This week Brooke Henderson is thrilled at the opportunity to put on a good show for the Brooke Brigade at Magna Golf Club as she officially begins her title defense at the CP Women’s Open.
The Golf Town Athlete played nine holes Tuesday at Magna, the host course for this year’s tournament just 30 minutes north of Toronto, and nine holes on Monday as and the fans AKA Brooke Brigade were already out in full force!
Henderson said Tuesday she was so excited to see how many fans were out already this week – many dressed with Brooke Brigade t-shirts on – and she said she had lots of fun taking selfies and signing autographs while she got in some solid practice, including with some lucky Golf Town customers who won the chance to meet Brooke through our PING Month Contest earlier this year.
Henderson already successfully defended a title once this year – she won the LOTTE Championship in April – and after winning the Meijer Classic for Simply Give in June she became Canada’s winningest golfer on the PGA or LPGA Tours with nine professional wins under her belt.
She said she couldn’t wait to get started this week.
“To have won the CP Women’s Open last year is probably the highlight of my career so far,” she said. “Just being with all the great fans from the nation and just having so much attention on me and then still being able to perform as well as I did and execute those shots under pressure was really exciting for me.
“I feel like it gave me lots confidence and a lot of momentum, and I’m just really excited to come back here as the defending champion. I am looking forward to hearing that on the first tee in a couple days.”
Henderson knows she’ll have a lot more crowd support this year versus last year in Regina since Magna Golf Club is only three hours from her hometown of Smiths Falls, Ont.
Even though the tournament is being played at a different course – and in a different province – Henderson still believes she has a lot of good vibes this week.
“I think you still carry over a lot of positive energy and momentum from last year. Like I mentioned, having maybe more family and friends around gives that you little extra boost, maybe more adrenaline,” she said. “Hopefully I can put that to good use and make some birdies.”
Speaking of success in front of a hometown crowd, Henderson exchanged tweets with Canadian tennis champion Bianca Andreescu the other week after Andreescu, who is from Mississauga, won the Rogers Cup in Toronto.
Congrats @Bandreescu_ !! 🍁 😁 https://t.co/yB780Gy20g
— Brooke Henderson (@BrookeHenderson) August 13, 2019
Henderson said it was motivating and inspiring to watch her play and see highlights.
“To watch another Canadian win on Canadian soil is very special,” said Henderson. “She’s so athletic and so powerful. I feel like she was not only inspiration for me, but a ton of people across this country and across the world. That’s pretty incredible.
“I think watching her do it just a couple weeks ago, so close to this event, gives me a little bit extra motivation to try to play well this week.”
Henderson is no stranger to having some famous Canadians reach out to her, however, as she said after she won her last event in June she had people like Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, iconic singer Anne Murray, and The Great One Wayne Gretzky send her a note.
“It gives you chills sometimes,” she said. “Why are these people reaching out to me? It’s kind of surreal. Every time my fan base grows in Canada it’s also around the world, which is pretty cool.”
While the fan base is growing around the world – and should continue this week – her title defense at the CP Women’s Open means there will be more members of the Brooke Brigade, too!
“I think to win the CP Women’s Open last year was incredible. Do I think I’m going to do it again this year? I’m going to give it my all, see what I can do, and hopefully post a solid round on Thursday and give the fans something to cheer about.”
