Some golfers competing in this year's Canadian Women's Amateur Championship have ties to the hosting city of Kitchener.
The top annual event for the best amateur golfers across Canada, along with qualifiers from the United States, Mexico, and Australia is being hosted at Westmount Golf & Country Club.
"When Westmount expressed interest it was somewhat of a no-brainer coming to a top 20 course in the country," said Mary Beth McKenna, director of amateur championships for Golf Canada. "
Canadian Brooke Henderson is one of the many major champions to win the event.
The 2022 winner will earn a spot on the LPGA's CP Women's Open in Ottawa next month as well as the US Women's Amateur.
"This is a big deal," said Lori Spoltore, tournament chair. "Winning the Canadian Women's Amateur Championship will be a major event in this young lady's life. It will likely project them on to possibly playing on the LPGA Tour."
There are 156 players in the field who qualify through a number of point systems across Golf Canada's format.
Of the 156, nine of the competitors have ties to Waterloo Region and four are active members at Westmount. This includes five-time club champion Angela Lee, who is playing in her second career Canadian amateur.
"It means a lot," said Lee. "I love this club, I love the people here. It's great to showcase how beautiful our course is."
Lee says the competition will be tough, but she thinks if a local golfer took home the championship at the end of the week, it will mean a lot for the region.
"There wouldn't be words to describe what that feeling would be like," said Lee. "Same goes with the other three ladies that are playing in this event that are from Westmount. If one of the won there'd be shots for sure."
Practice rounds open Monday followed by four rounds of tournament play from Tuesday to Friday.
