After a great tournament in Montreal last weekend at the Desjardins Montreal Open (at the Saint-Raphael Golf Club, Ile Bizard, Que.), professional golfer Richard Scott was granted exemption status for the entire 2008 Canadian Tour. Wellington Financial is one of Richard’s corporate sponsors. This from Score Magazine:
A strong finish at the Desjardin Montreal Open solidified Kingsville, Ont., native, Richard Scott’s future as a Canadian Tour member. Scott, who turned professional last December, played his fifth event this weekend on the Canadian Tour’s 2007 schedule as an eligible member.
Scott’s status as an eligible member gave him five events to earn enough money to qualify for his Tour card, which he successfully accomplished Sunday with a finish that guarantees him a top 80 finish on the money list. The achievement means that he will have exempt status on the Canadian Tour in 2008, avoiding the Tour’s winter qualifying school.
The three-time Canadian amateur champion will play this week’s inaugural Jane Rogers Championship of Mississauga (JRCM) amongst a crowd that is already familiar with his career; his last amateur championship was won in Mississauga in 2006.
Wellington Financial is also a sponsor of the JRCM tournament, being held this week at the Lakeview Golf Club in Missisauga, Ontario. “The $125,000 Jane Rogers Championship of Mississauga is named and presented in honour of Jane Rogers, a courageous woman who, while battling cancer herself, raised funds for her cancer clinic, the Trillium Hospital in Mississauga, and inspired family, friends and strangers alike.” Both Richard and Danny King (another Wellington-sponsored professional player) are competing for the prize money. As a result of a brilliant sponsor’s exemption, there will be some buzz, according to Mike Weir’s website:
One of the world’s top young prospects, Tadd Fujikawa of Honolulu, Hawaii, is also slated to play in the JRCM on a sponsor’s exemption. In 2006, at the age of 15, Fujikawa became the youngest player in history to qualify for the US Open and earlier this year became the youngest ever to make the cut at a PGA Tour event when, at 16, he played on the weekend at the Sony Open in his home state.
Here are the details from the May announcement of the JRCM event:
Mississauga, ON– Richard Janes Commissioner & CEO of the Canadian Tour joins Elliott Kerr President & Founder of Landmark Sport Group today in announcing the latest event on the 2007 Canadian Tour schedule, the Jane Rogers Championship of Mississauga.
The Jane Rogers Championship of Mississauga is named and presented in honour of Jane Rogers, a courageous woman who while battling cancer herself raised funds for her cancer clinic the Trillium Hospital in Mississauga, and inspired family, friends and strangers alike. Jane was a lover of golf and enjoyed following Canadian Tour professionals as they developed their careers.
The Jane Rogers Championship of Mississauga will be held, August 20th to August 26th at Lakeview Golf Club one (1) week prior to the final event of the season the Canadian Tour Championship at National Pines in Innisfil, ON. The historic Lakeview club is celebrating its 100th Anniversary in 2007 and hosted the first ever Ontario Amateur and the 1923 and 1934 Canadian Opens. The 1934 Open was won by the legendary Tommy Armour against a field that included Walter Hagen and Gene Sarazen.
“The Canadian Tour is honoured to partner with Landmark Sport Group to create an event that honours the life of Jane Rogers, her courageous fight with cancer, her family and all of those who have ever fought this terrible disease,” said Janes. “Professional golf more than any other sport is a marvelous platform for raising awareness for important causes and charitable giving. It’s a privilege and an honor for us to be involved.”
According to Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion, “We have had some great sporting events in Mississauga and to host the Canadian Professional Golf Tour at our beautiful Lakeview Golf Course is tremendous. We look forward to showcasing our golf course and our City with its first-rate facilities to players from around the world.”
The Jane Rogers Championship of Mississauga is a full-field event with a prize purse expected to be $150,000. Landmark Sport Group is donating all of the event management services, so that all proceeds from the event can go to the Colorectal Cancer Association of Canada and the Trillium Hospital’s Oncology Unit. “My wife taught me about giving and she made me understand that you reach a point in your professional life when maximizing profits are no longer an ultimate motivation. Jane found this path for people like me to follow,” stated Kerr. “She taught me how to love, how to trust, she taught me courage and it is because of Jane I now understand the importance of family and I will carry on this wonderful gift to our five children. This is about honouring my wife and giving back to our community of Mississauga the way Jane did.”
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