Up to 500 million eyes will be on the Queen City over the next week, making the CP Women’s Open the most watched event ever hosted in the province.

“We were really interested in getting more notoriety for our club provincially and nationally, and this does it for sure,” Wascana Country Club CEO, Greg Dukart said.

“This is a really outstanding event attracting the best in the world, being televised to 500 million households potentially – you don’t get this every day, we’re very proud to be part of it,” he continued.

The tournament features the best of the LPGA – 89 of the top 100 golfers are at the tournament – making it an opportunity unlike any other for the province.

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“This is a brand new opportunity for us. We haven’t had the opportunity to showcase Regina on an international scale [like this] before; this is new and exciting,” Ashley Stone, the tourism director for Tourism Regina said.

The tournament has drawn fans from across the country, and the world. According to Tourism Regina, 16 per cent of the tickets sold were to people outside of Saskatchewan.

“From the day that we announced last June, sales have been unbelievable,” Tournament Director Ryan Paul noted.

“We have people coming from all over, I actually just got a call from a North Dakota golf association that’s bringing a few buses of junior golfers to check out the event – a lot from Alberta, Manitoba – sports fans travel well over here,” Paul continued.

They travel so well that Paul and his team even had to redesign the tournament to accommodate the expected crowds.

“We built all the structures that you see here,” Paul said, gesturing to the grandstands surrounding the 18th hole.

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“This was actually going to be the 9th hole – we had a different 18 – we actually had to flip the nine’s just to have more product on 18 because of the demand of everyone wanting to come out and see these ladies play,” he beamed.

On top of the unprecedented publicity the CP Women’s Open will bring the province, it also is expected to generate millions of dollars for Saskatchewan.

“We don’t know the exact number of course, because of ticket sales, but we are showing that it’s going to be in excess of $8 million coming into the community and the province with this event; the majority of that being focused here in Regina,” Stone added.

The tournament’s best have yet to officially tee off, but for all parties involved this is already showing signs of being a fantastic tournament.

“It is our first time being here, but it’s definitely not our last. The support we’ve received from the fans and the community is unbelievable. The way it has all played out has been great so I don’t see why we wouldn’t come back soon,” Paul said.