AURORA, Ont. – The lone LPGA Tour stop in Canada is heading to the country’s biggest city in 2019.
Golf Canada announced Monday that the CP Women’s Open would be played at Magna Golf Club in Aurora, about 35 minutes from downtown Toronto, next year. It’s the first time the tournament has been played in the Greater Toronto Area since Annika Sorenstam won the 2001 edition at Angus Glen Golf Club in Markham.
Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) also announced it had extended its sponsorship of the tournament for another five years, until 2023. CP also sponsors six-time LPGA Tour winner Brooke Henderson and four-time LPGA Tour winner Lorie Kane.
“For our players, this championship is a must-play event with great hospitality as well as great history,” LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan said in a statement. “The LPGA’s success is made possible through partnerships like the ones we enjoy with CP and Golf Canada.”
Via video, Henderson – who fired a course record at the 2017 CP Women’s Open in Ottawa in the third round and has won once already this year – said she was “so excited” the Women’s Open was coming back to Ontario in 2019.
Next year’s CP Women’s Open will take place August 19-25. The announcement of Magna Golf Club as host club kicks off an East-West venue rotation over the next five years.
“Magna Golf Club is a truly magnificent facility which will prove to be a world-class experience for the stars of the LPGA Tour,” said Laurence Applebaum, the CEO of Golf Canada. “The CP Women’s Open is one of Canada’s premier sporting events and we are thrilled to return to the Toronto area for the first time in nearly 20 years.”
The announcement comes on the heels of the PGA TOUR’s RBC Canadian Open announcement last week. That tournament has been moved to early June and will be hosted in Hamilton, about one hour away from Magna Golf Club.
It will be an exciting time for professional golf in Ontario, according to Applebaum. He confirmed other golf courses in the Greater Toronto Area were brought to the table to host this year’s CP Women’s Open, but Magna was the only one Keith Creel, the CEO of CP Rail, mentioned more than once.
The agreement for the event was reached last week after just six weeks of discussion.
CP Women’s Open Tournament Director Ryan Paul said Magna Golf Club, established in 2000, was in line to host the 2001 CP Women’s Open, but since it had just opened its facilities weren’t quite ready.
But in the nearly 20 years since, it has evolved to become one of the most premier golf experiences in the Toronto area.
Paul said the conditioning and the facilities at Magna are world-class, which the stars of the LPGA Tour will enjoy immensely next year.
“It’s just a fantastic course. It’s wide open, but the bunkers are big and it’s going to be a great challenge for the players. The clubhouse is top-notch,” he said.
The strategic hitter versus a long hitter, he said, would have success at Magna.
The 2018 CP Women’s Open will take place at Wascana Golf Club in Regina, Sask. August 20-26.
Paul said, although it was funny to talk about the 2019 tournament when 2018 is just a month away, there is an excitable buzz at Wascana as this year’s Women’s Open is around the corner.
Ninety-five out of the top 100 golfers in the Rolex Rankings are already committed to this year’s CP Women’s Open.
“Things have been going really well. We’re really excited for that event. The support from Regina and Saskatchewan as a whole has been fantastic,” said Paul.
The CP Women’s Open has been won some of the best players on the LPGA in the last decade including 2017 Rookie of the Year Sung Hyun Park, former World No. 1 Ariya Jutanguarn, former world No. 1 So Yeon Ryu, multiple LPGA Tour winners Michelle Wie and Brittany Lincicome, and former World No. 1 Lydia Ko, who won the event three times.
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