In the second installment of a series profiling mini tours across the world, we will take a look at the Canadian Tour (commonly known as the Cantour), which has been formally organized in one fashion or another for almost 40 years. Its current governance is led by The Tournament Players Association, which facilitates tournaments throughout North America, and according to the tour’s website, represents more than 200 members from around the world. The tour’s offices are located at the famed Glen Abbey Golf Club, host to over 20 Canadian Opens over the last 30 years.
History
The tour was started in 1970 as the Peter Jackson Tour, and its initial aim was to group scattered tournaments throughout Canada under one umbrella. The tour’s population was predominantly Canadians during its early years, however, as time progressed so did the tour’s diversity. The tour continued to grow throughout the rest of the decade, yet faced financial hardship when the sponsorships dried up due to a myriad of reasons, including new government regulations on tobacco company advertisements.
A turning point for the Cantour was in 1986, when The Tournament Players Association became an independent entity, and thus led to changes in the tour governance procedures. During the next several years nearly every aspect of the tour would be changed, including overall format and the number of holes per tournament, all of the changes aimed at turning the Cantour into a true proving ground for the PGA Tour. From that point the tour has only grown in popularity, and for more than 20 years has been a member (associate status) of the International Federation of PGA Tours.
Schedule
The yearly Cantour schedule consists of roughly 18-20 tournaments, held almost the entire year round, obviously turning to warmer weather climates during the cold Canadian winters. The tour features several qualifying schools, both at the beginning and at the end of the season. In 2009, there was a Florida Qualifying School on March 16th, a California qualifying school in March 24th, and a Spring Qualifying School held in British Columbia on May 26th. For example, the Florida qualifying tournament was a 72-hole event held on two courses in Brooksville, Fla. A maximum of 15 players left the event as “exempt” while another 10 plus ties gained “non-exempt” status but with additional entry rights. The 2009 winner at the Florida school was Welshman Ryan Thomas, who for the week totaled 14-under par 274.
The tournaments held in Canada are spread across the provinces, held from coast to coast both in large and small cities. Purses vary among tournaments, but typically are between $125,000-$150,000 CAD. There were several players to win twice during 2009, including American James Hahn, Canadian Graham DeLaet, and Rafael Gomez from Argentina. DeLaet is leading the tour’s Order of Merit with just over $94,000 CAD, and a total of 191 players earned a paycheck thus far on the Cantour in 2009.
Several of the tour’s events were broadcast by The Golf Channel during 2009, typically earning the Monday evening spot to showcase the tour’s finest talent.
Other than its qualifying schools, the Cantour has yet to formally announce any dates for the 2010 tour schedule.
Alumni
The Cantour boasts an impressive list of alumni, headed by major champion and Canada native Mike Weir. Altogether, alumni have won 99 PGA Tour events and over $365 million USD according to the tour website. Other famous alumni currently enjoying success on the PGA Tour include Steve Stricker, Stuart Appleby, Nick Watney, and Chris DiMarco.
Although a few have made the leap directly to the PGA Tour, many Cantour graduates proceed on to the Nationwide or European Tours to refine their skills before making the jump to the PGA Tour. A number of Cantour grads have won on the Nationwide tour, to include Ken Duke and D.A. Points.
Most recently, 39 current members and alumni advanced to the second stage of the PGA Tour Qualifying School this fall.
Stay tuned in the next couple of days, as one of the members of the Canadian Tour was gracious enough to answer a few questions for me, and I’ll compile those answers regarding life on the tour and post in a couple days.
Also keep an eye out for future profiles of other mini tours, to include The Sunshine Tour and the Nationwide Tour among others.
