‘Brooke’s Bash’: Henderson hits Calgary as face of CPKC Women’s Open

For Brooke Henderson, then on the rise to superstardom, this was a major motivator. In her childhood home in Smiths Falls, Ont., hanging in the hallway not far from her bedroom door, there was a photo of the CPKC Women’s Open trophy. This was several years before she’d leave her own fingerprints on that prestigious prize, one of her 13 victories so far on the LPGA Tour. At 26, she is already the most successful Canadian golfer of all-time.

“Back in 2012, when I first qualified for this event, my dad took a picture with the trophy,” Henderson recounted with a grin. “He didn’t touch it. He just stood right beside it. And it hung up in our house back home, so I walked by that picture almost every day.

“That was really powerful. It was definitely motivation to be competing in this championship and not only just competing, but to try to win it someday. Winning it in 2018, it was a huge highlight. And I would love to be able to do it again.”

That’s the goal this week as Henderson and her LPGA Tour pals return to Calgary for the 2024 CPKC Women’s Open, a four-round showdown that runs Thursday-Sunday at Earl Grey Golf Club.

There are two storylines that always coexist at this event, a pairing as perfect as a pin-seeking approach shot and a smooth stroke on the birdie putt.

There’s what this tournament means to Brooke, who has played every edition since she was 14 years old.

And what Brooke means to the tournament.

The short answer to both? A lot.

Local organizers are shooting this week to challenge the CPKC Women’s Open attendance record, a target that doesn’t seem far-fetched with Earl Grey’s prime location — spectator parking is available at nearby Mount Royal University, or you can bike right to the entrance gate — and a warm, albeit smoky, forecast.

Tens of thousands of fans will show up to walk with what is referred to as ‘The Brooke Brigade.’ They might as well call this Brooke’s Bash.

“Just like Tiger on the PGA Tour, she’s a needle-mover,” said Golf Canada’s Ryan Paul, tournament director for the CPKC Women’s Open. “What she does for our event, all the people she inspires and all the fans that stand there in awe for hours while she plays her round or even just watching her on the range … It’s always special to sit back and watch and see what she means to this country.

“It doesn’t matter where we are, whether we’re near her hometown in Ottawa or in Vancouver or we’re in Calgary, she is the needle-mover and the driver for this event. She’s in all of our collateral, of course. I mean, it’s the national open, and she is the most winningest golfer in Canadian history and continuing to raise that bar each and every year. But you look at events in China or in Florida, and she’s the poster-child for those too.

“We wrap our arms around her so much, but she’s a global superstar.”

Because Henderson has been in the golf spotlight since her early-teens, it’s almost hard to believe her next birthday is just 27.

But it’s also not a coincidence that of the 16 other Canadians in the field this week at Earl Grey, all but three are younger than Brooke. And who did they grow up idolizing? As if you needed to ask.

As kids, many of them probably wore Ping visors and Skechers shoes and flashed big grins after every birdie.

They were presumably all watching in 2018 as Henderson made history at Wascana Country Club, becoming the first homegrown winner of the CPKC Women’s Open since Jocelyne Bourassa in 1973.

If they were seated Wednesday in the media room, they would have been nodding in agreement as New Zealand’s Lydia Ko was asked about her friendship with Henderson and described her as “an unbelievable golfer, an unbelievable athlete and one of the nicest players on tour.”

“(Henderson) has been an incredible role model for all of us in Canada, and even I know for some U.S. players, as well,” said Toronto’s Vanessa Borovilos, who recently turned 18 and is a member of Golf Canada’s NextGen program. “It’s not only about what she’s accomplished, but how she goes about it. She always tries to have a good time out there, and you see it on her face. And we all know she’s an incredibly hard worker.

“It definitely shows us who to be like when we grow up.”

“For us, Brooke is someone we look up to and we aspire to be,” echoed Lauren Kim of Surrey, B.C., who turns 19 next month, is preparing to defend her title at the Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship and scored an exemption to compete this week by topping the leaderboard at the 2024 Peloton Glencoe Invitational. “I mean, having that many wins on tour, it’s just crazy. So it’s a goal of ours that we set — to win as much as her on tour and to just be successful like her.

“First there was Lorie Kane and now we have Brooke and we have a lot of top Canadian players coming up. I guess it just seems more realistic when someone like her can do it.”

Alena Sharp, who will join Henderson as Canada’s representatives in women’s golf at the Paris Olympics, has been a staple at the CPKC Women’s Open for the past two decades.

The 43-year-old from Hamilton was marvelling Wednesday at the number of maple leaf logos on the tee-sheet at Earl Grey.

“Seventeen Canadians in the field this week — that is pretty amazing,” Sharp said. “And they’re really good, and they hit it far. I think it’s just changed a lot since when I was a kid.”

“She’s elevating the game in the country,” Sharp agreed. “I mean, even the guys say that she’s an inspiration. When she won in Regina, that was amazing. We were always talking about the drought, right? Jocelyne Bourassa was the last to win and then Brooke broke the drought. And then Nick Taylor last year (at the RBC Canadian Open).

“It’s pretty cool. I think she’s an inspiration to everybody. Her career has been amazing already in this short time, and I foresee more wins in the future for her.”

Henderson has been such a force on the LPGA Tour that it comes as a surprise that she has yet to win an event in 2024. Her season stat-sheet is highlighted by a hat-trick of third-place finishes.

As she told reporters earlier this week: “I feel like I’ve been trending in the right direction for a really long time now. I’ve been close and haven’t really been able to turn it over, but I feel like it’s right around the corner.”

Maybe it all comes together at Earl Grey, where the tree-lined fairways and thick rough will place a premium on accuracy off the tee.

The Brooke Brigade would love that.

This will be Brooke’s Bash either way.

“I look forward to it every year and it’s very exciting for me to have this opportunity to be so loved and so supported and just to have the crowds behind me the whole time,” Henderson beamed. “Winning this event in 2018, it might be my most special victory just because I wanted it so much growing up. To be able to do it in front of everyone that was cheering for me, I think that made it extremely special.

“I’m very proud to be Canadian and very proud to be able to play at home. To feel that love and support, I think it’s really unique, and I just try to embrace it as much as I can.”

2024 CPKC Women’s Open
Thursday-Sunday at Earl Grey Golf Club

ABOUT THE COMPETITORS
The 156-player field features many of the biggest stars on the LPGA Tour, including 23 players who will soon be headed to Paris to represent their respective countries at the Summer Olympics. Brooke Henderson headlines a list of 17 Canadians — a dozen professionals and five amateurs — and Megan Khang of the U.S. arrives as defending champ after winning the 2023 edition at Shaughnessy in Vancouver.