Canadian Pacific's extension will maintain the $2.25M purse for the Canadian Women’s OpenGETTY IMAGES
Golf Canada confirmed that Canadian Pacific has "signed on as title sponsor of the Canadian Women’s Open for five more years," taking it through '23, according to Bob Weeks of TSN.ca. The new arrangement "came together quickly with CP signing on a week ago after a short negotiation" and the confirmation of next year's tournament at Magna Golf Club in Toronto happening just a "few days ago." Perhaps the only downside of the deal is that "both men’s and women’s sponsorship agreements end in the same year, meaning some trouble if both failed to extend" beyond '23. Golf Canada CEO Laurence Applebaum said, "One of the things when I arrived was that most of our contracts were on the shorter side and for us now, we have a six-year agreement with RBC as a title sponsor. We have a five-year agreement with CP. We’re about to announce a few other premier partnerships. It’s important to stagger them, absolutely but our two biggest events are secure and the financial stability of the organization is also secure." CP President & CEO Keith Creel said that the sponsorship extension was an "easy decision to make for his company." Creel: "There’s nothing I’ve ever done personally or professionally that connects across so many different areas, whether it’s business or the people in the community, like golf does in Canada. It makes great business sense, it makes great people sense" (TSN.ca, 7/9). The CP's Dan Ralph noted the extension will also maintain the US$2.25M purse with a "commitment to be among the LPGA Tour's top-tier events over the term of the deal" (CP, 7/9).
