CREDIT: JORDAN CROW
Mackenzie Tour vice president Scott Pritchard, left, and Freedom 55 regional vice president John McCabe, right, listen to Jason Adair, centre. Adair is a father with a daughter who has been treated for cancer and benefits from Childcan, the charity receiving funds raised from the Canada Life Championship.

A long-running charity golf tournament returns to London.

A press conference held at the Highland Golf Country Club on Aug. 29 announced the Canada Life Championship’s return to the Forest City.

The Canada Life Championship website described the tournament as the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada’s flagship event, highlighting the Top 60 players from the Order of Merit who are eligible to play in the Korn Ferry Tour. The website scheduled the tournament to take place between Sept. 9 to 15.

Justin Wismer, the chair of the 2019 Canada Life Championship said the tournament is being held in the Forest City for the seventh year in a row, making it the “longest consecutive tournament, or sporting event in all of London”.

Wismer also said Canada Life is the major sponsor. He added that Classic Rock 98.1, a radio station in London who also sponsored the event, has granted clubhouse access and free admission to all patrons coming for the second year in a row.

The tournament raises money for Childcan, which supports families who have children facing cancer.

Wismer also talked about the upcoming second Million Dollar Shootout, which will take place on Sept. 14 at the 18th tee. The winner will win either a $5,000 European Cruise or travel voucher.

He said that the top player out of “the top three qualifiers” playing at the 10th tee will then earn $500,000, with an additional $500,000 donated to Childcan.

Steve Hickson, the community engagement coordinator for Childcan, said that there are many people who are unaware of the organization, but the golf tournament helps them spread the word about how they help families with “any child that is diagnosed at [the] Children’s Hospital” in London. He said that along with London, the families could be from Chatham-Kent, Owen Sound, Kitchener-Waterloo, and even Thunder Bay.

“We do our best to meet the needs of all their families, including things like parking passes, financial support, support groups,” Hickson said. “Anything we can do to help their journey be a little easier.”

Jason Adair, a father with a daughter who has been treated for cancer, spoke of his gratitude for Childcan, which ensured the family had a parking pass and vouchers for meals and gas.

“You never plan for what’s going to happen with childhood cancer,” he said. “It’s one of the roughest things you can go through, but having the resources there to help is a big thing, and that’s exactly what Childcan has done, right from the beginning.”

Adair also said that the family has come and gone from the hospital for the past couple of months, but his daughter was in what he hoped was her last day in the hospital on Aug. 29.

Throughout his speech, John Mc- Cabe, the Freedom 55 Financial Regional Vice President, emphasized how the tournament creates stronger communities, including supporting Childcan for two years consecutively and golfers ready to kick off their championship journey.

“We value the opportunity as an organization to partner with strong organizations in the community,” McCabe said. “So PGA Tour Canada, and the Highland Golf Club, I think we all share similar values of helping aspiring young athletes pursue their dreams, and that fits along with the Canada Life and Freedom 55 vision of us trying to help people pursue and achieve their dreams.”

He also said the tournament used to be known as the Freedom 55 Financial Tour and Championship. However, with the incorporation of London Life and Great West Life into what is now known collectively as Canada Life, the tournament is now the Canada Life Championship.

“One thing we haven’t done is change the strategy [of] connecting with the communities and our enthusiasm for this event and then the Mackenzie Tour,” McCabe said.

Scott Pritchard, the vice president of the Mackenzie Tour, representing PGA Tour Canada, said that “out of the nine players” who newly advanced from the Korn Ferry Tour to the PGA Tour, three golfers were in London a year ago.

“If you think about that, less than 12 months from playing here in London, they’ll have status on the PGA Tour, and that speaks to how good these players really are,” he said.

Pritchard also spoke of the return of golfers Jake Knapp and Paul Barjon to the Canada Life Championship.

“Paul Barjon won this event in 2016, went on the Korn Ferry Tour, battled injury as Jake Knapp did,” he said. “And now we’re seeing these players finally fully healthy and competing at a very, very high level.”