Always thought you were good enough, if only you had the chance? If you’ve wanted to drive, pitch and putt with the pros, here’s your opportunity to be part of a fab five.
Five qualifying spots into the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada’s Victoria stop will be the prizes on offer during a special ‘local’ qualifier to be held Sept. 5 at Gorge Vale.
The qualifying field will be limited to 90 players on a first come, first served basis. Entry fee is $249 plus GST. Proceeds are going to the Salvation Army in Victoria. Golfers can register at thegolfproject.ca/qualifier.
The top five finishers in the local qualifier will advance into 132-golfer field for the Reliance Properties DCBank Open, presented by the Times Colonist, Sept. 30 to Oct. 3 at Uplands.
“We knew this was a unique year and a unique chance for a qualifying event like this,” said Jason Giesbrecht, head of the GOLF Performance Project, which is partnering with the Reliance Properties DCBank Open, to produce the all-comers qualifier.
The Victoria tournament, the oldest on the Canadian pro tour, is usually held in June. It was pushed back to the fall this year due to the pandemic. Even with the border re-opening to fully-vaccinated Americans, it is still expected to be a mostly Canadian-pro field this year. Between 10 to 15 Americans are expected to be playing at Uplands, according to the Tour. Along with the fab five locals.
“The qualifier is a chance to get more Island and B.C. content into the pro tournament this year,” said Giesbrecht, former director of golf at Royal Colwood for 16 years.
Preparations are well underway to hosting the Victoria tournament, which will be the closing event of this year’s pandemic-abbreviated Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada.
“Our event is seven weeks away and I am really excited to see the overwhelming amount of entries from PGA golfers across Canada, which means a totally full field,” said Keith Dagg, a lead member of the Victoria organizing committee.
With the added twist of the fine five, fab five or whatever nickname people want to attach to the qualifiers who emerge from Gorge Vale on Sept. 5.
The 2020 Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada season was limited to four tournaments due to the pandemic, two at Bear Mountain. The eight-tournament 2021 schedule began July 29 to Aug. 1 with the Mackenzie Investments Open in Blainville, Que.
“It was great to be back out there in Montreal [Blainville] in our first tournament,” said Scott Pritchard, executive-director of the Mackenzie Tour PGA Tour Canada.
“The players are super excited to have the opportunity to play this year. It feels like we’re getting back to normal a little bit.”
The Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada leads to the Korn Ferry Tour, which is the entry point to the PGA Tour. The former Canadian Tour became the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada in 2013 and its alumni over the past eight years includes 41 PGA Tour players and 232 Korn Ferry Tour players.
So the fab five qualifiers will be in some good company.
cdheensaw@timescolonist.com
