THUNDER BAY – “It’s a great event.”
Plain and simple, that’s why Eric Staal says his family re-upped their agreement with the Staal Foundation Open, which got under way on Monday with the celebrity pro-am and the Fountain Tire Summer Classic, kicking off a week of activities that on Sunday will culminate with the crowning of the fourth champion in the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada tournament’s history.
“If you’ve been out here and checked it out, it’s done really well. It’s a great event for families. It’s a great event to enjoy a good week. The community has gotten involved and done a lot,” said the Minnesota Wild forward.
“It’s just fun for us to be a part of it, catch up with people that you don’t see for a while and at the end of the week be able to give back to some great local charities.”
While the golf itself is plenty of fun to watch, Staal said he’s especially fond of the Monday activities, which allows him and the other celebrities to interact with fans young and old.
“We get the hockey game and the golf and it’s pretty relaxed,” he said. “It’s a lot of fun to catch up with some guys from out of town and some guys you don’t see though the course of a hockey season.
“But obviously Sunday is the most fun, to be able to present the cheque and see what the whole week is translated to and crown a champion.”
It’s that kind of enthusiasm – not to mention the tremendous community support – that has Tour officials so keen to replicate the success of the Staal Foundation Open in other communities.
Scott Pritchard, the Mackenzie Tour’s vice-president, said the Thunder Bay stop at Whitewater Golf Club is routinely rated the top one on the summer circuit, which at season’s end will promote five players directly onto the Web.com Tour, a step away from a PGA Tour membership.
He’s confident they’ll be able to strike a deal to keep it in place on the event calendar beyond next year’s event, when the latest two-year deal expires.
“This event is really important to our tour. We believe this event is important to the city. There’s definitely a will and we want to see it get to a longer-term scenario. So we’ll work toward that,” Pritchard said.
St. Louis goaltender Carter Hutton, a regular at the event, said he loves coming out and lending his name to the tournament’s pro-am day.
“It’s obviously such a great event. I feel so privileged in Thunder Bay that we have so many great hockey players and to be part of that,” said Huton, denied a chance to win the Summer Classic, his shot firing wide in an epic shootout.
“I try my best to get out as much as I can in the city and contribute when I can, so an event like this is a great thing and when you see the turnout, it just shows you the support of the community.”
