Mackenzie Investments stepped up to the tee box in a major way on Wednesday, announcing a six-year agreement as the umbrella sponsor for PGA Tour sa国际传媒.
The tour will now officially be known as the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour sa国际传媒.
PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem, PGA Tour sa国际传媒 president Jeff Monday and Mackenzie Investments president and chief executive officer Jeff Carney made the joint announcement via a conference call on Wednesday.
The 2015 tour begins today with the PC Financial Open at Point Grey Golf and Country Club in Vancouver before moving to Victoria for the Bayview Place Island Savings Open presented by sa国际传媒 at Uplands Golf Club.
鈥淭his will be the first umbrella sponsorship in this tour鈥檚 short history and it will enable us to strengthen and grow this tour as an important path to the PGA Tour,鈥� said Finchem.
The PGA Tour took over the former Canadian Tour two seasons ago.
In addition to the naming rights, Mackenzie Investments receives a comprehensive list of benefits including client entertainment opportunities; branding on-site at tournaments; a strong presence on the PGA Tour鈥檚 website 鈥� which includes a dedicated site for the tour 鈥� as well as the tour鈥檚 mobile and social media platforms; plus ongoing exposure through the tour鈥檚 telecasts and programming.
鈥淭his sponsorship allows us to grow charitable contributions with a number of our tournaments, which is a long-term goal with this tour. We do it on all of our tours. It also starts to move prize money up somewhat,鈥� said Finchem.
Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour sa国际传媒 will also be making direct charitable donations within the communities in which they play to the charities of the tournament鈥檚 choice, added Monday.
In association with the new relationship, the 12 sa国际传媒-wide tournaments on the Tour will share a $150,000 donation being made to support their charitable efforts.
鈥淕etting this done by the PGA is so huge for Victoria and shows how far we have come from our humble beginnings with the Canadian Tour in 1981. It means we should be around for a very long time,鈥� said Keith Dagg, a founding member of the Vancouver Island Golf Society, which puts on the local tournament each year.
It is the longest running event on the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour sa国际传媒.
