Canadian Professional Golf Tour
Current season, competition or edition: 2016 PGA Tour Canada
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| Formerly | Peter Jackson Golf Tour (1970–1985) Canadian Professional Golf Tour (1986–2012) |
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| Sport | Golf |
| Founded | 1970 |
| President | Jeffery R. Monday |
| Country | Canada |
| TV partner(s) | Formerly broadcast on the Golf Channel and can now be seen in the form of a 30 minute highlight show that airs on both Global TV (Canada) and TSN2 during the season. A total of 11 shows aired in 2013. |
| Official website | pgatourcanada.com |
PGA Tour Canada is a men's professional golf tour headquartered in Oakville, Ontario. It was formally started in 1970 and was initially known as the Peter Jackson Tour, and became the Canadian Professional Golf Tour in 1986. The U.S. PGA Tour took over operation of the tour on November 1, 2012, at which time it was renamed PGA Tour Canada. Historically, it has been commonly known as the Canadian Tour.
In 1970, Imperial Tobacco Canada, under the Peter Jackson brand, signed on as title sponsor and brought scattered Canadian professional events under one umbrella. The Peter Jackson Tour hosted a series of seven or eight tournaments each season with each purse eventually averaging $25,000. The Tour developed predominantly Canadian touring pros but also warmly welcomed players from around the world. Canadian Golf Hall of Fame members Dave Barr and Dan Halldorson – both two-time PGA Tour winners – competed on the circuit in the 1970s and made several appearances once they were established on the big tour. Fellow Canadians and PGA Tour winners Al Balding and George Knudson also returned home several times in their career to play the circuit.
As the 1970s continued, government legislation began restricting the amount of advertising and sponsorship that tobacco companies were allowed to participate in. In 1978, anticipating future legislation that would ban tobacco advertising and sponsorship in Canada, Imperial Tobacco withdrew its title sponsorship of the circuit. Several tournaments disappeared and although a few carried on, there was no longer any cohesion to the circuit. However, in 1982, Canadian touring pros formed the Tournament Players Division (TPD) within the Canadian Professional Golfers Association (CPGA) and proposed a reorganized circuit under the guidance of Ken Tarling.
In 1985, TPD members selected touring pro Bob Beauchemin as president with the mandate to "build, promote and conduct tournaments of the Canadian Tour to develop Canadian professional golfers to a world-class level." The reborn circuit began play in 1985 and had six events. Nevertheless, the Tour was still linked with the CPGA (PGA of Canada). In January 1986, Beauchemin convinced the CPGA's Board of Directors to grant the TPD status within the CPGA and to be responsible for its own funding.
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