If the Manulife Classic golf tournament returns to North Dumfries after this year, it won’t be under that name.
The insurance giant announced Friday that it is pulling out as the event’s title sponsor.
The tournament has been an annual stop on the LPGA’s calendar since 2012. It was held at Grey Silo Golf Club in Waterloo for its first four years, and has been hosted by Whistle Bear Golf Club since 2016.
This year’s edition of the tournament runs from June 7 to June 11, with some of the world’s top female golfers competing for $1.7 million.
It is not known yet if the event will be kept in Waterloo Region past 2017.
Hugh Morrow, the CEO of Sports Properties International, which owns the tournament, says his group was in negotiations with Manulife. They hoped to keep the sponsorship going through 2020, but Manulife decided to step away.
Now the focus for SPI and local organizers is to find a new title sponsor for 2018 and beyond.
Organizers are hoping the LPGA classic will remain in the region for years to come.
“We don’t want this to go away, we are resolute in keeping it in the Waterloo Region for as long as we can,” Morrow said.
The tournament has proved to be popular with golf fans in the region with last year’sevent drawing overa record crowd of 68,000 fans.
It also raised over $1.6 million for the St. Mary’s General Hospital Foundation since it began in 2012.
The director of the tournament, Milaina Wright, says they will work with SPI and the LPGA tour to seek out a new sponsor for the event next year.
“We are really hoping to bring this event back. We have had such great community support from the Region of Waterloo and beyond. We’re one of the most well attended events in terms of spectators on tour. We have great sponsors, and we’re hoping to continue this event in 2018,” Wright said.
Wright is confident the event will be back in the future.
With reporting by Darren Stevenson.
