When December comes along, that will mark the 10th anniversary of Golf Town Athlete Brooke Henderson turning professional.

It’s hard to believe Brooke has been a pro for a decade, but in that time she’s become Canada’s winningest golfer – on either the LPGA or PGA Tour – with two majors to her credit, and the CPKC Women’s Open in 2018. Along the way Brooke has also created a legion of fans in the Brooke Brigade and has inspired countless others.

“I hope that I have inspired and motivated the younger generation to pick up the game of golf. Just chase and pursue whatever is in their hearts and whatever they dream to go after,” Brooke said at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, the season opener on the LPGA Tour schedule.

“It’s been a lot of fun for me and hopefully the best is yet to come.”

We at Golf Town are thrilled to celebrate the accomplishments of Brooke, of course. But we couldn’t be prouder of the work done by Ambassador Lisa ‘Longball’ Vlooswyk, and all of our female staffers including Kate Johnston, who is chasing her dream of making the LPGA Tour.

Lisa continues to host her incredible (and free!) clinics at Golf Town stores across Canada to help inspire and teach more women about the big physical and mental-health benefits to the game.

Women-in-golf is seeing the largest participation increase of any other demographic these days (in the U.S., the female golfer pool has jumped 15 percent over the last three years, as compared to just a 2 percent lift among male golfers). Deloitte, a global consulting and accounting firm, is predicting revenue generated by women’s elite sports will surpass $1 billion for the first time in 2024 and with the LPGA Tour playing a 35-event schedule this year (for a record $118 million total purse – a 69 percent increase from 2021) there’s never been a better time for women at the highest level.

“We believe this is our time,” LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan said in a recent interview.

One of the big opportunities for the LPGA Tour’s best to shine occurred at the end of last month at the latest edition of Capital One’s The Match. The made-for-TV special was won by Rory McIlroy, but it also featured multi-time LPGA Tour winner Lexi Thompson and star-in-waiting Rose Zhang (along with Max Homa). Female golfers were participating for the first time out of the eight previous editions.

“If we can give women a great platform to showcase their skills,” McIlroy said, “I think it can only be good for the game of golf as a whole.”

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Thompson provided an early highlight at The Match, draining a long eagle putt for the first skin of the competition – worth $200,000. Both Thompson and Zhang said this was an important opportunity for them to show what girls golf is all about to a wider audience. The Match came about a week after noted golfer Steph Curry competed in a three-point competition against WNBA superstar Sabrina Ionescu and after Caitlin Clark (another golfer!) broke the NCAA-era scoring record for most points.

“As a women’s golfer, we’re really just trying to grow the game, and I think we’re moving in the right direction. And I really think that includes moments like this for myself and Rose, to be able to tee it up with the guys and just really grow our fanbase even more and just grow the game,” Thompson said. “As athletes, we just want to leave the sport in a better space than it was when we first stepped out here. To be able to see the women’s movement in the game of golf going in the right direction, that’s really all we want to see.”

While The Match was made-for-TV, the best golfers in the world are set to tee it up in Paris for the 2024 Olympics as well – on the same course as the men and just one week later – while this is also a Solheim Cup year again (in the United States this time) and LPGA Tour will be returning to the iconic Old Course at St Andrews for the AIG Women’s Open.

“There is a lot of exciting events,” Brooke said. “The (AIG Women’s Open) at St Andrews […] is a dream come true to go play at the home of golf.”

There has never been a more exciting time for women in golf – whether at the highest level of the sport or for those looking to pick up the game for the first time. We celebrate all women involved in golf, those looking to play more, and those at the highest level inspiring the next generation!