Windsor-Essex hopes to shoot a hole-in-one with a new golf event.
The Mackenzie Tour, a series of PGA Tour Canada events featuring the top up-and-coming golfers in the country, will make a stop in Windsor this summer with the inaugural Windsor Championship, to be held July 2 through July 8 at Ambassador Golf Club.
The official announcement was made Friday at Windsor City Hall by PGA Tour Canada president Jeff Monday and Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens.
PGA Tour Canada has worked with former Windsor Family Credit Union CEO Marty Komsa to bring the event to Windsor. Komsa heads the organising committee for the championship.
Hospice of Windsor and Essex County will be the non-profit beneficiary of the tournament, receiving a minimum of $100,000.
Monday says the PGA Tour is aware of Windsor-Essex's rich golf history, and the area is a big hit with golfers.
"They had the tournament here, before we started, in 2012, on the old Canadian Tour," says Monday. "We had a number of players say, 'Hey, we really enjoyed being there. It's a nice place.' So we started taking a look again."
Ambassador Golf Club is the kind of course that challenges the golfer and has an excellent risk-reward atmosphere, Monday says, and a course like that keeps the competition exciting.
"There's good variety to it," says Monday. "I think what players really like in a golf course is one that rewards good shots, penalises bad shots and makes you think as you're playing."
The field will include 156 golfers, most of them up-and-comers working toward their PGA Tour cards. Monday says those include six sponsor exemptions, plus two for members of Golf Canada's national team members. Those spots include an open qualifier held July 2 at Roseland Golf and Curling Club to fill ten spots so aspiring local golfers can get a crack at the tournament.
Monday says ticket sales will begin in a month or so and they will soon be putting out the call for volunteers to help work the tournament.