DCBank Open Is Ready To Roll Or Adapt

While the Mackenzie Tour is working on making the players available, the Victoria stop’s organizers are ready to welcome them... whenever they can come.

Keith Dagg has all the pieces in place for hosting one of the island’s major annual sporting events set to start May 30, 2021, at the Uplands Golf Club.

“We have Uplands rented, I have renewed pretty well every sponsor, and we are viewing everything as normal until told differently,” says the 85-year-old who has been involved with the tournament since its inception in 1981.

His only cause for concern is the players. It may be still a couple of months until they are supposed to tee it up for the 2021 edition of the DCBank Open but logistical clocks are ticking away. The PGA TOUR Canada’s executive director, Scott Pritchard is currently working with three levels of government to ensure the players get into the country and are allowed to compete.

“I talk to Scott every week,” says Dagg, the person responsible for raising the sponsorship and Pro-Am entry dollars for the $650,000 budget event.

If player confirmation is delayed, Dagg is very confident they can bring off the tournament even with only a little lead time.

“We have everything pretty well organized. Even if the tournament was not confirmed until early May, that would not be a problem.”

Keith is also very upbeat about how this year’s tournament experience will be as close to normal as possible.

“We may not be able to have banquets depending on the government’s protocols but we can definitely hold the Pro-Ams, have the VIP areas, and host the kids on Sunday.”

One thing that is definitely off the table is the winner getting to play in the RBC Canadian Men’s Open. The Open is supposed to be the week following the DCBank, but has been already been cancelled earlier this month (Read the full story here).

If necessary, is a date change still a possibility? Dagg says yes.

“When COVID cancelled the tournament in June [2020], we were able to reschedule it to September... If Uplands is open to it [again], we are open to it.”

To stay up to date on the DC Bank Open, visit www.dcbankopen.ca.