POINT GREY HOSTS PGA CANADA
Expanded circuit prepares to tee off at Point Grey Golf & Country Club on May 29
A funny thing happened when the PGA Tour took over what used to be known as the Canadian Tour. Corporate sponsors suddenly got interested, tournament galleries swelled and talented young players from the United States realized we play golf here in the Great White North.
A tired, struggling professional golf circuit has been revitalized by the PGA Tour brand and Metro Vancouver golf fans will get a chance to see that later this month when PGA Tour Canada begins its 2014 season at Point Grey Golf & Country Club.
This is Year No. 2 for PGA Tour Canada, but the Point Grey tourney — scheduled for May 29- June 1 and known as the PC Financial Open — marks a return to the Vancouver area. The Canadian Tour last played in the area when Hazelmere Golf Club hosted the 2009 City of Surrey Invitational.
Several Metro Vancouver area pros are happy to have a tournament in their backyard. Vancouver’s Ryan Williams has played lots of golf at Point Grey over the years and is hoping to put that homecourse advantage to good use.
“I used to play there quite a bit more when I was a local club pro,” says Williams, who in the past few weeks has been trying to reacquaint himself with the private Southwest Marine Drive layout. “I want to get a good feel for the golf course. Being a local guy, why not try and get out there and play there enough so you don’t have to try and squeeze in three or four practice rounds two or three days prior to the event?”
The Point Grey event is the first of 12 tournaments that stretch across Canada. Each offers a $ 150,000 purse, but there’s much more at stake.
PGA Tour Canada is now officially part of the pathway to the PGA Tour. The top five players on the PGA Tour Canada money list each year earn a promotion to the Web. com Tour the following year and from there they gain a chance to play their way onto the PGA Tour.
“We are all out here looking to get to the next level and having the PGA Tour on board and having a chance to get a direct promotion with the top five guys is great,” Williams says. “But a lot of people don’t understand that the next five guys on the money list get to go to the final stage of qualifying school, which is a bonus. You look at a guy like Nick Taylor, for example. He finished outside the top 5 ( in seventh spot) but went to Q- school and got his card that way and is now doing well on the Web. com Tour. In our eyes it looks like we are playing for 10 spots.”
That opportunity to earn Web. com Tour status has created immense interest in PGA Tour Canada for young pros. The three PGA Tour Canada Q- schools — one in California, another in Florida and a third one just completed earlier this month at Crown Isle in Courtenay — immediately filled up and had long waiting lists.
“There were 80- something guys on the waiting list ( at Crown Isle) because everyone wants to get on board with this,” Williams says.
Williams, who finished 27th on last year’s money list, said that increased interest has made the tour much more competitive and deeper.
“The calibre of play has improved tremendously,” Williams says. “You are getting the best players out there with all the Q- schools being sold out. You are getting the cream of the crop.”
The PGA Tour Canada schedule has been expanded this year to 12 events from nine in its inaugural 2013 season. That expansion is due in part to companies like PC Financial, which in addition to being title sponsor of the Vancouver event is presenting sponsor of tournaments later this summer in Peterborough, Ont., and Ben Eoin, N. S.
Point Grey is no stranger to tournament golf. It held the Canadian Women’s Open in 2003 and played host to the 1954 Canadian Open, where Pat Fletcher became the last Canadian to win the national championship.
Point Grey general manager Brad Pinnell said the PGA Tour brand certainly influenced his club’s decision to hold the event.
“That was a primary reason certainly, to be associated with the PGA Tour brand,” Pinnell says. “That was very important in the decision. And we have the charitable component with The First Tee, which coincides with our support of junior golf. We are always trying to get young people into the game.”
Daily tickets to the tournament are $ 15 each. Weekend passes, good for admission both Saturday and Sunday, cost $ 25. Clubhouse passes, including food and beverages sponsored by Gretzky Estate Winery, are $ 75 a day.