GOLFest headliner Graham DeLaet. (Image: Golf Canada)
Nova Scotia is poised to seal its reputation as Canada’s hottest golf destination with GOLFest, a summer golf extravaganza in Halifax. Highlights include a Web.com Tour event and an exhibition match that pits Graham DeLaet and friends against the world.
Prince Edward Island, Muskoka, Niagara, Whistler and the Alberta Rockies have all in their turn been hailed as Canada’s hottest golf destination. Of course, it’s possible that any of them might someday reclaim the title. But right now the buzz is all about what’s happening in Nova Scotia.
The province’s newest headliner, Cabot Links, was recently ranked No. 42 in Golf Digest’s listing of the world’s top 100 courses. That’s an extraordinary achievement for a course just two years old. And venerable Highlands Links, the Stanley Thompson-designed jewel that has anchored golf in the Maritimes for more than 70 years, has lately earned rave reviews for a meticulous restoration by architect Ian Andrew.
Ashburn Golf Club’s New Course will host all
GOLFest events. (Image: Ashburn Golf Club)
Now comes news that this summer Halifax will host GOLFest Nova Scotia, a major undertaking that will include an exhibition match called the Canada Cup pitting Graham DeLaet, Mike Weir and David Hearn against a team of PGA Tour stars still to be announced; the Nova Scotia Open, the first Web.com Tour event played on Canadian soil in 10 years; and the Junior Canada Cup, featuring junior standouts from across Canada.
Hosted June 29 to July 6 by the New Course at Ashburn Golf Club, GOLFest is a production of SportBox Entertainment Group in partnership with the City of Halifax, the province of Nova Scotia, the Atlantic Golf Organization and the PGA Tour.
“The Nova Scotia Open and GOLFest activities will give golf fans in Halifax and the province of Nova Scotia a reason to be at Ashburn Golf Club every day to celebrate Canada Day week,” says Web.com Tour president Bill Calfee.
The Web.com Tour’s Nova Scotia Open will showcase the talents of golf’s future stars, including Canadians Nick Taylor and Eugene Wong, both new to the tour this year. But most of the excitement at GOLFest is certain to focus on the Canada Cup and the PGA Tour headliners recruited to challenge DeLaet and company in an 18-hole showdown.
GOLFest is said to be targeting several of the biggest names in golf, including winners of major championships. If the sponsors are smart, they’ll draw out the suspense as long as possible.
Let the countdown to Nova Scotia’s coronation begin.
