City lands pro tournament at Ambassador in July
A premier golf tournament is coming to Windsor, after city council voted Monday to contribute $120,000 over three years to the Mackenzie Tour stop at the Ambassador Golf Club.
“I just can’t see not going for this,” Ward 10 Coun. Paul Borrelli said leading up to a 7-4 recorded vote on the funding, part of the city’s push to promote sports tourism. “I believe that sports tourism is extremely important, we either subscribe to it and we’re into sports tourism or we’re not.”
A report from the city’s sports tourism officer Samantha Magalas says the six-day event by the PGA Tour Canada’s MacKenzie Tour could generate an economic impact of $2.5 million to the host city. The Hospice of Windsor and Essex County will receive donations totalling at least $100,000, council was told.
“I think it’s a no-brainer,” Borrelli said. “Why are we arguing?”
The four opposing the contribution were councillors John Elliott, Fred Francis, Chris Holt and Rino Bortolin. Elliott said he would have liked the tournament located at the city ’s Roseland Golf Course, and Francis said the tournament should get its funding from sponsors other than city taxpayers.
Tour vice-president Scott Prichard told councillors that without the city ’s support, it would be very difficult to hold the tournament in Windsor. This year’s event is scheduled for July 2-8.
He said there’s been a great deal of support for the Windsor tour stop.
Ambassador owner Jenny Coco has stepped up to offer her course for no fee, when the tour usually pays a fee between $40,000 and $70,000. And five “founding partners” have already signed on to help sponsor the event, including the golf course, the WFCU, Cypher Systems, Sun-Brite Foods and the Farhi Group.
“We’re asking the City of Windsor to come on board as the sixth,” said Prichard, who said the tournament is tentatively called The Windsor Championship.
Formerly known as the Canadian Tour, the MacKenzie Tour is one of three tours, along with PGA tours in Latin America and China, where players compete to take the next step to the fullfledged PGA Tour.
It’s been growing since 2013, with tournaments held in cities such as Ottawa, Saskatoon, Calgary, Thunder Bay, Edmonton, Vancouver and London. About 150 players would be in Windsor over six days, plus 90 more for two of those days, according to the report.
The $120,000 will be divided up, with $50,000 paid this year, $40,000 in 2019 and $30,000 in 2020. The tour had requested $210,000 but Magalas said she was recommending a lesser amount.
“It’s a modest, three-year investment,” with the City of Windsor just one of six contributors, said Coun. Irek Kusmierczyk. “It is an example of smart sports tourism and therefore I will support it.”
The tour last came to Windsor in 2012, when it was called the Canadian Tour. It was held at Roseland, but Prichard said Roseland is too physically constrained — particularly at its driving range — to host the event this year.
In December, Windsor was chosen to host the 2022 Can-Am Police-Fire Games, a sports tourism event that will cost the city $580,000 but is predicted by tourism officials to pump $5 million to $10 million into the economy. bcross@postmedia.com
It’s a modest, three-year investment. It is an example of smart sports tourism and therefore I will support it.