This week is bittersweet for Canadian legend Lorie Kane. The four-time LPGA Tour winner, who joined the LPGA Tour in 1996, will compete in her 30th and final CP Women’s Open at Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club. Every year since 1991, the Prince Edward Island native has competed in her national championship, notching five top-10 finishes and helping pave the way for future generations of Canadian talent.
“We have a great group of young women who are making their way. I've heard a lot said about me passing off a torch. There is no torch. I think everyone that has played golf in this country has flown the flag as high as they can to make it better,” said Kane ahead of her final championship appearance. “I learned that from Jocelyne (Bourassa). I learned that from Sandra Post. I learned that from of Dawn Coe-Jones. I learned that from Gail Graham, Lisa Waters, Nancy Harvey. Alena Sharp came on board. Now we have Brooke Henderson, the most winningest player in our country, man or woman. She just doesn't get enough credit for what she has done to date.
“So, you know, what have I done? I haven't cured any worldwide diseases or cancer or made a difference. I just think I've been wanting to share a passion that I have for the game of golf and what golf has given me.”
Kane may not believe it herself, but her mark on Canadian golf is indelible. In 2000, she became just the second Canadian player to earn multiple LPGA Tour titles. She twice earned the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award, given to Canada’s leading female athlete of the year by the Canadian Press. Kane is a 2016 inductee in the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame and in 2021, she was added to Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame. The long-time CP Ambassador is also a face of the CP Has Heart charitable program, which has raised over $29 million to promote heart health.
Kane’s LPGA Tour peers have also recognized her on- and off-course talents. In 1998, she received the Heather Farr Perseverance Award, which is given to a golfer who demonstrates her love for the game through determination, perseverance and spirit. And in 2000, she received the Founders Award as a player "whose behavior and deeds best exemplifies the spirit, ideals and values of the LPGA."
Shirley Spork, one of those 13 Founders, left the LPGA Tour with a saying that is often used as a mantra – “Leave it better than you found it.” Those words especially resonate with Kane, who said her parents used the same phrase in her childhood. Kane teared up when speaking about her father and original coach Jack Kane, who passed away one month ago but who will be with her in spirit as she takes one final spin around her beloved national championship.
“There was a head cover made, and on the front in garnet red is the St. Dunstan Saints (now the University of Prince Edward Island). That was my father's hockey team that he coached,” said Kane, her voice trembling with emotion. “My dad coached. My grandfather coached the team my dad coached. On the front of the head cover it says St. Dunstan Saints, and the back of the head cover is my dad's cashmere sweater. My dad was always in a cashmere sweater. The boys put it together so beautifully, and I had them inscribe on the bottom, ‘Leave it better than you found it.’”
Leave it better than you found it. That is something that Lorie Kane most certainly did.
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