On The Record: London Still Golf Capital Of Canada

On The Record with Jeffrey Reed
August 1, 2026
CPKC Women’s Open Return To London Imminent

Photo (above): American Eric Woods approaches the 18th green at Forest City National Golf Club as victor of the Canadian Tour’s 1994 Ontario Open. Photo by Jeffrey Reed/LondonOntarioSports.com.

Hold onto your hats: the CPKC Women’s Open – our national women’s golf championship, and the LPGA Tour’s only Canadian stop – could return to London as early as 2028, but more likely 2029.

I say, could. But before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s take a stroll down local golf history lane, shall we, and consider how every star must be aligned before this can happen.

In 2014, London hosted scores of important golf tournaments – most notably, the LPGA Tour’s CP Canadian Women’s Open at London Hunt and Country Club. In addition, PGA Tour Canada’s Tour Championship of Canada was contested at Sunningdale Golf and Country Club, and the FireRock Golf Club-hosted PGA Women’s Championship of Canada – captured by a 16-year-old Brooke Henderson – also put London on the world golf map. In fact, we were the golf map in Canada. In my columns for The London Free Press, Golf Canada and more, I dubbed London, the Golf Capital of Canada. Our smug friends in Toronto weren’t too quick to accept that handle, but it was true.

Brooke Henderson, 16, captured the 2014 PGA Women’s Championship of Canada at FireRock GC. With Henderson is Golf Canada’s and London Hunt’s Doug Alexander. Photo: Jeffrey Reed/LondonOntarioSports.com.

London’s love of golf is well documented. The groundbreaking 2024 London & Area Golf Survey, conducted by this publication, saw an impressive 88% of respondents consider themselves avid golfers, as opposed to casual golfers, with 61% playing more than 40 rounds per year. Another 28% said they play 21 to 40 rounds each season. You can read the entire survey results here. These numbers offer further fodder to the fact that London can well be defined and marketed as a golfing community which, per capita, is unrivaled in North America. Roll that in your Sunday bag and smoke it, Florida.

Per capita, Southwestern Ontario is home to the most golf courses in North America and, arguably, the entire world – remember, that’s per capita. In London and surrounding counties, local golfers have access to 13 private golf clubs, 112 semi-private and public clubs, 20 stand-alone outdoor golf practice centres, numerous golf ranges housed at local clubs and open to public golfers, plus a growing number of indoor golf simulators and practice centres. And, the golf industry contributes millions upon millions of dollars annually to the local economy.

All of these numbers are great, but does that mean London is also a superior host of big-time golf tournaments? Yes and no. I’ll explain. And as I do, the silence continues to be almost deafening as the local golf community – make that, London Hunt and Country Club and Tourism London – hold their collective breath in anticipation of hosting another Canadian Women’s Open, the first since the 2014 CP Women’s Open, 2006 CN Canadian Women’s Open and 1993 du Maurier Ltd. Classic, and before that, the 1966 and ’67 LPGA Supertest Ladies Open at Sunningdale Golf and Country Club.

Yes, London Hunt hosted the 1970 Canadian Open, but let’s be honest: the PGA Tour will never return to the Forest City. If it does, then I’ll tear the cover off a Balata golf ball and eat it in a bowl of wooden tees.

London On Radar For CPKC Women’s Open

The golf rumor mill is more active than Bryson DeChambeau in the fescue at Royal Birkdale Golf Club, so it’s no surprise that, for a decade, London Hunt has been heavily rumored to be again hosting what is now called the CPKC Women’s Open. In recent years, the club – one of Canada’s most prestigious – underwent a major renovation at the hands of renown American golf course architect Dr. Michael Hurdzan. There are now 800 fewer trees – part of an overall tree management program – as well as rebuilt bunkers and greens, new irrigation (the previous system was installed in 1982) plus improved playability for all of the members.

Brian Newton

This year’s CPKC Women’s Open goes August 20-23 at Royal Mayfair Golf Club in Edmonton. It’s the 52nd year for this event. And even though it has only been 12 years since we last hosted the biggest women’s golf tournament in Canada, it seems like an eternity. It’s the LPGA’s only Canadian stop – next year it returns to The Royal Ottawa Golf Club in Gatineau, Quebec where it played in 2000.

So, what’s it going to take to get this event back to golf-mad London? And who are the players?

First of all, Brian Newton, CPKC Women’s Open Tournament Director, and Zanth Jarvis, Director, Sport Tourism at Tourism London, agree: London Hunt is the only venue worthy of hosting the event in the Forest City. They’re right. Sunningdale is a wonderful venue, but the logistics, clubhouse and practice facility are all wrong. London Hunt is a one-off in Southwestern Ontario: its amenities and logistics are top-notch; it has an almost flawless track record of hosting this event (no event is perfect); and it is steeped in golf history.

“Yes,” said Newton when asked if London Hunt would be the only choice. He added, “The politically correct answer is that we would consider all options in the market, but we want to be at the premiere golf courses in Canada. And London Hunt is very high up that list. The highest in that market.”

American Dottie Pepper, now a golf analyst with The Golf Channel, was in the field at the 1993 du Maurier Ltd. Classic at London Hunt. Photo: Jeffrey Reed/LondonOntarioSports.com.

Newton said planning for the 2028 and ’29 tournaments are in the very early stages. He said with Los Angeles hosting the ’28 Summer Olympic Games, the LPGA Tour’s schedule is undecided. As well, with an east-west rotation, it would normally be Western Canada’s turn to host the CPKC event in ’28 – but he said that is not written in stone. And, Newton said he does not count out London for 2029: “(Golf Canada) would certainly be interested in London and we will continue conversations both with Tourism London and area clubs.”

Golf Canada works with a Request For Proposal (RFP) system, working with host cities and their tourism and marketing arms in order to solicit bids for an eventually work through planning of the CPKC Women’s Open. Newton said Golf Canada did an RFP for 2026 through 2028 with the tourism arms of multiple cities across Canada to gauge interest from host cities. He explained, “The RFP doesn’t lock us in anywhere. It’s more of a test of the interest in the markets, and which golf clubs and cities would be interested in hosting the CPKC Women’s Open.”

There are those who think that dismal attendance – a shocking 16,500 – at the 2014 CP Women’s Open all but erased London as a future host of the tournament. Think again. I’ll get into that more below, but according to both Newton and Jarvis – and yours truly – London is ready to rebound in terms of gallery size. Newton said that 2014 number is of no consequence. It says here, Golf Canada and London Hunt did their expected stellar job in planning for and staging the tournament.

In fact, Newton said both Golf Canada and title sponsor CPKC put London near the top of the list in terms of hosting the tournament in the near future. That speaks volumes.

LPGA Tour events can draw anywhere 10,000 to 60,000 fans during the week – at least that’s what the Tour says. Anyone who watches the LPGA Tour on television calls bullshit on those numbers – 10,000 is more realistic than 60,000. But the CPKC Women’s Open is one of the Tour’s top stops – the Calgary-hosted 2024 tournament drew a tourney-record 73,000 fans.

According to Jarvis, the City of London wants this event – badly. He even said securing the tournament for London “is a priority. But it’s tough because it’s not in our hands. It’s up to the course. And it’s up to Golf Canada.”

Zanth Jarvis

Jarvis, who does a terrific job for Tourism London, is 100% correct. He said recent talks with Golf Canada and with London Hunt tell him that once the club gives the green light – and that may be now – then Golf Canada would welcome London back into the fold with open arms.

“We talk with Golf Canada as we are always talking with everyone,” Jarvis explained of day-to-day business at Tourism London. “We talk to Hockey Canada, Basketball Canada … that’s my job: to foster relationships with those national sports organizations. Make sure they’re always thinking about London. We see them annually at events we attend that are hosted by Sport Tourism Canada. Golf Canada is certainly interested in London, from what I’ve been hearing. But it comes down to the scheduling of events, and with the host club. The Hunt Club is obviously where we want to host the CPKC Women’s Open. And it has to work for the club, too. And I think that’s maybe where it hasn’t aligned recently – with the Hunt Club undergoing renovations.”

Jarvis also applauded local tracks including Sunningdale, St. Thomas Golf and Country Club and West Haven Golf and Country Club, but agreed that “you can have a great course, but you also need all the infrastructure around the club ready to host, for example, hospitality suites and parking. It has to be more than a course with 18 great holes of golf.”

As for that terrible attendance number from 2014, Jarvis believes golf “has changed and is in a good place locally. London is ready to host this event again – with where the sport is, where the community is. If it works out with Golf Canada and London Hunt, I would hope within the next couple of years it returns to London.”

But has London changed? And what the hell happened in 2014? Let’s take a closer look at big tournaments which have called London home over the years.

London Golfers Love The Ladies

In 1966 and ’67, Sunningdale G&CC president Jim Thompson launched the Supertest Ladies Open. Although not a tourist draw, this tournament was significant in that it marked the first time the LPGA Tour played in Canada. First- and second-year purses of $15,000 and $20,000 gave way to two Toronto-based tournaments before Supertest ended its title sponsorship. It took until 2007 for Golf Canada to recognize the Supertest tournaments as official Canadian Women’s Open championships. London, then, is the birthplace of our national women’s championship, and the genesis for LPGA Tour events in this country.

One of the biggest LPGA Tour stars of the day, Helen Alfredsson of Sweden, tees off at London Hunt during the 1993 du Maurier Ltd. Classic. Photo: Jeffrey Reed/LondonOntarioSports.com.

The PGA Tour’s 1970 Canadian Open at London H&CC saw American Kermit Zarley capture the $25,000 first prize – my, how things have changed. Attendance is estimated at approximately 35,000, but there are no definitive records, only varying gallery sizes depending on your source. But it was the PGA Tour, and star-studded with Arnold Palmer, Sam Snead, Chi Chi Rodriguez and the likes in the field – a field that suffered, still, with the Open Championship slated the following week. Who would have liked to have seen Jack Nicklaus tackle London Hunt? The Golden Bear won his second Claret Jug at the Old Course the next week. Of course, that tournament saw fellow American Doug Sanders miss a 30-inch championship-winning putt on the 72nd hole and subsequently lost the next day’s 18-hole playoff to Nicklaus. At London Hunt, the nines were reversed that week, as dictated by broadcaster CBC. Even the pro-am was star-studded, with Bobby Orr thrilling the gallery. In order to beautify and improve the entrance to London Hunt, the City forked out cash for street repairs and tree planting.

When you talk about big-time golf tournaments in London, none compare to the Holy Grail – the 1993 du Maurier Ltd. Classic, captured by Brandie Burton in a playoff versus fellow American Betsy King. Canadian Dawn Coe-Jones fought hard but finished third. Who can forget that week? It was one of the hottest and muggiest on record, with a torrential downpour during championship Sunday – but the women played on and provided a week-long gallery of 65,000 fans with world-class golf. This was a very different London – more innocent, smaller at 383,000 (a number that was then recently inflated via annexation) and more willing to embrace a major golf tournament: it was a big deal for London. As usual, London Hunt, Golf Canada and everyone involved in hosting this event was spot-on with their efforts. I enjoyed lunch with Jocelyne Bourrasa that week and golfed in the pro-am while reporting for numerous publications including SCORE Golf. The large media tent, parked on the front lawn of the historic golf club, was so packed there was barely any elbow room – thanks to a large contingent from the Toronto media. Remember: this we pre-Internet, pre-social media. To this day, the ’93 du Maurier Ltd. Classic is the best and most successful golf tournament ever held in the Forest City. Period.

Cristie Kerr wins 2014 CN Canadian Women’s Open. Photo: Jeffrey Reed/LondonOntarioSports.com.

Let’s not forget the 2006 CN Canadian Women’s Open, though, again contested at – where else? – London Hunt. American Cristie Kerr trailed leader and fellow American Angela Stanford by eight strokes heading into the final round, but won by a stroke when Stanford three-putted the final hole. This event also attracted an estimated 65,000 fans – a huge achievement given the fact London was, indeed, changing: Londoners prefer to do – bike, boat, travel – than to stand around at a golf tournament for an entire week. We were becoming more Toronto-like: only big names interested us now, and the ’06 CN Canadian Women’s Open was on the fringe of that interest – big names, but not as star-studded as the ’93 tournament. Or so it seemed. Things would soon change, though. But let’s not sell short the fact that this event, and every other golf tournament of note held in London, has, combined, help raise millions of dollars for local charities. That’s what counts – not an oversized cheque on the 18th green come Sunday, nor the size of the gallery, as I’ll get into.

Kerr, by the way, said of London Hunt, it’s “a beautiful golf course. It’s tree lined, dog legged, fast greens. It definitely does play like a major course to me. I remember the crowds, and the momentum I had on Sunday. It was a really special experience for me. Of all the courses in Canada, I actually still think that London Hunt Club is my favourite – the setup, how the full of the course builds, different holes. No two holes are alike. And it keeps you very interested.”

London really was the Golf Capital of Canada in 2014 when the newly-sponsored CP Women’s Open played at London Hunt, FireRock Golf Club hosted the PGA Women’s Championship of Canada, captured by a 16-year-old Brooke Henderson, and the second year of the PGA Tour Canada season-ending championship was contested at Sunningdale.

The Gallery Disaster Of 2014

So Yeon Ryu lines up a putt at London Hunt’s 18th hole en route to victory at the 2014 CP Women’s Open. Photo: Jeffrey Reed/LondonOntarioSports.com.

But something went terribly wrong with the CP Women’s Open gallery. This is not a knock against Golf Canada nor the LPGA Tour. This was a London issue: for whatever reason, the LPGA Tour was no longer a huge draw – only 16,500 fans attended that week. The huge media tent erected on the London Hunt lawn could have been a garden shed, given the fact only a handful of reporters – yours truly included – attended the entire week as working members of the golf media. Others popped in and out, mostly on championship Sunday, but this was a pale comparison to 2006 and especially 1993. I felt terrible for Golf Canada’s media director Dan Pino, and we even had words later that year at Sunningdale after my column ran with LPGA Tour officials telling me it was their “worst tournament of the year.” They meant, of course, the worst gallery. Golf Canada’s then-CEO Scott Simmons met with me during breakfast on championship Sunday and asked, with great concern, “What has happened to London? What has changed?” He was, like all of us, surprised at the lack of fans in attendance. I told Simmons, Londoners are a funny bunch, and were no longer in awe of LPGA Tour stars – not at that time, anyway. The event was not a big draw. Period. The lack of media on site was a big surprise to me, though – and let me say, walking the grounds on Sunday and kissing ass in order to secure a free round of golf does not make you a working member of the golf media. The late Ian Hutchinson, a mentor, my editor at SCORE Golf and colleague, and my best friend amongst fellow golf media, agreed with me and spoke with me many times about this topic. It angered him, too. We both spent entire weeks at LPGA Tour golf tournaments as working journalists when most of our fellow scribes and broadcasters chose not to attend. Like me, Hutch understood how golf media were a dying breed. Anyhow, a topic for another column.

The golf that week in 2014 at London Hunt, though, was amazing. So Yeon Ryu, 24, of South Korea set the course record in her first round, held a four-stroke advantage going into Sunday and led by six going into the back nine before finally shooting a 23-under 265 for the win and $337,500 prize.

Golf Canada still has the post-round news conference online – I was able to get in the first two questions for the winner, beginning at 3:24 of the video here .

The ’14 PGA Women’s Championship of Canada was more of a family and friends-attended event, and that was too bad given the terrific golf played by Henderson, now the best golfer to ever come out of Canada. As for the PGA Tour Canada event, held in London at Sunningdale in 2013 and ’14, and at Highland Country Club from 2015 to ’19, let me weigh in on that shit show. Again, the charity aspect of the tournament was the event’s legacy – but so is the fact so many things went wrong that should not have.

First, let me way, this event was never going to draw galleries. Not a fucking chance. Watch any Korn Ferry Tour event – hell, watch most LPGA Tour events – and you could shoot a cannon along the ropes and hit no one. Thus, this tournament, held in London for seven years, had no chance of being a tourist draw nor a substantial revenue generator. The sad thing is, the host clubs thought otherwise. Wrong.

A Golf Case Study

When PGA Tour Canada – later the Mackenzie Tour PGA Tour Canada, and now part of PGA Tour Americas – 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 – only LondonOntarioSports.com reported on the fact, Highland and Canada Life were no longer part of the Mackenzie Tour. One media outlet reported on this. Me. I stand by my word: the rest of the local media have no excuse.

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 left a lasting legacy in terms of promoting the game and supporting local charities.

But during tournament week at Highland from 2015 to 2019, and at Sunningdale 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 got until you lose it.

(L-R) Taylor Pendrith, C.T. Pan, 2025 U.S. Open champ J.J. Spaun, Sam Ryder, tournament winner Jason Millard – the Fab Five graduating from the Mackenzie Tour PGA Tour Canada to the PGA Tour in 2015. Photo: Jeffrey Reed/LondonOntarioSports.com.

To this day, the removal of that tournament from the local golf calendar leaves an empty hole. Why? The season-ending championship had called London its permanent home. That doesn’t happen very often in the nomadic golf world. But now it’s gone for good.

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. 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 former PGA Tour Canada executive director Scott Pritchard, now One Eleven Management Group vice-president and partner, title sponsorship and host clubs are both cyclical by nature.

Scott Pritchard. Photo: PGA TOUR.

“Events have a life span, and so, too, does sponsorship,” Pritchard said in a 2021 interview with LondonOntarioSports.com. “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 (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. He said Highland “has been a great partner, but ultimately, sponsorship drives our events, 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, more Highland members than Sunningdale members welcomed the tournament with open arms. Still, not all Highland members were on board. Some consider it a tragedy to lose their golf course for a week. 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. The (London) market looked at the event as a Highland event, rather than a community event.”

The tournament at Sunningdale and Highland may have hosted the stars of tomorrow, but Londoners only want to see the stars of today. Here’s a timeline of the event, so you can further understand what happened:

2013
Tour Championship of Canada launches at combination Thompson-Robinson hybrid layout measuring 7,089 yards at Sunningdale Golf and 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

Mackenzie Tour President Jeff Monday. Photo: Jeffrey Reed/LondonOntarioSports.com.

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

LPGA Tour, London Perfect Fit

Lorie Kane with fans at London H&CC during 2014 CP Women’s Open. Photo: Jeffrey Reed/LondonOntarioSports.com.

There have been highly-successful golf tournaments in London that did not draw large crowds – they include the London Hunt-hosted 2010 Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship, and the Canadian Tour’s Ontario Open at Forest City National Golf Club in 1994 and ’95, all of which I have attended. Most recently, West Haven G&CC did a great job in hosting the 109th Ontario Women’s Amateur in 2024 – minus the absolute horrendous job from Golf Ontario with media relations that week. I’ll have a future column on that disaster, and more.

But if you’re looking only at big-time golf tournaments for London, then you need only to focus sharply on the LPGA Tour. It’s never a good idea to put all your eggs in one basket, though, especially given the fact London’s track record in terms of attendance is as reliable as a Toronto Blue Jays win this season.

What I’m going to say may shock you, though. And that is, I believe London has turned a page when it comes to supporting a tournament of this stature and nature. Our exploding population certainly warrants hosting a big event. Our ability to do so needs no further proof – this is a golf community and London Hunt is the perfect host.

Other than Sunningdale, I don’t see any other local golf course able to host the CPKC Women’s Open. And I think Sunningdale’s location would be a logistics nightmare. St. Thomas Golf and Country Club has the course, but not the amenities nor the infrastructure. London Hunt’s amenities, track record, history and stature offer the perfect formula for success. And let’s face it: money, plus the movers and shakers controlling that money, call the shots. London Hunt has it in spades.

I think London’s time to host the CPKC Women’s Open has come. 2014 aside, 1993 and 2006 seem so long ago. A lot has happened to London over the past two decades, and certainly since ’93. Golf Canada, the LPGA Tour and London Hunt are the perfect trifecta for this event. Let’s bring it back to the Forest City sooner, rather than later.

FYI WQLN-TV in Erie, Pennsylvania produced a documentary on the city of London and yours truly spoke as an ambassador for local golf – as passionate as I am about the game and about promoting it, it was my pleasure. You can view that video here. My bit begins at 5:37  .

Ed. Note: We’re taking some well-deserved time off. Off The Record with Jeffrey Reed returns Saturday, August 21. 

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On The Record is published every Saturday at LondonOntarioSports.com. Jeffrey Reed is Southwestern Ontario’s senior sports journalist, with roots dating back to 1980. A nine-time writing award winner and three-time author, Reed penned, EBBA 40 Years of Baseball (1994) and, The Canadian Seniors’ Golf Association, Celebrating 100 Years of Seniors Golf 1918-2018 (2018). Reach him at jeff@londonontariosports.com.