VANCOUVER – Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club is the first course this century to host both the men’s and women’s national golf opens in Canada.
It’s been quite the wait – three years, with the COVID-19 interruption – but finally the CPKC Women’s Open is set to tee off at the formidable venue in Vancouver, a stout championship test ready for the best in the world.
Ashley Zibrik, the Director of Golf at Shaughnessy, said she’s not sure if the winning score will be into double digits under-par this week. It makes sense, given the precedent on the men’s side. The 2011 winning total was 4 under. Five under in 2005. The classic A.V. Macan layout set along the Fraser River was set up as a par 70 for the men but will be a par 72 for the women and measure 6,685 yards. The average green size is just 4,285 square feet, according to the LPGA Tour – small by its standard tournament size.
Former world No.1 Stacy Lewis agrees with Zibrik, hopeful that the tournament organizers will give the players some leeway with the pin positions this week.
“Some of the greens just aren’t made for 5- and 6-irons. They’re made for a little bit shorter clubs,” Lewis said. “Hopefully officials will adjust there a little bit and make it a little bit more playable, because it’s just one of those courses you can hit a good shot and it hits on a downslope and goes over the back.
“It’s going to be a great test. Nothing crazy under par is going to win this thing. You look back at the history here, it was single digits under par. I think you’ll see more of the same.”
The LPGA Tour has been to Shaughnessy before for a one-off event in 1969, the LPGA Molson’s Canadian Open. Carol Mann won by three over Kathy Whitworth and Canadian Sandra Post.
This course, however, is not long for Vancouver. As first reported by SCOREGolf, the club’s land lease with the Musqueam Indian band expires in 2032 and the Musqueam have made it clear there will not be an extension.
That means this week would be extra special, in more ways than one.
Brooke Henderson, the star of the week, says she loves this kind of golf-course set up. If she were to win her second CPKC Women’s Open – and follow in the footsteps of Nick Taylor to win her national open this season – it would be a fitting end of the road for this storied Canadian layout. She’ll be grouped with newly minted world No. 1 Lilia Vu (a three-time winner already this season) and former world No. 1 Nelly Korda for Thursday and Friday’s rounds. She told Sportsnet she thrives on being part of buzzy groups like that, and she’s hoping that electricity will help her to a fast start.
“I love this area and I feel like I love the tall trees and how they frame the fairways, and that’s exactly what this course has,” Henderson said. “I just love the atmosphere and the vibes, and it’s just special to be here this week.”
Henderson said the key this week is going to be ball-striking. It’s a tight course off the tee, and the greens are small and well-contoured.
“Pars are good I think this week and birdies are bonus,” Henderson stated. “It’s not like you can just go in and really be attacking a lot of things either.“
No matter who you speak with who is set to tee it up on Thursday, they’re all saying the same thing – this is a tough course with a big-time group gunning for the title. Fifteen of the top 20 in the world ranking – including nine of the top 10 – are in Vancouver this week.
“It is a really, really strong field and it almost has kind of a major feel out here,” said Gabriela Ruffels, who has won three times on the Epson Tour, the feeder circuit to the LPGA Tour, and has already clinched her LPGA Tour card for next year.
Perhaps the most notable of major-winners with a serious Vancouver connection is Lydia Ko.
Ko, who is gunning for a record fourth CPKC Women’s Open, won two of her three Canadian titles at the Vancouver Golf Club (“Maybe if I win a fourth time I would be an honourary Canadian by then,” she said). In fact, her parents nearly moved her to Vancouver instead of New Zealand as a youngster.
The former world No.1 has had an up-and-down 2023 campaign with just one top-10 finish, but she’s hoping a return to Vancouver will be just the jolt she needs for the balance of the season – even though she made a bold claim about the venue.
“It is tricky, and I think the front nine and back nine are a little different. They have their own different personality. But I think this might be the toughest Canadian Open venue that I’ve played at yet,” Ko said.
So, it’s been a long wait for Shaughnessy to host the CPKC Women’s Open. But on the eve of this year’s championship, there’s a top-tier field waiting to take on a solid test.
What more could you ask for?