Montreal Events Gets New Dates, New Site

Canada’s only Champions Tour event has a new date and a new venue.

The Montreal Championship, which will be played for the third time, will take place the week of June 18-24 at La Vallee du Richelieu Golf Club in Sainte-Julie, Que.

The first two events took place the first weekend of July at Fontainebleau Golf Club.

Opened in 1965, La Vallee du Richelieu, features two championship courses, Vercheres and Rouville. The tournament will be played on Vercheres, a 6,950-yard, par 72, which recently underwent a renovation by Graham Cooke and Associates.

Do Tour Events Encourage Participation?

We’ve got good news and bad news for you this morning on the professional golf front.

Which do you want first?  Okay, let’s get the bad news out of the way. Read more

Montreal Championship Is Cooked

John Cook wasn’t about to let the Montreal Championship slip away this time.

One year after losing by one shot to Larry Mize, Cook went one rung up the ladder, winning the second edition of the $1.8 million Champions Tour event.

With a final round six-under 66, Cook finished three trips around Fontainebleau at 21-under under 195, three strokes in front of overnight leader Chien Soon Lu.

In 2010, Cook led on the final day before Mize tore it up on the back nine to hoist the trophy, but on Sunday, Cook recorded a four-under 32 on the front side to build a three-shot lead. Lu closed to within a pair of shots after 14, but Cook wouldn’t allow him to get any closer and sealed it with a long birdie putt on the par three 17^th.

“It was a battle all day. I never felt comfortable, which is a good thing in this game,” said Cook, the 1983 Canadian Open champ who takes home $270,000 U.S. with his win in Montreal.

Canadian Rod Spittle made a spectacular charge Sunday, firing a course record 10-under 62 to get to 15 under for a share of seventh. His Sunday run included an eagle on the opening hole.

“Everyone has just been so gracious. It’s just very special coming home. I’m very proud of my Canadian flag on the bag. It’s been a great week and to finish like this is beyond words,” said Spittle.

Freddy Won’t Be Ready For Montreal

Chronic back problems have forced fan favourite Fred Couples to withdraw from the the upcoming Montreal Championship at Club de golf Le Fontainebleau in Blainville, Que.

Couples finished fifth at the inaugural Champions Tour event last year.

“Better health permitting, I look forward to returning to Canada for the 2012 Montreal Championship,” said Couples.

Tournament director David Skitt said Couples’ health is his main priority right now.

“We hope that Fred can overcome this injury and return to competitive golf as soon as possible,” said Skitt.

“We still have a superb field which includes Charles Schwab Cup leader Tom Lehman, Corey Pavin, John Cook, Loren Roberts, Hale Irwin, Jay Haas and Tom Kite not to mention defending champion Larry Mize scheduled to compete in this year’s championship” he added.

“We also expect to communicate other notable player commitments later this week.”

Industry Notes: June 16, 2011

Futures Tour member Katy Harris of Humble, Tex., shot a final round four-under par 67 to capture the season’s second event on the 2011 CN Canadian Women’s Tour at Club de golf Beloeil in Beloeil, Que. Harris carded six birdies on the day to finish with a score of 138 (-4) to edge opening-round leader Isabelle Beisiegel of Saint-Hilaire, Que. by two strokes to secure the victory. With the victory, Harris earned $10,000 and an exemption into this year’s CN Canadian Women’s Open. The final CN Canadian Women’s Tour stop takes place June 27-29 at Blue Springs Golf Club in Acton, Ont. … Victoria’s Jim Rutledge and Montreal’s Daniel Talbot have been given exemptions into the Montreal Championship, which will take place in a couple of weeks at Club de golf Le Fontainebleau in Blainville, Que. Also earning exemptions were Fulton Allem of South Africa and American Jerry Pate. A final exemption from the Champions Tour all-time victory category will be announced later this month … HIRZL North America has appointed MKRAK Management Inc. to distribute its HIRZL glove line in Canada. MKRAK will be responsible growing the presence of the performance glove line in the Canadian marketplace, focusing on national retailers and pro shops across the country.

Ryder Cup Skipper Headed To Montreal

Corey Pavin, the 2010 U.S. Ryder Cup captain and 1995 U.S. Open champion, is among three additions to the field for this year’s Montreal Championship, which gets underway at Club de golf Le Fontainebleau in a couple of weeks.

Joining Pavin, a 15-time PGA Tour winner, at the Champions Tour event, will be 14-time winner Hal Sutton, another former captain of the U.S. Ryder Cup team, and 15-time Champions Tour winner Jim Thorpe.

Champions Tour Event Flying High With Kite

World Golf Hall of Fame member Tom Kite will be in the field for the 2011 Montreal Championship, which will start later this month at Club de golf Le Fontainebleau in Blainville, Que.

Kite won 19 times on the PGA Tour, including the 1992 U.S. Open, and has been a member of the American Ryder Cup team on seven occasions. He also served as captain in 1997.

Kite, who was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2004, has also won 10 times on the Champions Tour, including the 2000 Countrywide Tradition.

Golf Goes To Queen’s Park, Media Responsibility Vs. PR And More …

The Ontario Allied Golf Associations visited Queen’s Park recently to draw attention to the game’s impact on the provincial economy and what it calls responsible environmental practices.

It’s all a part of a Canada-wide movement by the golf industry to meet with provincial and federal governments on various issues affecting the industry. Representatives of the National Allied Golf Associations were to meet with the federal government, but that was postponed due to the federal election.

One of golf’s representatives at the Ontario meeting was Don Mackay, president of the National Golf Course Owners Association of Canada, who runs Muskoka Highlands in Bracebridge, Ont. Read more

More Players Commit To Montreal Event

Hale Irwin and Mark Calcavecchia are returning to the second Montreal Championship in July.

The Champions Tour event will be played June 30 to July 3 at Club de golf Le Fontainebleau in Blainville, Que.

“Both are legendary players with outgoing, fan-friendly personalities and are stellar additions to what we expect will be one of the great fields of the Champions Tour season,” said tournament director David Skitt.

Irwin and Calcavecchia joined previously-committed players such as 2010 champ Larry Mize and fan favourite Fred Couples for this year’s event.

Couples, Mize Commit To Montreal Event

Fan favourite Fred Couples and defending champion Larry Mize are among the early commitments to the Montreal Championship, a second-year Champions Tour event to be played July 1-3 at Club de golf Le Fontainebleau.

“My family and I thoroughly enjoyed our experience in Montreal last year,” said Mize, the 1987 Masters champion. “The fans were very knowledgeable and appreciative of good shots. The Champions Tour and the players are eager to return for another outstanding championship.”

The inaugural Montreal Championship drew 54,000 fans and was named the 2010 recipient of the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Champions Tour.

“The feedback from the Champions Tour has been overwhelmingly positive,” said tournament chairman Ronald Corey. “Our team is hard at work preparing another championship befitting these legends of the Champions Tour and we invite everyone to come out and show their support for the tournament.

The Desjardins returns as presenting partner through the 2013 tournament. Other supporting companies include Lexus, Jean Coutu, Sports Experts and Vidéotron.

The 2011 Montreal Championship will feature bilingual television coverage, with The Golf Channel airing English coverage and Quebecor’s TVA picking up the French broadcast.

“I’m very excited to be going back to Montreal. There were a lot of people out there last year, which is always fun for us,” said Couples.

The feeling is mutual, according to tournament director David Skitt.

“Thousands of fans followed Fred around Fontainebleau during the first Montreal Championship, and there is little doubt he remains one of the most popular, fan-friendly players in the world,” said Skitt.

“We fully expect this year’s field to be one of the strongest of the Champions Tour season, and Fred’s commitment to the championship gives Quebec golf fans an idea of the quality of players that will be here this summer,” he added.

What’s Your Industry Story Of The Year?

As I mentioned in Monday’s contribution, we’re shutting GNN down for a couple of weeks over the holidays to take a breather, but keeping an ear to the tracks in case anything breaks, which is always a possibility.

News doesn’t take a breather and 2010 was a good illustration of that point, with many breaking stories, some expected and some surprises, demanding our attention, but which one stands out the clearest for you?

T’is the season for news organizations to pick their stories of the year, but here at GNN, we look at such a topic as a discussion more than a contest, so think back or go into our archives to consider your pick and what future ramifications that story might have on the golf industry in this country.

To get you started, I’ve put a random list of stories that stand out to me below: Read more

Montreal Event Earns Champions Tour Honours

The Champions Tour recognized its outstanding tournaments for 2010 and a Canadian newcomer was among those events being honoured.

The new Montreal Championship, first announced last February and played in July, was the recipient of the Outstanding Achievement Award.

The event was recognized for its new ideas and its feel and look of a major championship by the Champions Tour, which went on to say it was one of the best first-year events in its history.

Former Masters champ Larry Mize won the inaugural Montreal Championship.

Let’s Do It Again In Montreal

The Montreal Championship, an inaugural Champions Tour event in 2010, will be returning next summer to Club de golf Le Fontainebleu, a ClubLink course, next summer.

Larry Mize shot a final-round, eight-under 64 to edge John Cook by one shot to win the 2010 event, attended by more than 54,000 fans at Fontainebleau.

The 2011 event will be held June 27-July 3.

 “Champions Tour players, staff and the tens of thousands of spectators were very appreciative of both the course and the tournament,” said tournament director David Skitt.

“The decision to return to Fontainebleau was an easy one and we look forward to hosting another unforgettable tournament in 2011. Fontainebleau members can be very proud of their course and we are extremely thankful for their continued support,” he added.

“The people of Quebec embraced this tournament this past summer and we fully anticipate that support growing in our second year,” added Skitt.

“I believe we have a head start in realizing our goal of becoming the best stop on the Champions Tour schedule and the excitement is already building for next year.”

The Montreal Championship’s Birdies for Charity initiative raised more than $160,000 to benefit Fondation de l’Hôpital Sainte-Justine and Golf Quebec junior golf programs and is striving to expand that total in 2011.

The tournament will required more than 1,100 volunteers next summer.

For more information, click here.

Jim Rutledge talks Montreal

Canadian Jim Rutledge chats with media prior to teeing it up at the inaugural Montreal Championship on the Champions Tour.  Below is an audio excerpt of his Wednesday session with the media.

The inaugural 54-hole Montreal Championship featuring a 78-player field begins July 2-4, 2010 at the Fontainebleau Golf Club.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

[click on the arrow to listen / volume controls are on the left]

Can Montreal Handle Two Events So Close Together?

It will be like having your birthday on Christmas Day when Montreal hosts two high-profile professional golf events next year.

While the 2011 RBC Canadian Open will be held at Shaughnessy in Vancouver, we found out this week from Golf Canada, the former Royal Canadian Golf Association, that Hillsdale in Mirabel will host next year’s CN Canadian Women’s Open.

That LPGA Tour event, as it stands right now, will come about six weeks after the second Montreal Championship, a Champions Tour event that will be played for the first time in July at Club de golf le Fontainebleau in Blainville.

In theory, having your birthday on Christmas Day means getting double the gifts, right? In practice, however, it may mean you end up getting screwed for your birthday gifts because too much of the family income is going out on Christmas. Read more

Golf Canada More About Funding Than Branding

Repackaging and rebranding are quite often tactics used by corporations and other groups to sell the sizzle without throwing a new steak on the barbie.

Newspapers, for example, will go through redesigns to offer a fresh, new look their readers or a company that sells sport drinks will funnel its product into new bottles with the expectation that consumers will do a happy dance, even if the contents are exactly the same on the inside.

In the case of the consumer facing or rebranding introduced yesterday by the Royal Canadian Golf – oops, Golf Canada – at Glen Abbey in Oakville, Ont., a coat of paint has been slapped on programs that have been around for years, topped off with a new logo. Read more

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