Golf fans will have to wait until 2021 for the Mackenzie Tour to make its stop in the Brainerd lakes area.
In a press release, the Mackenzie Tour — PGA Tour Canada, announced the cancelation of its 2020 season. The season schedule featured the inaugural CRMC Championship Aug. 17-23 at Cragun’s Legacy Courses.
“With growing uncertainty surrounding the border and the 14-day quarantine regulations, among other factors, we’ve weighed all of our options and concluded that it is not feasible to play this summer,” Mackenzie Tour Executive Director Scott Pritchard said in the release. “With the safety of the communities we play in mind, as well as the well-being of our players, sponsors, tournament-organizing committees, volunteers and golf course staff, we came to the realization that this is the best decision for everyone involved.
“We also wanted to be considerate of our players and their desires to play golf. Understanding the complexities that this pandemic has caused, we knew it wasn’t fair to leave our members in positions that might prevent them from pursuing other playing opportunities elsewhere while waiting to see what transpired in Canada.”
The focus for the Mackenzie Tour is to become fully operational in 2021.
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“We had built a lot of momentum coming into this season, and we were excited to continue making a positive impact in the communities where we play, while also providing opportunities for our players to progress to the PGA TOUR,” Pritchard said. “Our commitment to our tournaments and their local communities, as well as our players, is unwavering, and we’re going to use this time to come back stronger in 2021.”
CRMC Championship tournament director and director of golf at Cragun’s Legacy Courses Chuck Klecatsky supports the Mackenzie Tour in canceling the season.
“Our primary responsibility is the safety of the local community and we feel like this is the best decision for everybody,” Klecatsky said in a press release. “Our commitment to Brainerd and the CRMC Championship is unwavering and we are going to work hard toward putting on a strong community-based event in 2021.”
In a press conference, Feb. 20, Pritchard announced the CRMC Championship as the first Mackenzie Tour event to be held in the United States.
At the press conference, Minnesota native and 1996 Open Champion Tom Lehman was named honorary chairman of the CRMC Championship.
The Mackenzie Tour and CRMC Championship have a six-year agreement. CRMC CEO Kyle Bauer is disappointed the 2020 tournament got canceled but is still excited about the long-term partnership.
“The inaugural CRMC Championship was expected to be one of the highlights of the summer in Brainerd,” Bauer said in the release. “While we are disappointed the event won’t take place in 2020, we are excited about our long-term commitment to the community, Cragun’s Resort and the Mackenzie Tour and look forward to the 2021 CRMC Championship.”
