BROOKE HENDERSON TO DEFEND PGA WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP OF CANADA TITLE

BROOKE HENDERSON TO DEFEND PGA WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP OF CANADA TITLE

Canadian golf superstar Brooke Henderson brings her talents to the Burlington Golf and Country Club for the PGA Women’s Championship of Canada.
 
The 17-year-old native of Smiths Falls, Ont., defends her PGA Women’s Championship of Canada title, but is up against one of the strongest fields in the championship’s nearly 30-year history.
 
Currently ranked No. 32 in the world, the Smiths Falls, Ont., native recently finished T5 at the U.S. Women’s Open at the Lancaster Country Club. Henderson also finished T5 at the Women’s PGA Championship—the second of the LPGA Tour’s five majors—in June.
 
In addition to her two top-five finishes in majors this year, Henderson has four more top-25 finishes on the LPGA Tour in 2015, including a third at the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic. The former Team Canada member also won the Four Winds Invitational on the Symetra Tour in June and has a pair of Suncoast Ladies Tour wins to her name this past winter.

Joining Henderson in the field include two-time past champion Jessica Shepley; Big Break star Blair O’Neal; Team Canada members Maddie Szeryk, Jennifer Ha and Brittany Marchard; Canadian Women’s Tour winner Michelle Piyapattra; former junior stars Doris Chen and Kristen Park; Canadian standouts Brittany Henderson, Lisa Meldrum, Samantha Richdale, Kirby Dreher, Kyla Inaba, Natalie Gleadall, Danielle Mills and Erica Rivard; and PGA of Canada members Megan Chapman, Lindsey Edmunds, Jennifer Greggain, Jennifer Jaszek, Alexa Kim, Erica Rivard and Margaret Trainor.
 
The two-day, 36-hole championship will be played July 21-22 at the Stanley Thompson-designed Burlington Golf and Country Club. Admittance to the PGA Women’s Championship of Canada is free and spectators are encouraged to attend during championship play.
 
For first round tee times, CLICK HERE.
 
The undulating topography of the property with its sandy loam and attractive location on Hamilton Bay offered exceptional natural raw material for the design of a golf course. Today's challenging layout at Burlington Golf and Country Club, still essentially that designed by Thompson, Canada's leading contemporary golf course architect, opened in 1924.

Burlington was ranked No. 98 on SCOREGolf’s Top 100 Golf Courses in Canada 2014 Ranking.
 
In 2014, Brooke Henderson became not only the first amateur to capture the PGA Women’s Championship of Canada, but the youngest as well. The 16-year-old Smith Falls, Ont., native posted a two-day total of 13-under par at FireRock Golf Club in Komoka, Ont., setting a new championship scoring record.
 
The PGA Women’s Championship of Canada was first played in 1987 and past champions include Cathy Sherk, Gail Graham, Nancy Harvey, Lorie Kane, Alena Sharp, Jessica Shepley and last year’s winner Brooke Henderson.

The PGA Women’s Championship of Canada will count as the third and final stop on the Canadian Women’s Tour with points awarded toward the Jocelyne Bourassa Player of the Year at the conclusion of the championship.
 
Similar to past years, the champion of each Canadian Women’s Tour stop and the PGA Women’s Championship of Canada will receive an exemption into the 2015 Canadian Pacific Women’s Open to be held Aug. 17-23, 2015 at the Vancouver Golf Club in Vancouver. As well, following the conclusion of play at the PGA Women’s Championship of Canada, two (2) additional exemptions will be awarded to the top competitors, not otherwise exempt into the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open from the 2015 Canadian Women’s Tour Order of Merit.

In addition, the top five (previously the top 3) players on the Canadian Women’s Tour season-ending Order of Merit will be awarded direct entry into LPGA Stage-2 Qualifying.
 
Stay up-to-date with this year's PGA Women’s Championship of Canada by visiting pgaofcanada.com, twitter.com/pgaofcanada, vimeo.com/thepgaofcanada and facebook.com/pgaofcanada