WATCH: Tim Finchem delivered the keynote speech at a chamber of commerce luncheon on Wednesday, and as Brendan Parker explains, golf fans in Calgary have every reason to be excited for the future.
After two years of making the Shaw Charity Classic among the best tournaments on the Champions Tour and raising $4.6 million for charity, Shaw Communications announced Wednesday it has renewed its title sponsorship until 2017.
Brad Shaw, chief executive officer of Shaw Communications, said the golf tournament’s charitable efforts and fan support led the company to continue backing the event.
Speaking to a luncheon crowd of business and community leaders at the Calgary Chamber of Commerce Wednesday, PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem said, “The Shaw Charity Classic has clearly established itself as one of the top events we have on this Tour.”
The tournament was initially devised by a group of Calgary businessmen led by Clay Riddell, Allan Markin, Keith MacPhail, Jim Riddell, Guy Turcotte and former PGA Tour participant Stephen Ames, who now plays on the Champions Tour. The event was won in stunning fashion in its inaugural season by Rocco Mediate, while Fred Couples outlasted Billy Andrade in a playoff last summer.
Champions Tour president Greg McLaughlin said the success of the tournament, which raised $2.4 million in its second year for a group of youth-based charities, shows the impact of a strong sponsor.
“It all begins with the title sponsor and the tournament has a great one in Shaw,” McLaughlin says. “Our goal is to create opportunities for our players and to help assist charities in the community and really impact a region economically.”
McLaughlin called the Shaw Charity Classic “a leading event” on the Champions Tour, which gives the opportunity to players 50 years and older, including many of golf’s biggest stars, to play competitively in tournaments that are contested over three rounds. Bernhard Langer, Colin Montgomerie, Tom Lehman, and Mark O’Meara, are among the legends that regularly compete on the Champions Tour.
Riddell applauded Shaw’s commitment to the tournament.
“Our goals have always been very clear in bringing this event to Calgary: to provide Calgarians with the opportunity to witness an elite, family-friendly professional sporting event during the summer, but also to raise significant money to support children’s charities in the city and across the province,” said Clay Riddell, tournament chairman and one of five members that make up the Patron Group who financially back the event. “None of this could be done without the commitment from everyone at Shaw Communications who are true leaders in the community.”
Shaw Communications is the parent company of Global News.
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