Jon Stovell’s favourite sport is golf, with the new-wave initiators Rory Mcllroy and Rickie Fowler among the players he most enjoys following. Beyond that, the president and CEO of Reliance Properties believes sport can play a major role in the re-opening.
That’s the reason he stepped up to make his company co-title sponsor of the newly-named Reliance Properties DC Bank Victoria Open presented by the Times Colonist, which has been an annual pro golf stop for four decades. It is part of the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada.
“I believe there is a tie-in with sports to the re-opening of the economy,” said Stovell.
“The re-opening economy will be in need of events and sports will be a big part of that. This tournament continues to put Victoria on an international stage and boosts the local economy, which is desperately needed right now due the pandemic.”
He also said making the Salvation Army the chief charity beneficiary of the tournament is important to him.
“The organization does so much to solve the problems of addiction and homelessness,” said Stovell.
The Victoria tournament has raised more than $600,000 for Island charities since 2013.
The family-owned Reliance Properties was established more than 60 year ago and is known for its extensive rehabilitation of heritage buildings across Western Canada, including in Victoria the The Janion, Fairfield Block and Board of Trade Building. Its other sites in Victoria include the Northern Junk buildings, 780 Blanshard Street and the seven-acre Capital Iron lands.
“We like to be long-term participants in the communities in which we build,” said Stovell.
The deal with the Victoria golf tournament is for three years, with renewal options.
Because of the pandemic, the 2021 Reliance Properties DCBank Victoria Open is scheduled from Sept. 30 to Oct. 3 at Uplands, the latest date the tournament has been held since its inception in 1981. It will revert to its regular first week of June time slot in 2022. The 2020 tournament was cancelled due to the pandemic. The prize purse this year is $100,000. It will return to its normal $200,000 level next year.
The Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada leads to the Korn Ferry Tour, which in turn 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 more than 40 current PGA Tour players and more than 230 Korn Ferry Tour players. The latest example is Paul Barjon, defending champion of the Victoria tournament from 2019 at Uplands, who has earned his PGA Tour card for 2022. Doc Redman, who was second to Barjon in Victoria in 2019, is now on the PGA Tour.
An array of future PGA players – from Steve Stricker to Tony Finau to Mackenzie Hughes – have come through the Victoria tournament.
