Northview revives PGA Tour experience at Surrey course

Northview Golf and Country Club held its four-day PGA Tour Experience from Aug. 27 to 30, the seventh annual event celebrating seven years of PGA tournaments at the Surrey course from 1996 to 2002. The tournaments were the Greater Vancouver Open from 1996 to 1998 and the Air Canada Championship from 1999 to 2002.

Players on the Ridge course were introduced at the first tee as staff held quiet signs, replicating a PGA Tour atmosphere. Director of golf Scott Cranston said golfers could choose serious or humorous introductions, with speaker applause adding pressure before teeing off.

The event began in 2020 during the pandemic, when golf grew in popularity. It includes tee gifts, official PGA Tour pin placements, signage and mock leaderboards. Cranston said all four days sold out within seven days of bookings opening, with 52 daily slots from 6:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. to allow players to complete 18 holes.

The Air Canada Championship trophy, borrowed from BC Sports Hall of Fame, was placed at the first tee for photos. Northview recreated the 2001 setup, when Joel Edwards won, using the corresponding daily pins and tees from all four rounds and opening rarely used tee boxes to extend the course to 7,000 yards.

Payne Stewart, Sergio Garcia and Mike Weir were among players in PGA events at Northview. In 1999, Weir became the first Canadian in 45 years to win a PGA Tour event on Canadian soil. On Sept. 14, Vancouver Canucks players, coaches, management and alumni will return for the Jake Milford Charity Invitational Golf Tournament before the NHL club’s Penticton training camp.