic members’ layout, instead of reversed nines
Winner Paul Barjon of Bordeaux, France wins $36,000 with 22-under-par score, including 9-under 61 shot on Saturday with fierce winds and rain
Highland pro Mike Silver said, “This isn’t just Highland’s tournament. It’s London’s tournament. When you think about how Augusta National stages the Masters Tournament year after year, that is the kind of legacy we are building here at Highland.”
Thames Valley Children’s Centre receives more than $70,000
Sunday gallery 1,400 – largest in tournament history
2017
Winner American Rico Hoey, born in Philippines, $36,000 of $200,000 purse
Highland takes over from Golf Canada in areas including advertising, media relations, ticket sales, fan experience, food and beverage, corporate/hospitality logistics, parking, volunteer recruitment and caddies, clinics, player billeting, community engagement
Another $52,000 for Thames Valley Children’s Centre
Now-retired Mackenzie Tour president Jeff Monday said, “This tour is like watching The Beatles before they were The Beatles.” He said, “The keys to success on this tour are measured in two ways. One, which is consistent across all of our tours, is having a positive impact in the communities which you play. Certainly, there is an economic impact, but there’s also the charitable act. It is probably our biggest achievement to date – to see how that has grown. The second key criteria is, not only how the players play during this year – certainly that’s critical – but what they then go on to do.”
2018
Highland, committed through 2019, signs on through 2020, consistent with Freedom 55 Financial’s commitment
Tournament renamed Canada Life Championship as Freedom 55 rebrands
Danny Walker, Bradenton, Florida winner
Scott Pritchard, now Mackenzie Tour PGA Tour Canada executive director, said, “With our clinics for junior golfers, it’s hard to put a value on that. It will be interesting to see if there’s a London kid who watched the tournament, or caddied for one of the players, and is playing on the Tour in 2015. You never know. But those are the kinds of experiences that community members would not have if the event wasn’t in London.”
New charity, Childcan, receives $40,000
BDO Million Dollar Shootout draws about 200 onlookers on Saturday, but final round gallery only about 500.
Monday said, “Highland has really put a good plan together, getting the word out more – getting out into the community more. That’s one of the benefits of having Highland running the tournament. Golf Canada worked really hard, but they didn’t have a year-round presence. Take the London Knights. What they do know in this community is, these are players we’re going to see someday in the NHL. The Knights have developed that brand. And that’s pretty much where we are. We’re almost the equivalent of the Knights in golf. It’s a hockey community, but it’s also a golf community. We’ve always thought (the tourney) had some potential. I know there’s been some chatter about, ‘Should the season-ending event go here or there?’ But we believe this is the best place for it. You have Freedom 55 here as sponsor in their hometown, and a great golf course. And our preference is to build this to be the marquee event on the tour.”
2019
Patrick Fishburn, Ogden, Utah winner
Childcan receives $32,000
Pritchard said, “Highland has done an amazing job with engaging with other private – and public – facilities in the region, not only helping grow awareness of the event, but also awareness of Childcan. So from my perspective, it has been a great partnership (with Highland). But we’d love to have a lot of people there, and we’re doing our best. As it is with the Korn Ferry Tour and other tours that struggle with attendance, we keep trying to grow through word of mouth. And we like to think that with this being our flagship event, we’re doing a good job.”
2020
COVID-19 pandemic cancels Mackenzie Tour regular schedule, including Canada Life Championship
Mackenzie Investments extends title sponsorship through 2021
Canada Life ends title sponsorship of season-ending championship
June 2021
Mackenzie Tour announces 2021 schedule, minus Highland CC and Canada Life
Pritchard said new tour championship and tournament title sponsor secured, will be announced end of season
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Award-winning journalist Jeffrey Reed is the senior member of the London sports media, and has covered golf in Southwestern Ontario since 1980. The three-time author wrote the 2018-published book, The Canadian Seniors’ Golf Association, Celebrating 100 Years of Seniors Golf 1918-2018. Reach him at jeff@londonontariosports.com.
