Taya Battistella leads Mid-Master division; defending champions, Team British Columbia
lead Inter-Provincial team division
BURLINGTON, Ont. – Lauren Greenlief returned to the Canadian Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship, presented by BDO in convincing style, firing an opening round 7-under 65 to take the lead at the Burlington Golf & Country Club in Burlington, Ont. on Wednesday.
Greenlief of Oakton, Va. recorded an eagle and five birdies in a bogey-free round to take a four-shot lead into Thursday’s second round.
“Played really consistent the whole day, was in a lot of fairways and on a lot of greens, rolled the putter well and gave myself good chances on the holes where you can score,” said Greenlief when summarizing her day.
After opening with a birdie on the first hole, Greenlief holed out from 105 yards on the par 4, fourth hole for eagle.
“I could see the top of the flag stick, couldn’t see it go in, but hit it right on line and thought it would be a good shot, and it was in the hole.”
Greenlief went on to add birdies on nos. 7, 10 and 12 and closed with another on 18 after narrowly missing a hole-in-one.
“It’s hard to close out a bogey free round so to have a three-footer, little bit of a slider but I didn’t think it was going to get away from me, so it was nice to kind of be able to breathe on 18 and it went in which was great,” added Greenlief.
The 2017 Canadian Women’s Mid-Amateur champion is competing in the national championship for the first time since her 12-shot victory in Newfoundland and Labrador and always enjoys making the trip north.
“I’ve been playing a lot of golf this summer and I had this week open on my calendar and Judith [Kyrinis] said it was a good golf course.
“I love playing in Canada, I played in the Canadian Am a number of times and have done quite well in that event and have always played well up here,” added Greenlief, who had three top 25 finishes in the Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship, including at T3 in 2015.
Greenlief considers her consistent iron play as the strongest part of her game, that allows her to hit most greens. She plans to “stay calm, have fun and take advantage of the holes you can score on” while practicing patience on some of the tricker holes over the next two rounds.
Her playing partner on Wednesday was Taya Battistella of Bellingham, Wash. who finished with a 3-under 69 to sit second in the Mid-Amateur division and leads the Mid-Master division.
Battistella was 2-over through nine but turned things around with three straight birdies on holes 12 through 14 before carding the third ace of her career at no. 15.
Battistella hit a three quarter 6-iron on the 148-yard par 3 but couldn’t see the ball land on the green.
“I thought it’s either over or in the hole, my playing partners thought it was in the hole. I got up there saw the mark and saw it was in the hole.”
Battistella came close to a second hole-in-one on no. 18 but taped in for birdie to erase a bogey on the previous par 5 17th to sit four back of Greenlief and hold a three-shot lead in the Mid-Master division.
Ket Preamchuen Vanderpool of Marietta, Ga. was the third player to finish in the red figures in the field with a 2-under 70 on Wednesday.
Veronica Ivy of Victoria, B.C. and Connor Macon of Charlotte, N.C. are tied for second in the Mid-Master division, following rounds of even par, 72.
Team British Columbia leads the battle for the Margaret Todd Trophy, looking to win the title for the third consecutive year. Ivy’s even par 72 and Nonie Marler’s 4-over 76 contributed to the team’s combined score of 4-over for the first round. Teammate Aram Choi of Surrey, B.C. finished with a 5-over 77 on Wednesday. Team Quebec currently sits second at 17-over with Ontario and Alberta tied for third at 18-over. The Inter-Provincial Team Championship runs concurrently over the first 36 holes of the national championship.
Three notable exemptions are up for grabs for the winner of the Canadian Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship, including entry into the 2026 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship at Montclair Golf Club in West Orange, N.J. from August 29 – September 3, as well as a spot in the field for the 2027 Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship and 2027 Canadian Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship, both presented by BDO.
The field of 87 players features female golfers (aged 25-and-over as of August 5, 2026), with a handicap index of 12.0 or less. Those aged 40-and-over as of August 5, 2026, also compete in the Mid-Master division. Following Thursday’s second round the field will be cut to the low 70 players and ties, based off the Mid-Amateur division with a minimum of 10 players in the Mid-Master division making the cut.
For the leaderboards following the opening round of the 2026 Canadian Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship, presented by BDO, please click here.
