The national sport organization charged with maintaining and developing golf in Canada also hopes the 19-year-old LPGA Tour star from Smiths Falls inspires her contemporaries and those following in their spike marks to want to reach the same heights.
Golfer Brooke Henderson acknowledges the crowd during the first period as the Ottawa Senators take on the Florida Panthers in NHL action at Canadian Tire Centre.
Golfer Brooke Henderson acknowledges the crowd during the first period as the Ottawa Senators take on the Florida Panthers in NHL action at Canadian Tire Centre. PHOTO BY WAYNE CUDDINGTON /Postmedia
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Profit-seeking corporations aren’t the only supporters hoping to turn the successes of Brooke Henderson into something more.
The national sport organization for golf also hopes the 19-year-old LPGA Tour star from Smiths Falls inspires Canadian contemporaries and those following in her spike marks.
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Jeff Thompson is chief sport development officer for Golf Canada. Photo by Peter Kirkpatrick.
Jeff Thompson is chief sport development officer for Golf Canada. Photo by Peter Kirkpatrick. PHOTO BY PETER KIRKPATRICK /-
“I think Brooke’s profile in the media now is such that it’s creating a larger awareness of golf and specifically women’s golf,” says Jeff Thompson, chief sport officer of Golf Canada.
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“At the (Canadian Pacific Women’s) Open last year out west, the number of little girls that were walking around with PING visors on was really something else.”
Thompson says Henderson is a living, breathing motivator for female Canadian professional golfers, including other graduates of Golf Canada’s national squad program on the LPGA Tour such as Jennifer Ha of Calgary and Maude-Aimée Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que. Even Hamilton’s Alena Sharp, who qualified for the tour before the national program started, has had her best seasons since Henderson turned pro.
“Maybe I can get there, too,” is what they’re thinking, according to Thompson. International success for any Canadian golfer creates heightened interest from media, companies and the “high net worth” individuals who might support the Golf Canada Foundation and, through that, Golf Canada’s Young Pros Program to offer funding and services for competitors just leaving the amateur ranks.
READ: Brooke Inc: Smiths Falls golfer Brooke Henderson a star with corporate sponsors, too
For comparison’s sake, think back a decade and a half ago to when Mike Weir of Bright’s Grove, Ont., reached the top three in the world men’s rankings and won the Masters. Ask Graham DeLaet, Adam Hadwin, Mackenzie Hughes, David Hearn, Nick Taylor and Manotick’s Brad Fritsch, all currently on the PGA Tour, how much Weir inspired them.