The Nova Scotia Open, part of the Web.com Tour, is returning to Halifax in the first week of July, and will include an exhibition match featuring Fred Couples, Mike Weir, Graham DeLaet.
The event, part of golf’s feeder system for the PGA Tour, saw Canadian Roger Sloan win the inaugural tournament last year at Ashurn Golf Club, which drew 25,000 spectators over the course of the week, while 3.8 million viewers watched on the Golf Channel.
“We’re excited to work with the Web.com Tour to build our sport tourism opportunities for the province,” said Nova Scotia’s Economic and Rural Development and Tourism Minister Michel Samson. “Sport tourism is Canada’s fastest growing tourism sector, bringing $5.2 billion to our national economy. We’re excited to continue to bring some of that business to Nova Scotia.”
Last year, the tournament commenced with a match that saw Canadians Weir, DeLaet, David Hearn and Adam Hadwin go head-to-head with an international team led by Americans Matt Kuchar and Gary Woodland, as well as former Masters winner Trevor Immelman and Web.com player Manuel Villegas. The international team handily won the event.
This year’s exhibition takes place on July 6 after the conclusion of the Web.com Tour tournament. Couples will be the captain of the international team. The remaining golfers for that squad have yet to be announced.
Weir has a long history with Couples, saying he met the golfer when he was playing in college in Utah in the early 1990s. Since then Weir has played exhibition matches with Couples and competed against the Masters winner in the Presidents Cup, a biennial tournament that pairs the best international players against an American team.
Weir has struggled with his game of late and last week had to withdraw from the Northern Trust Open with what he described as tightness in his elbow. The golfer says the situation is improving and he is attempting to play at the Honda Classic this week in Florida.
The main event of the week is the Web.com tournament, which saw Sloan, from Merritt, BC, win in a playoff. The victory propelled him onto the PGA Tour.
Comments