Official PGA Tour Canada Press Release:
March 02, 2022
By Staff , PGATOUR.COM
BRAINERD, Minnesota—PGA TOUR Canada will make history this summer when it hosts its first official event outside of Canada. The CRMC Championship presented by Gertens is set for here August 22-28, the ninth of 11 official events on the 2022 schedule.
Cragun’s Resort is the host site, with its Legacy Courses home to the 72-hole tournament. The Cragun family has owned the resort for more than 80 years and will act as the host organization. The resort’s Director of Golf and Minnesota PGA member Jack Wawro is serving as the Tournament Director.
In addition, PGA TOUR and PGA TOUR Champions player and former U.S. Ryder Cup captain Tom Lehman is the tournament’s Honorary Chair. Besides being onsite during tournament week, the Lehman Design Group is leading the $10-million golf course renovation and expansion project that began in April 2021.
“This is a historic moment for PGA TOUR Canada, taking this Tour and our players outside of Canada for the first time,” said PGA TOUR Canada Executive Director Scott Pritchard. “In Gertens, we couldn’t have found a better partner, and as we make this move to Cragun’s Resort, we are so pleased that this will happen with Gertens’ support.”
Preceding the Thursday-to-Sunday tournament is the Northern Pacific Center Pro-Am on August 24.
“Gertens, a family-owned business in Minnesota for more than 100 years, is extremely excited to be a part of the PGA TOUR Canada’s first-ever event in the United States. Gertens partners with golf courses over the upper Midwest to keep their properties in pristine playing condition and we look forward to partnering with Cragun’s to create this championship event,” said Gino Pitera, Gertens’ Owner.
Gertens is a full-service lawn and garden, landscaping and outdoor-living company that maintains a 2.5-acre, state-of-the-art greenhouse that helps maintain company founder Frank Gerten’s motto to “buy from the grower.”
Cuyuna Regional Medical Center is a community-built facility that serves approximately 30,000 people in the Brained Lakes area. Net proceeds from the event will be used to further the mission of CRMC’s Charitable Fund to care for everyone in the community from their first breath to their last regardless of the financial ability.
“CRMC is proud to support this tournament, which will have a significant economic impact on the Brainerd Lakes area and benefit the community as a whole,” said CRMC, CEO Amy Hart.
Added, Peggy Stebbins, Director of Marketing and Public Relations at CRMC, “The CRMC Championship is a wonderful opportunity to raise money for CRMC’s Charitable Fund, which supports the most-critical needs for health care in this region and assists area residents dealing with medical issues.” Peggy Stebbins, Director of Marketing and Public Relations at Cuyuna Regional Medical Center.”
PGA TOUR Canada began in 2013 as the PGA TOUR’s second International Tour, following the lead of PGA TOUR Latinoamérica a year earlier. Prominent PGA TOUR alums who received their starts in Canada are, among others, Americans Tony Finau and Joel Dahmen, Canadians Corey Conners, Mackenzie Hughes, Michael Gligic and Nick Taylor, Chinese Taipei’s C.T. Pan, and Austria’s Sepp Straka.
Since its inception, the Tour has seen 11 of its alums win 13 PGA TOUR titles, while 45 past PGA TOUR Canada players have collected 48 total Korn Ferry Tour victories.
For more information about the CRMC Championship presented by Gertens, including schedule of events, volunteering and ways to get involved, visit: www.crmcchampionship.com