Mackenzie Tour won’t tee it up in Ottawa this year

The Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada will be taking a break from Ottawa this summer.

Unable to find a major sponsor for the event, which has been held annually at the Hylands Golf Club for the last four summers, Mackenzie Tour officials are hopeful that either a sponsor or a group will step up to bring the event back to Ottawa next year.

The Mackenzie Tour released its schedule last week and the National Capital Open to Support Our Troops was absent. Vice-president Scott Pritchard wasn’t able to get anybody in place to hold the event this year, but remains optimistic these players will return to|Ottawa’s fairways.

“We’re working and exploring options to keep the event going in some capacity, whether it’s at Hylands or another facility,” said Pritchard last week.

“There’s definitely interest from (golf courses) in terms of hosting the event, it’s just a matter of putting all the other variables into place.

“Ultimately, sponsorship is the key and we’re just not at a moment in time where we have enough of that in place to move forward.

We’re working and exploring options to keep the event going in some capacity, whether it’s at Hylands or another facility.

We’re working diligently on that to try and re-establish a presence in Ottawa.”

Pritchard said the Mackenzie Tour is looking at the possibility of using the same model it put in place to add an event in Windsor this year. Six members of the corporate community kicked in $30,000 each to host the event, while the City of Windsor also contributed funds.

While there’s no shortage of golf courses in the area and it’s a popular sport here, Pritchard noted if the Mackenzie Tour does come back, it has to find a way to get more fans out to the four-day event.

“The people (in Ottawa) love golf,” Pritchard said. “In fairness, when we come back, we need reevaluate how the event ran in terms of promotion and getting people out there.

“I think the event did a good job in terms of working with various media partners, but at the end of the day we were all a little bit disappointed with the engagement level of the event.

“It’s the capital of Canada, a golf-crazed market; it’s definitely a priority. We’ve got a number of priorities, but Ottawa is always in the conversation in terms of where we’d like to be.”