Reed On The Greens June 2, 2020
by Jeffrey Reed, Editor, LondonOntarioGolf.com
With the coronavirus pandemic shelving the 2020 Mackenzie Tour PGA Tour Canada season, local golf fans have questioned the survival of a Highland Country Club-hosted Canada Life Championship, the tour’s season-ending event.
Most believe those questions are warranted, given the fact attendance at the Mackenzie Tour’s flagship event has been diminished, for the most part, to family, friends and Highland members.
The golf savvy know that you can’t judge the success of a Mackenzie Tour event – or even a Korn Ferry Tour stop, for that matter – on the size of the gallery. As I wrote in this article, minus dismal attendance, I believe Highland is a good fit for the Canada Life Championship.
So, with the 2020 Mackenzie Tour campaign scrapped, many have wondered whether or not Highland is out as host of the season-ending championship, which finalizes Order of Merit finishers, Korn Ferry Tour card winners and annual award recipients.
According to newly-named Mackenzie Tour executive director Scott Pritchard, there is still a chance that Highland will host the Canada Life Championship in 2021.
“Yes, I would say so,” said Pritchard, the tour’s vice president from 2017 to March 2020, and previously its director of business affairs.
Certainly, the COVID-19 pandemic and concurrently our ever-changing society may have sounded the death toll for a Highland-hosted championship. But there are other factors, too.
Scott Pritchard. Photo: PGA TOUR.
Ask most Londoners and Southwestern Ontario residents, outside of the golf community, if they are aware of the Canada Life Championship and they’ll answer “no.” Previously, Pritchard stated there were constant and numerous enquiries from other tournament-ready Ontario golf clubs wishing to host the event. With horrible attendance, liken this to sharks circling injured prey.
The most frequent rumour has the tournament headed to TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley, where the tour’s former director of marketing and communications, Brian Decker, now fills the club’s communications post.
There’s an even larger trifecta of factors here, too. Contracts with the host club, with Canada Life as tournament title sponsor and with Mackenzie Investments as tour title sponsor all expire this year.
Pritchard said during the pandemic, there is a lot of unfinished business in order to secure those contracts.
“The only update I can offer is that we’re working with all of our partners across the country to solidify what 2021 will look like. Generally, we’re feeling very positive. But there still a lot of discussions that need to take place,” he said.
“But even though we’re self-isolating and socially distant, this time has actually brought us closer together – certainly through technology, but also in terms of keeping in contact with all of our tournaments and our various stakeholders. So that’s been a real silver lining during this time. And we’re working with our partners on our next steps.”
It has been well documented that no game gives back as much as golf. From family fundraisers to long-running corporate affairs, local charity golf events raise millions of dollars each year for not-for-profits. COVID-19 has all but paused that fundraising this golf season.
2019 Mackenzie Tour Five onto Korn Ferry Tour. Photo: Claus Andersen/Mackenzie Tour.
Since 2013, the now-named Canada Life Championship, staged at Sunningdale Golf and Country Club until Highland took the reins in 2015, has raised more than $200,000 for local charities. As official charity in 2018 and ’19, Childcan received more than $72,000 from the Highland host committee. It remains the tournament beneficiary.
“Working closely with the Mackenzie Tour PGA Tour Canada, we fully support the decision to cancel the 2020 season,” said Canada Life Championship tournament director Justin Wismer. “Our primary responsibility is the safety of the local community, and we feel like this is the best decision for everybody.
“Our commitment to the City of London is unwavering and we are going to work hard to continue to make a positive impact in the community despite the cancellation,” Wismer said.
On May 29, the tour announced the cancellation of its 2020 season. Border restrictions, mandatory quarantines for those entering Canada and gathering restrictions in all provinces because of COVID-19 were to blame.
Highland Country Club’s No. 9 hole. Photo: Jeffrey Reed/LondonOntarioGolf.com.
“With the safety of the communities we play in mind, as well as the well-being of our players, sponsors, tournament-organizing committees, volunteers and golf course staff, we came to the realization that this is the best decision for everyone involved,” explained Pritchard.
“We also wanted to be considerate of our players and their desires to play golf. Understanding the complexities that this pandemic has caused, we knew it wasn’t fair to leave our members in positions that might prevent them from pursuing other playing opportunities elsewhere while waiting to see what transpired in Canada.”
The 2020 season was set to be the Mackenzie Tour’s eighth, with 13 scheduled tournaments – the most in the tour’s history.
The tour has sent Mackenzie Tour members information regarding eligibility for the 2021 season. Status for prior members will be based on Order of Merit results from the 2019 season, with the top 60 players exempt.
Players who earned status at the three-completed 2020 Qualifying Tournaments will retain status for the 2021 season, and those Qualifying Tournament entrants yet to compete will be guaranteed spots at a 2021 qualifying site.
Like the rest of the world, the Mackenzie Tour awaits the oft-defined “new normal.” It would be a shame to see the Canada Life Championship leave Highland – and London – on a note decided by the pandemic.
We remain, as a species, resilient. And with any luck, the Canada Life Championship will return to the cozy confines of Highland, a club celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2022 and where a host committee has pulled up its bootstraps during the past two years in order to stage an even better Mackenzie Tour championship event.
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Award-winning sportswriter Jeffrey Reed has covered golf in London and Southwestern Ontario since 1980. Reach him at jeff@londonontariogolf.com.
