PORTLAND, Ore. — Marina Alex matched the course record with a 10-under 62 on Thursday to take a two-stroke lead over Canadian Brooke Henderson and Minjee Lee in the Cambia Portland Classic.

With Stacy Lewis unable to defend her title as she prepares for the birth of her first child, Alex is using her friend’s caddie, Travis Wilson, at Columbia Edgewater.

“It’s been a blast,” Alex said. “The timing was great. He wanted to work a couple more events before the season ended and I was looking. Trav is awesome. So much fun, really lighthearted.”

They had a lot of fun Thursday morning on the tree-lined layout.

“The course is in perfect shape,” Alex said. “So, if you’re hitting your lines, you’re going to make a ton of putts. … I’m going to have to come out and make as many birdies as I can the next three days.”

Winless on the tour, the 28-year-old former Vanderbilt player birdied the last four holes and five of the last six in a back-nine 30.

“Got my ball-striking together and it was awesome,” Alex said.

Henderson, the 2015 and 2016 winner from Smiths Falls, Ontario, birdied five of the last six holes for a 64. The 20-year-old star is coming off a victory Sunday in the CP Women’s Open on home soil in Regina.

“I could see the scores were really low today, so I wanted to go low on the back nine,” Henderson said. “And I was able to get five birdies. I’m really happy with this round.”

Lee closed with a bogey on the par-4 ninth. The Australian birdied her first five holes and six of the first seven.

“I think it was a combination of everything,” Lee said. “Most of the day I struck it pretty well with my iron shots. I had pretty good control of the yardages and I hit some solid putts.”

Robynn Ree was at 65 after a closing bogey. After a last-minute putter change, the 21-year-old former Southern California player played the first 10 holes in 7 under. She had 10 birdies _ five in a row on Nos. 2-6 _ and two bogeys.

“I was like maybe I’ll get the new putter vibes,” Ree said. “Luckily, that worked out today and my shots were so much better. I was really fortunate that I was hitting well and putting well.”

Women’s British Open champion Georgia Hall matched Su Oh at 66.

“It’s an amazing golf course,” Hall said. “It’s in great condition.”

Anna Nordqvist, Brittany Lincicome, Angela Stanford and Mariah Stackhouse topped the group at 67.

Lexi Thompson eagled the par-5 seventh in a 68. She missed the cut last week in Canada after tying for 12th in Indianapolis following a three-week break for emotional and mental fatigue.

Inbee Park, playing for the first time since the Women’s British Open, opened with a 69 playing alongside Thompson and Shanshan Feng (72).

There are five other Canadians in the field.

Brittany Marchand of Orangeville, Ont., opened with a 3-under 69. Hamilton’s Alena Sharp and Quebec City’s Anne-Catherine Tanguay (72) are even while Charlottetown’s Lori Kane (76) and Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que., (78) are well back.

Karen Stupples had a 69 in her first tour start in more than two years. The 45-year-old English player is a commentator for Golf Channel.

“I was pretty nervous,” Stupples said. “I started to get nervous last night. But managed just to play and have fun with it today. It was really fun, actually. I enjoyed it and the challenge. One-under par, that was pretty good. It was way above my expectations.”

FONTHILL, Ont. — Australian Sue Wooster successfully defended her Senior and Mid-Master titles on Thursday, becoming only the 8th player to win back-to-back champions in the final round of the Canadian Women’s Mid-Amateur & Senior Championship at Lookout Point Country Club.

“I played pretty good today,” said the 56-year-old. “I got off to a rough start, so I was three over, so it felt hard to finish at that score so I’m really happy with my performance under pressure.”

Wooster had quite the up-and-down round, starting the day with a bogey on the first hole and a double bogey on the par-3 second hole. After closing out the front-nine with a birdie, Wooster remained steadier after the turn, matching two more bogeys with two birdies to finish with a one-stroke victory over second-round leader Mary Ann Hayward.

Hayward – a member of the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame –started the day leading three divisions but could not capitalize on her momentum. A rough start, highlighted by four consecutive bogeys, seemed to be turned around when she registered two birdies before tackling the back-nine.

In the end, the 58-year-old could not recover, adding five more bogeys and a birdie across her final holes to fall to second place, while Terrill Samuel finished third in both the Mid-Master and Senior divisions.

The day would not be over for Wooster, who finished her 18 holes tied for the lead in the Mid-Amateur division to force a playoff against three-time Mid-Amateur Champion Christina Proteau. Wooster and Proteau matched each other shot for shot, keeping the crowd on their toes throughout the playoff.

“I haven’t had a playoff ever that long,” said Wooster with a laugh. “It was just a matter of playing it straight hoping that I got the distance right. We were having fun. Who can ask for more? Playing golf and people cheering you, we’re very privileged.”

After spending most of the playoff neck-in-neck, the competition would come down to the wire on the fourth playoff hole. Proteau and Wooster both missed the fairway after their tee shots. With Wooster’s second stroke landing on the green and Proteau’s second shot taking her just short of the green, it looked as though the playoff would shortly come to an end. When Porteau’s third shot went right over the green, Wooster made a two-putt to emerge victorious.

Despite falling just short of the win, Proteau’s performance was nothing short of magnetic, helping to draw in the large crowd that had gathered to watch her battle it out with Wooster.

“It doesn’t get any better than that, that’s what you practice for. There’s always going to be someone that loses, and I just pushed it a hair on the last playoff hole and not a great lie but that’s just the way she goes,” said the 35-year-old. “Sue played awesome, it was a super enjoyable day and to play with Mary Ann Hayward in there, it was an awesome day. “

By winning the Mid-Amateur, Mid-Master and Senior titles, Wooster etches her name on a rare accomplishment as only the third player to win those divisions simultaneously next toTerrill Samuel (2015) and Judith Kyrinis (2016).

“I’m overwhelmed. I just can’t believe it,” said Wooster when asked how it felt to win three of the four individual competitions. “I think if I can do it, anyone can. You just need a bit of luck. I played pretty good today.”

In the Super Senior Division, Jackie Little rebounded to win at 23 over par. The Proctor, B.C., native will add this title to three others at the tournament, having won the Senior competition back-to-back in 2008 and 2009, as well as the Mid-Amateur title back in 2007.

“I really didn’t think that I had won and in my first year being 60, I was really happy about it, I have to admit, it wasn’t one of my best weeks for playing,” said Little, who reached the age of eligibly for the division in January. “The course is beautiful and a treat to play but it is definitely a tough course, you had to have your A-game.”

Penny Baziuk from North Saanich, B.C., finished one stroke shy of Little to finish in second place while Debbie Court of Mississauga, Ontario shares third with former Mid-Master champion Hélène Chartrand and Canadian Golf Hall of Famer Alison Murdoch, who holds the record for most Senior titles (2002, 2004, 2005 and 2007).

On Wednesday, Team Ontario captured their fifth consecutive inter-provincial team championship with a score of 11 over par, a commanding 20-shot victory over second-place British Columbia. Alberta finished in third at 39 over par.

Canada’s Rod Spittle, 63, is playing in his last professional tournament this week at the Shaw Charity Classic in Calgary.

Spittle, who joined the PGA CHAMPIONS TOUR back in 2005, is playing in his 195th Champions Tour event.

A star on his Ohio State college team alongside PGA TOUR stars John Cook and Joey Sindelar, Spittle doubted his future in professional golf. He instead chose to sell insurance for 25 years.

After winning a couple of Canadian Amateur titles in 1977 and 1078 and keeping his game solid, he took the professional plunge when he turned 50. Since then, he won the 2010 AT&T Championship and had 23 top 10s on tour.

Players paid tribute to Spittle on Twitter in this farewell video put together by the PGA CHAMPIONS TOUR.

You’ll be missed, Rod!

Rod Spittle is retiring after the @ShawClassic. pic.twitter.com/HrEpDgqrsB

— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) August 29, 2018

The world’s top 18-and-under female junior golfers will head to Ottawa for the fifth edition of the World Junior Girls Championship from Sept. 11-14 at Camelot Golf and Country Club. As host nation, Canada will send two teams of three athletes to compete for the international title of World Junior Girls champion.

Representing Canada One will be Céleste Dao (Notre-Dame Ile Perrot, Que.), Ellie Szeryk (London, Ont.) and Tiffany Kong (Vancouver, B.C.), who are three of Canada’s top-ranked junior golfers at No. 317, 459 and 546, respectively, on the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR). All three recently competed in the 2018 CP Women’s Open at the Wascana Country Club in Regina, Sask.

This will be 17-year-old Dao’s third year representing Canada at the World Junior Girls. The Team Canada Development Squad rookie is having an extremely impressive season, adding to an already notable junior golf career. So far in 2018, she has recorded four victories – the Canadian Junior Girls Championship, Girls’ Provincial Junior Championship, U.S Women’s Open Qualifying – Cape Cod National and Mexican Junior Girls Championship – to lead the Junior Girls Order of Merit for the second consecutive year.

Szeryk, sister of Canada’s top-ranked amateur female golfer Maddie, has four top-five finishes in 2018 so far, including a win at the Ontario Women’s Amateur Championship. The 16-year-old Team Canada Development Squad rookie currently sits in third in the Junior Girls Order of Merit and will be competing in her second World Junior Girls.

Kong will also be competing in her second World Junior Girls – she represented Canada at the 2015 tournament hosted at The Marshes. The 17-year-old recently competed in the 2018 CP Women’s Open after qualifying as the Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship’s low Canadian. With a win at the Ryan Moore Junior Championship and four top-ten finishes in 2018 under her belt, she currently sits fourth in the Junior Girls Order of Merit.

As the host country, Canada reserves the right to field two teams in the 63-player, 20-country competition. Canada Two will consist of Emily Zhu (Richmond Hill, Ont.), Sarah Beqaj (Toronto, Ont.) and Lauren Kim (Surrey, B.C.), who are ranked 1127, 1013 and 1066 respectively.

14-year-old Zhu is currently second in the Junior Girls Order of Merit. She has six top-ten finishes this year and competed in the 2018 Canadian Junior Girls Championship, where she came in second and took home the juvenile title. Her last win came at the 2018 Golf Ontario Investors Group Junior Spring Classic in May.

Beqaj, 16, has top-ten finishes in three of the four events she competed in so far this year. Her best finish in 2018 was third at Golf Ontario’s Investors Group Junior Girls Championship, followed by her fifth place finish at the Canadian Junior Girls Championship. She currently sits twelfth on the Junior Girls Order of Merit.

Kim is the youngest of all the Canadian team members – she only recently turning 13 in August. The rookie junior golfer held the lead during the first round of the Canadian Junior Girls Championship before finishing the tournament in eleventh. She won her first event in 2017 at the MJT – Boston Pizza National Championship and has five other-top ten finishes, including second place at MJT – Odlum Brown Classic and a tie for fifth at the Future Links, driven by Acura Pacific Championship.

“These six athletes have been selected to represent Canada as a result of their tremendous season, hard work and commitment to the sport. Their accomplishments and selection is a result of the support and joint efforts of Provincial Golf Associations, home clubs, parents and athletes,” said Jeff Thompson, Golf Canada’s chief sport officer. “It is a true honour to be selected to represent your country and we look forward to seeing this group proudly represent all of Canada as they learn and grow on the international stage.”

Matt Wilson (Golf Canada’s Women’s Development Squad Coach and Director of Next Generation Performance) will lead the two Team Canada squads for this competition with the support Reggie Millage (Golf Ontario Head Coach).

“Golf Ontario is excited to once again partner with Golf Canada to conduct this global championship at the historic Camelot Golf & Country Club,” said Mike Kelly, Golf Ontario executive director. “We are thankful for their membership and volunteer committees for all their hard work. We are thrilled for our athletes from Ontario who have been selected to represent Canada and wish them the best of luck.”

The World Junior Girls Championship is conducted by Golf Canada in partnership with Golf Ontario, and supported by the R&A and International Golf Federation. Recognized as an ‘A’ ranked event by the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR), the World Junior Girls Championship will run for its fifth time.

Nestled in Ottawa’s east end, Camelot is no stranger to running Golf Canada championships. The venerable club has hosted the 2012 Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship, a Canadian Women’s Tour event, the 2017 Canadian Junior Girls Championship, as well as final qualifying for the 2017 CP Women’s Open.

Opening ceremonies for the championship take place on Sept. 10 followed by the first round on Tuesday, Sept. 11. The tournament’s closing ceremonies will immediately follow the conclusion of play on Friday, Sept. 14.

“It is an honour to host this prestigious event and we look forward to welcoming these players from across the globe to our nation’s capital,” said tournament director Dan Hyatt. “The course is in tremendous shape and our partners at Camelot Golf and Country Club as well as  communities in the surrounding area have come together to make this a truly memorable event for our competitors.”

Admission to the competition is free. Additional information regarding the fifth annual World Junior Girls Championship can be found on the competition’s website.

PORTLAND, Ore. – It took a while for Brooke Henderson’s win at the CP Women’s Open to sink in.

The 20-year-old from Smiths Falls, Ont., made history on Sunday when she became the first Canadian to win the national women’s golf championship in 45 years. Speaking a day before teeing off at the Cambia Portland Classic – a tournament she has won twice in her young career – Henderson said last week’s win at Regina’s Wascana Country Club felt like it was “meant to be.”

Or maybe it seemed too good to be true.

“Sunday night when I was trying to fall asleep I had like a nightmare that it wasn’t over and I didn’t actually win, so I kind of woke up like panicked,” Henderson said.

“It’s starting to sink in a little bit more now. It’s just incredible, and to have the amount of support that I did, not only from the fans, but also from a lot of my friends out on tour. When I finished on 18, to get showered in champagne and just have them there waiting for me was really special.”

Henderson, who said winning in Canada was “a big check mark” in her career, can now turn her focus toward a strong finish to the LPGA season. Henderson sits second in the Race to the CME Globe, a season-long points contest that awards a US$1 million bonus to the winner.

Henderson trails Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn by 1,098 points with eight events left.

“I feel like it was a big move for my CME and also my world ranking winning last week, which is really exciting to see those numbers go closer to the top,” Henderson said.

“Hopefully I can just finish strong and put myself in a good position going into CME.”

Henderson picked up her first career LPGA Tour win at Portland’s Columbia Edgewater Country Club in 2015 and defended her title in 2016. She hopes to take advantage of a course that suits her style to pick up valuable points this week.

“I just really like the tall trees, kind of narrow fairways. For a while I only seemed to win on courses like this,” Henderson said.

“But just the atmosphere here is a little bit different. The fans are always great. Very supportive. I think just getting the win in 2015 by I think it was eight shots, which was pretty cool for my first win out on tour, just since then I feel like coming back here every hole I have a good memory.

“And some bad ones – but I feel like the good ones overtake those.”

Fresh off her historic win @cpwomensopen, 2-time @PortlandClassic winner @BrookeHenderson addressed the media earlier today ==> pic.twitter.com/4DkVdo3Syb

— LPGA (@LPGA) August 29, 2018

FONTHILL, Ont. – Neither wind nor rain could keep Mary Ann Hayward from taking the lead in three out of four individual divisions during the second round of the Canadian Women’s Mid-Amateur and Senior Championship at Lookout Point Country Club on Wednesday.

The Canadian Golf Hall of Fame honoured member shot the lowest score of the tournament so far with an even-par 72 to take sole possession of the lead in the Mid-Amateur, Mid-Master and Senior competitions after 36 holes.

“Yesterday played really tough. I played pretty good yesterday, didn’t putt so well but hit the ball extremely well with the wind conditions,” said the St. Thomas,Ont. product. “We lucked out with the weather today, the prediction was a lot worse than what it was. It played quite differently so I had to play different clubs after different tees and didn’t have a howling wind in our face so little tough to figure out.” 

Hayward is no stranger to being in contention at this championship. Tomorrow, the 58-year-old will look to add a fourth Canadian Women’s Senior Championship to her trophy case and match her four Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship victories. 

“I think everyone struggles with the putting, the greens here are a bit difficult. It’s tricky and plays with your mind a little bit playing with something you can’t see so just trusting that it’s going to do what it should do,” added Hayward. “But if it was easy, they’d call it hockey.”

Gail Pimm of Uxbridge, Ont., started off the day leading the Senior and Mid-Master divisions but carded a second-round 78 to put her in a tie for second.

“It wasn’t as consistent today but I had some bad holes but I kept with it, I toughed it out so I didn’t give up,” said the 58-year-old. “I’m still in the hunt. I’m looking forward to tomorrow and think I could do better than today for sure.”

Defending Champion Sue Wooster struggled during the first round, but three bogeys against one birdie in the second round has her sitting in second alongside Pimm in the Mid-Master, Senior and Mid-Amateur divisions.

“I hit the ball pretty solid and I drove it good all day. I just think I wasn’t in tune with the speed but I’m pretty happy,” said the Australia native. “The course has a lot of tough holes so I think if you can manage those tough holes, you’ve got some good chances on some easier holes.”

Five-time Mid-Amateur Champion Christina Proteau shares a piece of second with Wooster and Pimm in the Mid-Amateur division.

On the strength of Hayward’s lead, Ontario won their fifth consecutive inter-provincial team championship at 11 over par, a commanding 20-shot victory over second-place British Columbia. Alberta finished in third at 39 over par.

In the 60-and-over Super Senior division, Penny Baziuk (North Saanich, B.C.) has a one-stroke lead over yesterday’s Super Senior leader Jackie Little (Procter, B.C.) and Ruth Maxwell (Reno, Nev.). 

Click here for more information on the Canadian Women’s Mid-Amateur and Senior Championship, including tomorrow’s tee times. 

MAYNOOTH, Ireland — Team Canada will look to bounce back during round two of the World Amateur Team Championship as they chase down Canada’s first Espirito Santo Trophy.

The Canadian trio, consisting of Team Canada’s Amateur Squad members Jaclyn Lee, Naomi Ko and Maddie Szeryk, started the tournament on shaky ground, posting a first-round score of 10-over par to sit in a tie for 39th.

21-year-old Lee leads the Canucks heading into Thursday’s second round after carding wa 4-over 76 for a share of 75th individually. Teammate  Ko of Victoria, B.C., finished one-stroke higher at 6-over and sits tied for 103rd.

The third and non-counting score was registered by Allen, Texas product Szeryk, who posted an 8-over 80.

Conducted every two years, the World Women’s Amateur Team Championship has been staged since 1964, with the winner earning the Espirito Santo Trophy. The World Amateur Team titles are contested over four days of stroke play.  In each round, the total of the two lowest scores constitutes the team score for the round. The four-day total is the team’s score for the championship.

Though Canada has never won, they have earned runner-up honours four times in the championship’s history, the last time being in 2014 when the Canadian team of Brooke Henderson (Smiths Falls, Ont.), Augusta James (Bath, Ont.), and Brittany Marchand (Orangeville, Ont.) lost by two strokes.

Yuka Yasuda, 17, posted a bogey-free and record-tying 7-under-par 65 on the par-72 Montgomerie Course to propel Japan to a two-stroke lead over the People’s Republic of China in the first round.

“My short game and putting were very good,” said Yasuda, No. 22 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking™, who tied the first-round 65 shot by countrywoman Rikako Morita in 2006 in South Africa. “I was hitting shots solid today and sinking three- to four-meter putts – that was pretty good today. I was very confident putting.”

Teammates Yuna Nishimura and Yuri Yoshida each shot 1-under 71 for a team total of 8-under 136, which is just one stroke off the WWATC first-round team mark of 135 set by Canada in Japan in 2014.

The People’s Republic of China, which played on the par-73 O’Meara Course was led by Mohan Du. With birdies on her first three holes and five total on her front nine, she shot a 6-under-par 67. Du, 16, reached 7-under through 15 holes but bogeyed the 16th and 17th before a finishing birdie, which gave her eight birdies against two bogeys. Her teammate Ruoning Yin, 15, added an even-par 73 for a 6-under team total of 140.

Defending champion Republic of Korea and Austria share third position at 4 under with Australia and Ireland tied for sixth at 3 under; the USA and Hong Kong, China are tied for eighth at 2 under and Venezuela and Italy are tied for 10th at 1 under.

Hoping to gain momentum for her team, Ko will be the first Canadian to tee off in the second round at 7:45 local time, followed by Lee at 7:56 and Maddie at 8:07.

SMITHS FALLS, Ont. – Glenda Cooke started to get emotional when she sat, glued to her TV, while watching Brooke Henderson hit the golf ball off the 16th tee Sunday on her way to victory in the CP Women’s Open.

“That’s when I got up and got the Kleenex,” Cooke said Monday as she recalled witnessing Henderson, a fellow Smiths Falls, Ont., native, become the first Canadian to win an LPGA Tour crown on home soil in 45 years.

“And the happy tears started to flow and they just kept coming.”

By the time Henderson was walking comfortably toward the 18th, local fans of the 20-year-old were yelling “Go Brooke, yay,” said Anita Kerfoot as she and the others in her threesome were finishing their Monday morning round on the course at the Smiths Falls Golf and Country Club.

Henderson has had an immeasurable impact on young girls wanting to get into golf, even before she won in Regina, said Cooke.

“That started as soon as Brooke went on the (LPGA) Tour,” she said.

“Just the audience watching her (Sunday), there were a lot of young girls there,” Kerfoot added.

Club members who watched Henderson playing while she was growing up said they haven’t been surprised by her achievements.

“I did play a couple of rounds with Brooke when she was growing up and it was a treat to play with her then,” said Ken Closs.

“You could tell that she was going to be something special,” said Closs, adding that Henderson bested him on the golf course when she was just 10 years old.

“I don’t want to talk about that,” he said as his golfing buddies laughed.

You rock, #Saskatchewan! @BrookeHenderson says thanks to the fans and volunteers @The_Wascana for an amazing week at the #CPWO ? pic.twitter.com/PYaRI4M9ZX

— CP Women's Open (@cpwomensopen) August 28, 2018

The Henderson family has become synonymous with golf in the small Eastern Ontario town. Her uncle, Tom Henderson, is the current local course title holder.

“What she’s doing for golf in Smiths Falls, and for women in general, it’s really awesome,” Tom Henderson said of his niece.

There is, after all, a trophy case displaying Brooke Henderson’s achievements just inside the clubhouse.

A new junior locker room in her name also was built in the last year, displaying pictures from some of Henderson’s junior championships.

“It’s really there to help inspire our juniors to continue working hard and loving this game,” said club manager and senior pro Dan McNeely.

Henderson has, through her talents but also by virtue of her character, become an ambassador for not only Smiths Falls, but for the sport of golf and for her country, said the town’s mayor, Shawn Pankow.

“She’s our favourite daughter,” Pankow said as he stood on the sidewalk outside his office.

“When you look at the way she represents our community, the way she represents Canada, she’s still that humble small-town girl who has taken the golf world by storm,” he said.

“So much she’s done in such a short period of time, the whole town is incredibly proud of her.”

Pankow said Henderson’s victory was yet another shot in the arm for a town which was once struggling, despite being close to the nation’s capital. However, Smiths Falls more recently has experienced a boom in tourism and business development.

The future for the town of roughly 9,000 people appeared grim a decade ago when a major local business, the Hershey Chocolate factory, shut down operations and moved to Mexico.

But Smiths Falls has since benefited from the explosion in Canadian cannabis, which has brought a resurgence in jobs and tourism.

Pankow said Henderson’s victory Sunday appeared all the more remarkable, given her and her family’s own recent turmoil.

Both of Henderson’s grandfathers died this summer.

FONTHILL, Ont. – Uxbridge, Ont., native Gail Pimm fired a 1-over-par 73 on Tuesday to top the leaderboard in the Senior and Mid-Master divisions during round one of the Canadian Women’s Mid-Amateur & Senior Championship at Lookout Point Country Club.

Pimm, who also has a share of the lead in the Mid-Amateur division, had two birdies in blustery conditions during the opening round, including one on the par-5 9th hole.

“It was really windy, and it was very tough conditions to play in because of the wind and the heat,” said the 2018 Senior Women’s Champion of Champions. “I’m used to playing in windy conditions, but I was really surprised how windy it was.”

With wind speeds forecasted to be even stronger for tomorrow, Pimm plans on sticking to her routine and game plan to keep the ball in the fairway.

The competition is sure to be intense during Wednesday’s second round. Three players share a piece of second and chase the lead, all of whom are no strangers to winning the Women’s Senior Title. Defending champion Sue Wooster (Australia), three-time champion and Canadian Golf Hall of Fame honoured member Mary Ann Hayward (St. Thomas, Ont.) and 2016 champion Judith Kyrinis (Thornhill, Ont.) carded matching 77s sit 4 back of Pimm.

Wooster, Hayward and Kyrinis also share second place in both the Mid-Amateur and 40-and-over Mid-Master division. If Wooster manages to pull ahead of the pack, she would be only the second player to successfully defend the Mid-Master title. Fellow competitor Hélène Chartrand is the only person to have accomplished that feat after winning the title in 2013 and 2014.

In the 25-and-over Mid-Amateur competition, Christina Proteau chases her sixth Mid-Amateur title, having won her last title in 2014 just before the Mid-Amateur Championship was amalgamated with the Senior Championship.

The Port Alberni, B.C., talent, who started on the back-nine, got off to a strong start after registering three back-to-back birdies across her first nine holes.

“Honestly if you would have offered me 73 on a silver platter on the driving range with the wind we had going on, I would have taken it in a second,” said the 35-year-old. “It’s been a couple of years since I played in this event and even a couple more years since I won  so to be under (on the front), I was feeling pretty awesome.”

However, Proteau struggled against the wind on the front-nine, finishing at 1 over to share the Mid-Amateur lead with Pimm.

“It’s kind of good to get that out of the system and hopefully I’m somewhere around the top of the leaderboard,” added Proteau. “At the end of the day this is just the starting day anyways, the real stuff happens the next couple of rounds.”

Jackie Little – who won this event in 2007 and 2008 – leads the 60-and-over Super Senior division, separated from Canadian Golf Hall of Fame member and three-time Women’s Senior Champion Alison Murdoch by one shot. Ruth Maxwell rounds out the top-three in the division at 8 over par.

The defending Ontario team — Judith Kyrinis (Thornhill, Ont.), Canadian Goll Hall of Famer Mary Ann Hayward (St. Thomas, Ont.) and Terrill Samuel (Etobicoke, Ont.) — leads the inter-provincial competition at 10 over par. British Columbia is six strokes behind them in second at 16 over par, while Alberta sits in third at 19 over par.

Click here for more information on the Canadian Women’s Mid-Amateur and Senior Championship including tomorrow’s tee times

Osprey Valley, a collection of three courses just north of Toronto designed by acclaimed Canadian architect Doug Carrick, will join the PGA TOUR’s TPC Network of premier golf facilities as TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley and become the first TPC property in Canada, it was announced on Tuesday.

Known as one of the Greater Toronto Area’s most popular golf destinations, Osprey Valley has provided golfers with a world-class experience for more than 25 years on its three distinctive courses, each of which are ranked in SCOREGolf’s Top 100 Courses in Canada. Effective immediately, it joins as the 33^rd property in the TPC Network.

“This is an exciting day for the TPC Network, Osprey Valley and Canadian golfers as we welcome this wonderful facility as the 33^rd property in the TPC Network,” said Jim Triola, PGA TOUR Golf Course Properties Chief Operating Officer. “Canada is the home of many passionate golfers, so we see this as a natural fit to add TPC Toronto as the fifth international TPC facility. This represents another major step forward for this outstanding facility, which already has earned the admiration of so many people in the golf community.”

“We’re extremely proud of this new partnership and the bright future that lies ahead for Osprey Valley,” said Osprey Valley President, Chris Humeniuk. “The TPC brand is known around the world for its network of premier facilities and the quality experience that the PGA TOUR brand promises to every player. As we look to the future, we believe that this alignment will help usher in a new and exciting era at Osprey Valley.”

The Toot Course, one of TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley’s three unique layouts, will also be re-named the North course effective immediately, with the Heathlands and Hoot courses continuing to offer golfers an unparalleled 54-hole experience.

The Osprey Valley Open, an official Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada event that saw its inaugural playing take place at Osprey Valley in July, will also return in 2019 and beyond, with Mackenzie Tour’s only tournament in the Greater Toronto Area staying as part of a long-term agreement.

“We were absolutely thrilled with the inaugural playing of the Osprey Valley Open this year and look forward to returning for many years to come. The players were delighted to compete at such an outstanding facility, and we look forward to working with the Osprey Valley team to grow the tournament’s profile and impact in the Greater Toronto Area in the future,” said Mackenzie Tour President Jeff Monday.

Opening in 1992 with the Heathlands course, Osprey Valley quickly developed a reputation among golfers in the Greater Toronto Area as one of the region’s hidden gems, adding two additional courses in 2001 to become a truly unique 54-hole facility. Its three layouts – the rolling, links-style Heathlands; the winding, wasteland-style Hoot; and the lush, pastoral parkland-style North – each offer players a variety of experiences and aesthetics, welcoming all kinds of golfers.