by Jeffrey Reed, Editor, LondonOntarioGolf.com

The toughest chore for the host committee of the Freedom 55 Financial Championship is getting London and area golfers to embrace the Mackenzie Tour PGA Tour Canada’s season-ending championship. But with a new hands-on experience promoted now through tournament time in mid-September, a win-win promotion just could be the answer to their problem.

This year’s F55F Championship September 10-16 at Highland Country Club will offer area golfers a chance to win $1 million, and a $5,000 European cruise for two, with the BDO Million Dollar Shootout.

Title sponsor BDO Canada is a leading accounting and advisory firm. Just as the tournament and the tour rely heavily on sponsorship dollars, the Million Dollar Shootout also required a big backer.

Current deals see Freedom 55 Financial on board as tourney title sponsor through 2020, while Highland’s current deal runs through 2019.

The F55F Championship will put five Web.com Tour cards up for grabs. Think of the Web.com Tour as Class AAA baseball, one rung below the big leagues. The Mackenzie Tour PGA Tour Canada, then, is similar to Class AA baseball. Want proof? American Aaron Wise, former NCAA champion, finished third at Highland in 2016. In late-May, he captured the AT&T Byron Nelson tournament for his first PGA Tour win in 26 starts. Wise shattered the tournament record with a score of 23-under-par.

The tourney visits Highland CC for a fourth year this September, after two years at Sunningdale Golf and Country Club. Last year, almost $52,000 was raised for Thames Valley Children’s Centre, for a three-year Highland total of more than $164,000.

New charity Childcan raises funds to provide responsive and compassionate support services to families facing the journey through childhood cancer – from diagnosis, through treatment, to recovery or bereavement. It’s an amazing cause with a nice tie to Highland CC general manager Leo Larizza, whose 1985-founded Teresina Larizza Charities (TLC) Foundation perpetually grants wishes to children who are underprivileged, living with severe disabilities or, in many cases, terminally ill.

Now, the BDO Million Dollar Shootout on Saturday, September 15 will tee up more awareness and funds for Childcan. Here’s how the shootout works.

London and area golf clubs, as well as local practice facilities, can now host their own closest-to-the-pin competitions, with an August 31 deadline. Clubs may host up to three such events. Highland CC will host its own competitions – one prior to the deadline, and a final closest-to-the-pin contest during the F55F Championship Pro-Am on Tuesday, September 11.

Highland Country Club’s signature hole No. 10.

Participants will pay an entrance fee of $10 each time they attempt to qualify for any of the club or practice facility closest-to-the-pin contests. Money will go to Childcan.

The winner of each individual club and practice facility contest will be invited to the September 15 finals staged following Saturday’s F55F Championship competition at Highland CC. The closest to the pin competitor from the fairway 150 yards from Highland’s No. 9 pin will win a European cruise, plus will be entered in the BDO Million Dollar Shootout at Highland CC’s signature hole No. 10. The second- and third-place finishers in the closest-to-the-pin at No. 9 will also be entered in the BDO Million Dollar Shootout field.

If any golfer aces No. 10 during the shootout, then the $1 million will be split 50-50 between that golfer, and Childcan. The odds of making a hole-in-one are about 12,000-to-one. However, the contest at Highland CC will only award the big prize to the first golfer who makes an ace; that hole-in-one would immediately end the contest.

“The BDO Million Dollar Shootout is a great way for us as host club to further engage London and area golfers,” said Highland CC Director of Golf Rick Pero. “The competition allows us to connect more with local golf community, while at the same time showcasing this great tournament, and most of all benefiting our charity, Childcan.”

Rick Pero. Photo: Jeffrey Reed/LondonOntarioGolf.com.

The host committee knows just how hard it is to engage local golfers, who for the most part would rather be golfing than watching golf on a hot summer day. We saw that last year under perfect weather conditions, when Sunday attendance was down from 2016. Securing sponsorship dollars is a tough task, too, but not as tough as turning turnstiles.

No game gives back like golf, and with Childcan now on board, the F55F Championship will further engrain itself into the local community.

“Childcan could not be here for the families and children coping with childhood cancer were it not for the generosity of our community,” said Childcan Executive Director Kathleen Barnard. “While we don’t receive ongoing government funding, we do receive an outpouring of support from those who know and see the difference that their donations make. Initiatives like the Freedom 55 Financial Championship have an incredible impact on the financial, emotional, social and research programs we provide for our families.”

No matter how much the media, including this publication, promotes the fact that the Mackenzie Tour competitors are world-class golfers just a putt or two away from stardom on the PGA Tour, getting Londoners to attend this tournament is a monumental task. And besides, the Sunday gallery of 1,000 in 2017 is a great number for this level of golf.

You have to ask yourself, too, just how important is it to see thousands more attend this tournament? If you’re Tourism London general manager John Winston, it is greatly important – read our previous story here. Winston has heavily criticized the event, stating, “I think everyone has to look at this thing with a reality check to see if we want to continue running it in London.”

It says here, Winston is way off the mark. Raising money for charity, while at the same time bringing world-wide attention to our community for one week in September, are what’s important here. And with the shootout now bringing more attention to the event as it gives golfers a chance to put a club in their hands and win big money for themselves and for charity, the F55F Championship is even more of a win-win tourney this year.

Highland Country Club’s No. 9 hole. Photo: Jeffrey Reed/LondonOntarioGolf.com.

For information on registering your club or practice facility for a BDO Million Dollar Shootout qualifier, or for information on the Tuesday pro-am, contact rpero@highlandcountryclub.com or 519-681-8223 ext. 402.

2018 Freedom 55 Financial Championship
September 10-16
Highland Country Club, London ONT
72-Hole Stroke Play, Top 60 Players on Order of Merit
Purse $225,000, Winner’s Share $40,500
https://freedom55financialchampionship.com

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Reed on the Greens is a three-time writing award winner, presented by the Golf Journalists Association of Canada. LondonOntarioGolf.com publisher and editor Jeffrey Reed is a long-time member of the London sports media, and a TaylorMade Golf Canada ambassador. His third book, History of the Canadian Seniors’ Golf Association, is now available for purchase. Reach Jeffrey at jeff@londonontariogolf.com.