As Executive Director of the Wayne Gretzky Foundation, it has been my pleasure to work with the Nationwide Tour as well as our many volunteers and sponsors in bringing the Tour back to Canada for the past three years.
However, after providing Canadian fans with a chance to see some of golf’s next great ones for three years, we will not be hosting the tournament in 2011. While we did have support from sponsors despite the economic challenges of recent years, there were just not enough to put on the tournament without exposing the foundation itself to financial risk.
This tournament has been embraced by the local Georgian Bay communities and it has been our pleasure to help bring in several million dollars to the local economy over the past three years as well as raise money for local hospitals and minor hockey organizations.
I would like to thank the Nationwide Tour, our sponsors, staff, volunteers and of course, the players and fans, for their generous support over the past three years and I hope that we can once again all work together when the economic conditions improve. In the meantime, the Wayne Gretzky Foundation will continue to support local communities and minor hockey associations as we raise money in support of reaching our goal of putting every kid in the game.
unfortunate to see that there will be no tournament in 2011, I volunteered for the first time in 2010 and enjoyed every minute of it. I worked every day, all day at the tournament. Thank you for the opportunity and look forward to volunteering again once the tour returns to Canada again.
I have been a huge fan of Wayne Gretzky’s and volunteering gave me the opportunity to give back to the community.
I am very disappointed that the CLassic will no longer be coming to the Georgian Bay area. I recently purchased a home there and have been an avid fan of the tournament. Very sorry to hear. I do hope it returns some day. It was great for charity and the community.