Uplands stop No. 2 on Mackenzie Tour

PGA Tour Canada-Mackenzie Tour golfers won’t have to wait long to play on the lush greens at Uplands Golf Club.

As per usual, the Bayview Place DC Bank Open, presented by the Times Colonist, is the second stop on the tour, running June 7-10 at Uplands, as the tour announced its schedule Thursday.

It is the oldest event on the tour.

The tour will feature 13 tournaments this year from May to September and a $25,000 increase for all tournament purses as players compete to make the next step on the path to the PGA Tour.

The season will begin with the Freedom 55 Financial Open (May 28-June 3) at Point Grey Golf and Country Club in Vancouver, with purses of $200,000 for all regular events and a $225,000 purse for the season-ending Freedom 55 Financial Championship (Sept. 10-16) in London, Ont.

Following the Victoria stop, the tour moves to Kelowna for the Golf BC Championship June 11-17 at Gallagher’s Canyon Golf and Country Club.

In addition to two new tournaments — the Lethbridge Paradise Canyon Open (June 18-24) and the Windsor Championship (July 2-8) at Ambassador Club in Windsor, Ont. — another event to be announced holds a spot on the schedule from Sept. 3-9.

The tour’s Order of Merit winner will be fully exempt on the Web.com Tour for the following season, with numbers 2-5 earning conditional status. Those players finishing 2-10 will also earn an exemption into the final stage of the Web.com Tour qualifying tournament, while numbers 11-20 on the Order of Merit will earn an exemption into the qualifying tournament’s second stage.