Eastern Ontario’s homegrown golf hero will have another chance to win a top-level title in her own backyard at an event city officials hope will also be a winner for the region’s struggling tourism industry.
The LPGA Tour said Wednesday the Canadian Women’s Open is coming back to the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club in 2022. It will mark the fifth time the nation’s capital has hosted the event and its fourth visit to the south-end course, which previously staged the tournament in 1994, 2008 and 2017.
Among the world’s top women’s professionals who are expected to be part of the field is Smiths Falls native Brooke Henderson. The 22-year-old, who already has nine career victories on the LPGA Tour and is currently ranked ninth in the world, finished tied for 12th when the Canadian Women’s Open was last held in Ottawa three years ago.
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More than 50,000 spectators attended that event in the summer of Ottawa’s Canada 150 celebrations, a new tournament record. With the region’s reeling tourism industry expected to take years to fully recover from the effects of the COVID-19 lockdown, local officials are hoping the Open will be a key part of a resurgence for the city’s third-largest industry.
“It is great news that Golf Canada and CP have decided to return to Ottawa in 2022 for the CP Women’s Open at the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club,” Mayor Jim Watson said in a statement.
“The tournament was a major success in 2017, attracting a record number of fans and putting Ottawa on the map as a fantastic golf destination. We look forward to once again welcoming the best talent from across the world for this exciting event in 2022.”
This year’s tournament slated for Vancouver’s Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club was postponed until next August due to the pandemic.
The Women’s Open is the second major international sporting event that’s announced plans to come to the nation’s capital in the next couple of years.
Curling Canada said in June the 2021 world men’s curling championship will be held at TD Place arena next April.