Mackenzie Tour waits for border to reopen before starting events

TORONTO — Golf may be returning to Canada soon, but the nation’s professional golf tour is still waiting to see what happens next.

Scott Pritchard, executive director of the Mackenzie Tour, says although golf courses are opening up on a province-byprovince basis, until the border between the United States and Canada is reopened, the lower-tier pro circuit is on hold.

“When you consider that a large number of players that play on the Mackenzie Tour are based not only in the U.S. but also a significant number are international players, it brings some uncertainty in terms of what we’re going to be able to pull off this season,” said Pritchard, who added that there are several scenarios in which the Mackenzie Tour will have tournaments this year. “Until we have clarity not only about the border, but also the quarantine rules and what that’s going to look like, we’re just waiting.”

The Mackenzie Tour season was supposed to kick off on May 28 with the Canada Life Open at Seymour Golf and Country Club in Vancouver. But the Canada Life Open, and the next six events through to the Windsor Championship on July 16 at Ambassador Golf Club in Windsor, Ont., have been postponed.

The top-flight PGA Tour is holding two charity events in May and a true resumption of play is expected on June 11 with the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas.

The second-tier Korn Ferry Tour is scheduled to return on the same date with the Korn Ferry Challenge at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, but there’s no start date for the

Mackenzie Tour. Pritchard says that’s an advantage, however.

“We feel well positioned, specifically in golf, to adhere to any of the policies and procedures [for COVID-19] in order to operate a safe event in a safe environment,” he said. “We’ll also have the best practices and key learnings from both the PGA Tour and the Korn Ferry Tour.”

Ontario became the latest province to relax restrictions on its courses when it announced Thursday that golfers would be able to start teeing off this weekend as part of phase one of the province’s re-opening plan.

Still, there are other obstacles for the Mackenzie Tour to overcome. Waiting for the Canadian border to reopen to non-essential travel is the biggest hurdle, but there are other factors at play including regulations on quarantines, travel between provinces and municipal regulations.