The Canadian Tour has unveiled a preliminary eight tournament schedule for 2012.
As has become tradition, the domestic schedule will once again begin at the Times Colonist Island Savings Open in Victoria, B.C., the week of June 4th at Uplands Golf Club where the event will celebrate its 28th anniversary in 2012.
After a five-week swing through western Canada which takes the players to Edmonton, Fort McMurray, Saskatoon and Winnipeg, the Canadian Tour's eastern swing will commence following the Canadian Open with a new event in Ontario known as the Great Waterway Classic near Kingston.
The Tour's flagship event, the Canadian Tour Championship, will be staged at the historic Scarboro Golf and Country Club in Toronto, which is celebrating its centenary in 2012.
Scarboro Golf and Country Club has a history dating back to 1912 and has been the site of four Canadian Open Championships. Considered one of the best classic courses in Canada, Scarboro is the only course outside the United States designed by the legendary A.W. Tillinghast one of North America's premier golf course designers. A little over $1.2 million was recently invested restoring Scarboro to its original roots while the original Victorian clubhouse still stands as one of the finest in the country.
The Tour says it is working on adding two additional events in eastern Canada when the full schedule is published in about a month's time.
The 2012 season is currently set to conclude the first week of November with the Desert Dunes Classic, the only non-Canadian stop on the schedule.
"Traditionally we have released the full schedule in December which has not given all of our events time to finalize their plans for the coming year. This year we have decided to delay the full release of the schedule until it is fully confirmed," stated commissioner Rick Janes.
"Our recent agreement with the PGA TOUR has also provided us with some new horsepower and we are confident that we can get those events in question over the hump when the full schedule is released in a month from now."
The Canadian Tour is also working with the PGA Tour to revamp its Qualifying School format, which is expected to reduce the number of schools to one and provide more cards for prospective Canadian Tour members. Details of the new qualifying system and qualifying school dates will be released as soon as they become available. Players can expect the new Qualifying School to be held in April or early May closer to the start of the Canadian season.
2012 Canadian Tour preliminary schedule
Times Colonist Island Savings Open, Uplands Golf Club, Victoria - June 7-10
ATB Financial Classic, Windermere Golf & Country Club, Edmonton - June 21-24
Syncrude Boreal Open, Fort McMurray Golf Club, Fort McMurray - June 28 - July 1
Dakota Dunes Casino Open, Dakato Dunes Golf Links, Saskatoon - July 5-8
The Players Cup, Pine Ridge Golf Club, Winnipeg - July 12-15
Canadian Tour Championship, Scarboro Golf & Country Club, Toronto - August 23-26
The Great Waterway Classic, Smuggler's Glen Golf Course, Gananoque - September 6-9
Desert Dunes Classic, Desert Dunes Golf Club, Palm Springs, CA - November 1-4