Canadian Tour Takes Steps To Enhance Its Image As A Development Circuit

November 30, 2009 by Ian Hutchinson

The Canadian Tour has visions of being, if not on par with the Nationwide Tour, then a reasonable facsimile of the main development circuit of the PGA Tour.

As reported on GNN last week, the tour made official that it is enhancing its image in the chain of development tours on Monday with the first draft of its 2010 schedule, which will see at least five Canadian events with purses of at least $250,000.

The Players Cup in Winnipeg will have a $300,000 purse and the Canadian Tour Championship is coming in at $350,000. For more information, see the News Now story on the GNN home page, while a complete schedule is at www.cantour.com.

“I was doing some math today and it’s probably the most money that we’ve played for in Canada,” said commissioner Rick Janes Monday evening.

“We went back and looked at the numbers going right back to 1985. Make no mistake, the purses and the number of purses at $250,000-plus are more than we’ve ever seen on the Canadian Tour,” added Janes.

There are some finishing touches yet to be done to the tour schedule, such as finalizing details on possible new events in Fort McMurray, Alta., and the Okanagan Valley, but Janes is hoping for a snowball effect with the purse increases.

“I think the prizes themselves will get peoples attention. Word of mouth is perhaps the best way to get this stuff out there,” said Janes.

“Getting more quality players attending our qualifying schools and then, coming on to the tour, that’s one thing,” he said.

“Once purses start getting to a certain level, I think people, meaning the general public and golf fans, and marketers start to take a little more notice.

“We’ve always felt that, once we start getting to $300,000 purses, we’re getting close to where the Nationwide was a few years ago and that’s kind of our intent is to be just under the Nationwide level. Once we start getting to that level, I think marketers have to look at this very seriously,” said Janes.

About Ian Hutchinson
Ian Hutchinson is a veteran Canadian golf writer, whose history in the game includes an extensive background with Canadian golf trade publications. A golf columnist with Sun Media, Hutch is also a regular contributor to publications and websites in Canada and the United States.

Filed Under: HUTCH'S BLOG Tagged: Canadian Tour

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