Brittany Marchand started hitting golf balls on the Practice Tee at Brampton GC 22 years ago under the watchful eye of her grandpa Reg Lawrence. Who would have known at the time that this young girl, who loved to figure skate, would have the drive and determination to make the Team Ontario and Team Canada golf squads, earn a golf scholarship to an American university and then play professional golf for six years?

At the age of 29, Brittany is ready for new challenges in life, but golf will always be in her veins. Here’s a glimpse into the life of a little girl who dreamed of playing on the LPGA Tour and made it happen. Here’s to a life well-played with lots more to come!

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Golf can be a cruel game, but something keeps you coming back.

After three consecutive missed cuts in July and August on the Symetra Tour, Brittany Marchand, the most successful professional golfer to come out of Brampton GC in 100 years, made the decision in her head that it was time for a career change.

It is a mind game, isn’t it?

With no pressure and the “weight of the world” off her shoulders, the 29-year-old made two cuts in September pocketing $1,098 and $1,524.

Then came the last two tournaments of her professional career and she closed it out in style. At the Carolina Golf Classic presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Brittany equalled her career best score in a pro event at 17-under (69-69-66-67) to finish T3 and earn $14,102. Then in the Symetra Tour Championship she shot a career low 63, 9-under, in the second round on the way to finishing T30 and earning $1,985. Would almost make one think twice about retirement!

“After only making two cuts in 2019 on the LPGA Tour and having only a half season on the Symetra Tours in 2020 due to COVID-19, I really wanted to give it one more shot,” says Brittany, who played on the Symetra Tour in 2016 and 2017, played on the LPGA Tour in 2018 and 2019 and then planned to play a full season on the Symetra Tour in 2020 after losing her status on the LPGA Tour.

“I played OK in 2021, nothing spectacular, but I did have a strong finish. Even if I had won the Carolina Golf Classic, I would not have changed my mind about retiring, but I probably would have thought about it,” Marchand adds. “The 63 was great. I just was in a flow that was fun. I was enjoying myself out there and felt I couldn’t really miss much. No bogeys, so nine birdies. Again, I wasn’t having any second thoughts. I was just happy to end my career on a fun note.”

“I think the announcement surprised some people, but the fire to keep playing was dying inside me. The grind, the travel, the missed cuts, being away from my husband was all adding up,” says Brittany, who married her North Carolina State sweetheart, Jorge, in a COVID courthouse wedding in 2020, after being together for seven-plus years. The two Chemical Engineering graduates from NC State moved to the Charlotte area in April to be close to his parents and are planning a big, family and friends, wedding in 2022.

Brittany’s path to professional golf started at the age of seven when her grandfather, Reg Lawrence, a long-time member at Brampton, brought her to the club for the first time.

“You could say that my grandpa lived, ate and breathed golf and he was a good player,” Marchand says, noting he came from South Africa where he had played cricket and soccer and ran marathons. He learned to play golf in Canada.

“He tried to get all of his grandchildren into golf. He brought us to the range and let us hit balls, but he was pretty serious and wanted us to stay focused, which is tough when you’re so young. My first memories of golf are of not really liking it. I was so into competitive figure skating. He put me into a junior program at Brampton with all boys and I thought, “This isn’t much fun. I want to be with my girlfriends having fun,” says Brittany, who moved from Mississaugua to Orangeville with her family when she was 10.

It was at nearby Shelburne G&CC where she met some girls, made some friends, started playing and then competing as her love for the game grew. Four years later Brittany returned to Brampton to refine her game. She made Team Ontario at the age of 15 and met golf coach Ann Carroll who started to guide, teaching and mentor Brittany.

In 2009 she started to make headway qualifying for the US Girl’s Junior Championship at Trump National GC in Bedminister, NJ. “I didn’t make the cut, but I do remember Donald Trump making a grand entrance flying into the course in his helicopter to meet the competitors. I got my photograph taken with him. Can you imagine that?” she says with a laugh.

“My family and I knew nothing about golf scholarships and how to apply, so I decided to play a couple of tournaments in the US to get some exposure and I must have sent out applications to most of the top-50 schools and universities in the US. I went on some school visits and dropped by some other ones just to check out the campuses. I read somewhere that a Canadian (Matt Hill) won the NCAA Division 1 Men’s Golf Championship in 2009 when he was at NC State, so I looked up the school and went for a visit,” says Marchand, who finished T2 at both the 2010 Ontario and Canadian Girls Championships. Brittany committed to NC State in late 2009 for the fall of 2010 and in 2011, two more Canadians, Augusta James, and Vivian Tsui, joined the squad. She would go on to win the Ontario Women’s Amateur in 2012, finish third in 2014 and T2 in 2015.

“I loved it there,” says Brittany, who won three college tournaments individually and had a T6 at 2012 NCAA Division I Women’s Championship. She attended NC State, playing golf for four years and staying one more year to finish her Chemical Engineering degree and graduate in 2015.

“When I was in high school my teacher suggested I should think about Engineering as a career. I was really good in math and science and physics. International students weren’t allowed to opt of a general degree, so I had to choose a major at NC State. I remember going on the internet and typing in, “highest paid engineering job” and it said, “Chemical Engineering,” so I decided on that,” says Marchand, who was not ready to put her new degree to work just yet.

She went to the LPGA Tour Q-school in the fall of 2015 and missed qualifying for the final stage by just one stroke. It was heartbreaking at the time, but a lesson well learned, she says. The next two years were spent playing, learning, and living on the lower tier Symetra Tour until she broke out in 2017 with a victory at the PHC Classic, which would help propel her onto the LPGA Tour for 2018 and 2019.

“I learned a lot in 2016 and 2017. It was a big adjustment. The travel, being on my own, living out of my car, not having any money, staying with billet families, learning the courses, the daily grind, the pressure of needing to make the cut on Friday and finding a team of people who could support me with my game and my health. It doesn’t just prepare you for golf, but the process prepares you for life and trying to get better every day,” she says.

The highlight of 2017, as well as being career highlight, was making the most of a sponsor’s exemption to play in the Manulife Classic in Cambridge. Marchand shot rounds of 67-70-67 and was T9 heading into the final round, five shots behind Lexi Thompson. It was the first time Marchand made the cut in an LPGA event, and she would go on to card an 81 on the Sunday to finish T46. Inspiring is the word that still comes to mind when she thinks back on the tournament.

“It was a turning point in my career. It really showed me and allowed me to believe that I belonged there. That I could compete with the best women in the game. Despite the final round, it was a real confidence booster and to do it with the support of all those Canadian fans and my family and friends in attendance was extra special,” she says.

While the honorary member at Brampton GC had played in the LPGA Tour Canadian Women’s Open in 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017 her dream of being a member of the LPGA became reality in 2018. She will never forget teeing it up in her first card-carry tournament in the LOTTE Championship at Ko Olina GC in Kopolei on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. She went 72-72-74-75 to finish T50, at plus-5 and pocket $6,053.

She posted her one and only top-10 on the LPGA Tour at the 2018 Thornberry Creek Classic finishing T-7 with rounds of 64-72-66-69 to finish at 17-under par and earn $40,862 – the largest paycheque of her career.

Another career highlight came in the first round of the 2018 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship when Marchand aced No. 17 to win a KIA Sorento that she still drives today. By season’s end she made 13 cuts in17 events and earned $138,422 to finish 89^th on the money list and keep her card.

2019 wasn’t what she had hoped it would be. In a nutshell, she made two cuts on 17 starts on the LPGA Tour and lost her playing card. She made some off-season changes to try and improve her distance off the tee and she quickly lost confidence in her ability to compete. I had no idea where the ball was going. Missed cuts, mentally shaken, losing money every week “led me down a very dark spiral of not playing well,” she says. “Every Friday after missing a cut I was looking for a job as a chemical engineering and thinking about calling it quits. In the moment it was a very difficult time, but I learned to preserve, to work through the challenges and I’m proud of that.

2020 was another disappointment with COVID and missing practically an entire season. She decided to give it one more go around and that’s what she did in 2021.

Another career highlight included being a member of Golf Canada’s Team Canada for the past seven years, plus a year on the development squad in 2011. She traveled to the World Amateur Championships in Japan, the British Amateur three times and experienced many training camps with Team Canada members. “Those are opportunities and experiences I would never have had on my own and certainly helped me develop into a seasoned professional golfer,” she says.

“I have my Brampton family, my NC State family, my Team Canada family and all of my family and supporters who have been with me for this journey. It has been a fantastic experience that all started with my grandpa’s love for the game. Sadly, he has Alzheimer’s Disease and doesn’t know us anymore, but I’m so thankful for the gift he gave me,” she adds. “I also need to thank the Brampton members who supported throughout my journey. Without their support I would not have been able to stay out on tour for those six years.”

What’s next, we that is what she is trying to figure out. “I’d love to be working in 2022, but I’m not sure if I am going to go the engineering route. I have learned that I am really a people person,” Brittany says, noting that taking an MBA online is a possibility.

She ends the interview with one last memory.

“I’m playing in the Toronto Star Amateur at Weston G&CC. My mom’s at the green watching and my grandpa is beside me on the tee. “I’m thinking eight-iron is too much club. He tells me to hit the eight-iron. So, with a lot of defiance, I took the eight-iron and I hit it heavy. It goes in the hole for an ace. My mother is screaming in delight from the green and my grandfather says, “I told you it was an eight-iron. We walked off the tee together smiling. I’ll never forget that one!

NAPLES, Fla., Nov. 22, 2021 – After a year of stops, starts and long stretches of global travel, the 2021 LPGA Tour season came to a sensational end at the CME Group Tour Championship, a true celebration of the best female athletes in the game of golf.

With her victory at the CME Group Tour Championship, Jin Young Ko won her second Rolex Player of the Year title, joining 2019. She is the 14th player in Tour history to win the award at least twice and the first player from the Republic of Korea to win more than once. It was the culmination of a season that saw Ko earn five LPGA Tour titles, including the $1.5 million win at the season finale, and eight additional top-10 finishes. Nelly Korda, who took four wins in 2021 along with six additional top-10 finishes and the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, finished second.

“So proud of myself, and, well, I would say Player of the Year, it’s cool,” said Ko, who battled with Korda all year for the Tour’s largest honor. “I would say Player of the Year is best, and it’s really tough to get Player of the Year, especially this year with Nelly.”

Ko’s win at the CME Group Tour Championship also gave her the title of Race to the CME Globe Champion, after she also won the title in 2020. She is the first player to win the season-long race more than once.

Patty Tavatanakit received multiple awards at Thursday night’s Rolex LPGA Awards, accepting Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year honors and the Rolex ANNIKA Major Award. Tavatanakit earned LPGA Tour status after finishing second on the Symetra Tour’s 2019 Race for the Card, where she won three times and earned Gaelle Truet Rookie of the Year honors. The Thai native became a Rolex First-Time Winner at The Chevron Championship, becoming the first Tour rookie to win the major title since Juli Inkster in 1984. In addition to her win, Tavatanakit notched nine top-10 finishes, including a tie for fifth at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and a tie for seventh at the AIG Women’s Open.

“I knew that my potential was there. I just needed to figure some stuff out to put it together and finally close it out, which I did when I won our first major at the ANA Inspiration (now The Chevron Championship),” said Tavatanakit. “My entire outlook changed because I had proven to myself that I belong out here and I have what it takes to win on the LPGA Tour, not only that but a major championship.”

Madelene Sagstrom received the Heather Farr Perseverance Award, which honors an LPGA player who, through her hard work, dedication and love of the game of golf, has demonstrated determination, perseverance and spirit in fulfilling her goals as a player. In February, Sagstrom told her #DriveOn story of overcoming childhood sexual abuse and learning that “survivorship is a continuous process.”

“I have received many awards both for my athletic ability and my performance on the golf course. This is the first award I’ve received for being me,” said Sagstrom. “For a long time, I based my self-worth on my results on the golf course. I have worked for a long time to see and honor the other sides of myself. This is why this award means a lot to me. It’s been a lot of hard work and I’m just so happy to stand in front of you guys as the person I am today.

“My goal every morning when I wake up is to be the best version of myself, both as a golfer but most importantly as a human being. Deciding to speak about my sexual abuse story means just that for me. I hope that by sharing my darkness, I can bring some light and hope into somebody else’s life. As we all know, life isn’t always easy. But together as human beings, we can be there for each other. Thank you all for showing me that my story is important and for showing others that they’re not alone.”

Established in 1994, the Heather Farr Perseverance Award celebrates the life of Farr, an LPGA Tour player who died on Nov. 20, 1993, following a four-and-a-half-year battle with breast cancer. Previous winners of this award include Heather Farr, Lorie Kane, Nancy Scranton, Brandi Burton, Kris Tschetter, Kim Williams, Beth Daniel, Se Ri Pak, Leta Lindley, Sophie Gustafson, Lisa Ferrero, Stephanie Meadow, Ariya Jutanugarn, Jessica Korda and Suzann Pettersen.

Lydia Ko received the 2021 Founders Award, an honor previously known as the William and Mousie Powell Award and now named in honor of the LPGA Tour’s original 13 Founders. The award is given to an LPGA Member who, in the opinion of her playing peers, best exemplifies the spirit, ideals and values of the LPGA through her behavior and deeds. The award has been given out since 1986, with a list of previous recipients that includes Kathy Whitworth, Nancy Lopez, Pat Bradley, Betsy King, Juli Inkster, Lorena Ochoa, Chella Choi, Juli Inkster, Karrie Webb, So Yeon Ryu and Brooke Henderson.

“I’m extremely grateful knowing that this award was voted by my fellow peers on the LPGA,” said Ko. “In my eight years on Tour and playing against the best female golfers, I’ve been so fortunate to have met so many friends, mentors and people I will know for the rest of my life. Even though we are all competing against each other, one of the greatest attributes of our Tour is that we genuinely support one another. We’re here to grow as professionals and people. This allows the Tour to continue to inspire the future generation of young women and inject them with the inspiring vision and spirit of the Founders. The LPGA is much more than an organization, but a family.”

Following Sunday’s completion of play, Ko also earned the Vare Trophy for the season’s lowest scoring average. Ko averaged 69.329 strokes per round in 2021, with Lexi Thompson coming in second at 69.629.

LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan, celebrating her first Rolex LPGA Awards after being named to her position earlier this year, selected LPGA and World Golf Hall of Fame member and long-time LPGA and PGA Tour announcer Judy Rankin as the recipient of the Commissioner’s Award. The award, introduced in 1991, honors a person or organization that has contributed uniquely to the LPGA and its Members, furthered the cause of women’s golf, and possesses character and standards of the highest order. Past recipients include KPMG, Jamie Farr, Rolex, the J.M. Smucker Company and Golf Channel.

“I’ve seen Tiger (Woods) from the beginning to not so long ago. I saw Nancy Lopez up close and personal and then in television. I saw all of Annika Sorenstam’s career. I saw all of Karrie Webb’s career and I could go on and on and on. But I guess I’ve had the best front-row seat ever,” said Rankin, who will step back from full-time announcing in 2022. “The LPGA has been my neighborhood and I love this neighborhood. I’ve been really fortunate to have a second chance after being a player to spend so much time out here and to be friends with young players. It has really been extraordinary for me.”

Deb Vangellow, a LPGA Master Professional and Director of Golf Instruction at Riverbend Country Club in Houston, Texas, joined an elite group of her peers as the recipient of the 2021 Ellen Griffin Rolex Award. Instituted in 1989, the award honors the late Ellen Griffin, the best-known woman golf teacher in U.S. history. The award recognizes an individual, male or female, who has made a major contribution to the teaching of golf and who has demonstrated, through teaching, Griffin’s spirit, love and dedication to the golf student, teaching skills and game of golf.

“Thank you so much to Ellen Griffin. Her incredible teaching spirit while never forgetting that she was always teaching people and to allow the frustrations of golf to be overcome by fun was really instrumental to me, from being a young teacher to this day,” said Vangellow, a former national president for the LPGA Professionals.

The Rolex LPGA Awards also celebrated Rolex-First Time Winners Pajaree Anannarukarn (ISPS Handa World Invitational), Matilda Castren (LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship), Wei-Ling Hsu (Pure Silk Championship), Ryann O’Toole (Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open), Yuka Saso (U.S. Women’s Open) and Tavatanakit (The Chevron Championship).

Earlier in the week, the LPGA Tour celebrated the winners of two season-long competitions. Hannah Green captured the Aon Risk Reward Challenge and earned the $1 million prize. The competition, which measured the performance of LPGA Tour and PGA TOUR golfers on a series of holes across multiple tournaments, tested players’ ability to analyze risk, utilize data-driven insights to identify opportunities and maximize performance in the moments that matter most. Green joined PGA TOUR winner Matthew Wolff in taking the Aon title, with both players receiving equal prize money.

Additionally, Jin Young Ko won the LEADERS Top-10 competition for the second time, earning $100,000. She earned 12 top-10 finishes in 18 starts this season entering the CME Group Tour Championship, including four wins and two additional top-three results.

World’s best female golfers to compete for nearly $86 million in official prize money

Nine tournaments announce elevated purses, with the CME Group Tour Championship increasing to $7 million

NAPLES, Fla., – The 2022 LPGA Tour season is set to present yet another year of record-setting purses and playing opportunities. Thanks to the support of new and long-time partners, LPGA Tour Members will compete for $85.7 million in official purses in 2022, the largest total ever presented to the world’s best female golfers, across 34 official events.

“The stage is set for 2022 to be one of the most exciting years in the history of the LPGA Tour, with the addition of new events, the largest total purse ever, over 500 hours of broadcast television and a collective commitment to being the leading women’s professional sports property in the world,” said LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan. “We have never had such a robust team of partners from around the globe who see both the commercial value in investing in the LPGA and the opportunity to utilize the partnerships to have a positive impact on their communities and on the world. As the home to the best female golfers in the world, we will continue to focus on offering a dynamic schedule that allows players to reach their peak performance in golf and in life and that provides the platform to inspire young girls and women around the globe to dream big.”

So far, nine tournaments have announced purse increases for the 2022 season, including The Chevron Championship ($5 million, up $1.9 million from 2021) and the AIG Women’s Open ($6.8 million, up $1.3 million from 2021). As announced on Wednesday, the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship purse will grow to $7 million, up $2 million from 2021. The winner will receive $2 million, the largest first-place prize in professional women’s golf history, and all players who complete in the championship will receive at least $40,000.

Other tournaments to announce elevated purses are the Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open ($2 million, up $500,000 from 2021), the LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship ($1.8 million, up $300,000 from 2021), the Pelican Women’s Championship ($2 million, up $250,000 from 2021), the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational ($2.5 million, up $200,000 from 2021), the Meijer LPGA Classic ($2.5 million, up $200,000 from 2021) and the HSBC Women’s World Championship ($1.7 million, up $100,000 from 2021). Additional purse increases are expected to be announced throughout the season.

The 2022 season will open with three weeks in Florida, leading off with the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, moving to a new host venue at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Orlando. The Gainbridge LPGA will return to Boca Rio Golf Club in Boca Raton after a one-year stop at Lake Nona, and the Florida trio will culminate at the fourth playing of the LPGA Drive On Championship, with a date and venue to be announced in the coming weeks.

Following the usual early-season swing through Asia, with stops in Singapore and Thailand, the Tour will spend five weeks in the Western region of the United States. In early April, the golf world will celebrate Mission Hills Country Club and its 50-plus years of LPGA Tour history with The Chevron Championship, the first major of the golf season, with a new title sponsor. The LPGA announced in October that 2022 will mark the major’s final playing in Rancho Mirage, Calif., and the week promises to be an exciting celebration of Dinah Shore, Mission Hills and the famed jump into Poppie’s Pond.

After beginning with The Chevron Championship, the 2022 women’s major championship season will continue at the U.S. Women’s Open, which returns to Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club in North Carolina, the venue for Cristie Kerr’s 2007 national championship title. The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship will head to Congressional Country Club in Maryland, a five-time men’s major venue that is set to welcome its first major women’s event.

A four-event European Swing will feature two major championships, starting with the Amundi Evian Championship, the Tour’s annual visit to the French Alps. The first week in August will bring the much-awaited AIG Women’s Open visit to Muirfield, marking the first time in its illustrious history that the famed links will host a major women’s championship.

The season will include two tournaments making their LPGA Tour debuts on the calendar. The JTBC Championship at Palos Verdes will be held at Palos Verdes Golf Club in late April, joining the previous week’s JTBC LA Open at Wilshire Country Club for a two-week tour through suburban Los Angeles. In September, the Tour will visit Kenwood Country Club for the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G, marking a return to Cincinnati for the first time since 1989.

After a two-year absence due to the pandemic, the LPGA Tour will return to Canada in late August for the CP Women’s Open at Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club in Ontario. It will kick off a summer sprint across the United States, ending with the LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship being held for the first time at The Saticoy Club, located outside Los Angeles. The Tour will then return to Asia for its Fall Swing, making appearances in the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of Korea, Chinese Taipei and Japan, before ending the season at the CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Fla.

Click here for the full schedule.

Tickets for the CP Women’s Open go on sale to the public December 1st. Click here to sign up for more information.

Winner of LPGA Tour’s season-ending event to earn $2 million, the largest single prize in women’s golf

Players who compete in the championship guaranteed at least $40,000

NAPLES, Fla. – In a ground-breaking moment for women’s golf, CME Group and the LPGA Tour announced today that the prize fund for the 2022 CME Group Tour Championship, the Tour’s season-ending event, will grow to $7 million, up from $5 million in 2021. The winner will receive $2 million, the largest single prize in the history of women’s golf, while all players who compete in the championship will receive at least $40,000.

“We could not be more grateful to CME Group, under the bold and visionary leadership of Group Chairman and CEO Terry Duffy, for helping provide the best female golfers in the world with the opportunity to live their dreams,” said LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan. “The Race to the CME Globe and the CME Group Tour Championship have transformed the LPGA since their inception in 2014. Today’s announcement is another example of CME’s continued pioneering support of the LPGA and their commitment to leveling the playing field for female golfers, and female athletes in general, from around the globe.”

“CME Group is proud to support women in business and women in sports,” said CME Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Terry Duffy. “We are extremely pleased to announce significant enhancements to the CME Group Tour Championship that will further reward these world-class golfers while also creating more equity within the sport. We are impressed with the leadership Commissioner Marcoux Samaan has demonstrated and are thrilled to help elevate women’s golf.”

LPGA Tour players compete throughout the season in the Race to the CME Globe, working to earn one of the coveted 60 berths in the CME Group Tour Championship, conducted annually at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Fla. The championship’s list of winners is a who’s-who of the greatest names in the game, including World No. 1 players Jin Young Ko (2020), Ariya Jutanugarn (2017), Cristie Kerr (2015) and Lydia Ko (2014).

BELLEAIR, Fla. – Brooke Henderson finished the Pelican Women’s Championship at 14 under, earning her the fifth position on the leaderboard. The performance was her seventh top-ten finish of the year.

“It was a really nice week and it’s nice to finish off well today,” said Henderson. “I made a lot of birdies and it got really tough there on the back nine with strong gusts of wind so you know I’m happy to shoot 500 today and climb up the leaderboard. Hopefully it’s a good sign for next week.”

Henderson is set to compete next in the CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Fla.

Fellow Canadian Alena Sharp fired a 69 to wind up 3-under 277 in a tie for 52nd.

American Kelly Korda came out on top after a four-way playoff.

View the full leaderboard here.

Brittany Marchand announced today that she will be stepping away from professional golf. The 29 year-old announced the decision to retire following the conclusion of the 2021 Symetra Tour season which wrapped up on Oct. 10.

In 2021, Marchand competed in 18 Symetra Tour events with a season-best finish of T3 at the Carolina Golf Classic in Greensboro, N.C. During her career on the Symetra Tour, the Orangeville, Ont. native would earn nine top 10 finishes including a victory at the 2017 PHC Classic.

In 2017 she finished T32 at the 2017 LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament to earn Priority List Category 17 status for the 2018 season. She spent two years on the LPGA Tour where she competed at the CP Women’s Open three times (2017, 2018, 2019) with her best finish being T30 in 2017.

As a member of Team Canada for eight years total, Marchand joined the Development Squad in 2011, competed as a member of the Amateur Squad from 2015 – 2017, and joined the Young Pro Squad from 2018 – 2021.

She’s amassed more than $148K in career earnings since 2016 and currently ranks No. 772 on the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings.

Marchand played collegiate golf at North Carolina State University where she was a three-time All-ACC selection, WGCA All-American in 2014, and continues to own the school record for most career wins with three. While competing in NCAA golf, she also completed a degree in chemical engineering to continue pursuing her passions for both golf and science.  

Marchand credits her grandfather in sparking her interest in the game when he joined her to Brampton Golf and Country Club at age seven and taught her how to play. During her career she’s been able to pay it forward by acting as an ambassador for multiple youth-in-sport programs, including Golf Canada’s Golf in Schools program.

Golf Canada wishes Brittany all the best in her future endeavors.

Click here for more information on Brittany Marchand’s career highlights.

Greensborough, N.C. – Quebec native Maude Aimee Leblanc received a pleasant surprise on Thursday morning – notice that she had clinched a top 10 spot on this year’s Symetra Tour standings, gaining playing privileges for the 2022 LGPA season. The news reached Leblanc at Forest Oaks Country Club where she is currently competing in the second annual Carolina Golf Classic.

“I am glad they told me, it took a big load off. That was my goal all year so to make it happen is really great,” said Leblanc. “[Golf] is a love-hate relationship. It’s tough and really hard to describe.”  

Just three seasons ago Leblanc announced her decision to step away from golf professionally. It was the unprecedented year of 2020 that brought her back to the links and the Symetra Tour with a fresh perspective and a reignited passion for the sport.

With 18 tournaments already in the books on the Symetra Tour, the top 10 underwent some shifting after the Murphy USA El Dorado Shootout which wrapped up Sept. 26. Leblanc is the fifth golfer to secure her spot, with five additional cards remaining to be claimed.

After the conclusion of round 1, Leblanc sits T4 at a score of six under par. Round 2 of the 72-hole stroke play tournament continues today.

For updated scores from the Carolina Golf Classic, click here.

WEST CALDWELL, NJ. – For the second consecutive day, fog wreaked havoc at the 2021 Cognizant Founders Cup. A dense morning blanket caused a 2½-hour delay on Friday, causing play to ultimately be suspended due to darkness at 6:18 p.m. with 63 players (all but the first group off No. 10) still to finish their rounds. Second-round play will resume Saturday at 7:15 a.m., with the third round beginning no earlier than 10:30 a.m.

First-round leader Jin Young Ko still sits atop the leaderboard at -10, with four holes left to finish on Saturday morning. Starting Friday at No. 10, she followed a bogey at No. 17 with birdies at 18, 2 and 3 to sit -2 on her round when play was suspended.

Brooke Henderson finished her round 5 shots back to sit T9 but is looking to capitalize on her opportunities heading into the weekend.

“I like to think that I play well on the weekends. One thing is I learn the course a little bit more, become a little bit more comfortable,” said Henderson. Once the pressure is off of the cut and everything, my only thought is the lead and climbing up as much as I can. So I feel like maybe a little bit more determined toward the top of the leaderboard, and just trying to make as many birdies to try to make my way up there”

Fellow Canadian Alena Sharp finished the round at 2 over.

Play will resume Saturday morning.

Click here for the full leaderboard.

WEST CALDWELL, N.J. – It’s not often that you have a legend crash your post-round press conference, but that’s exactly what happened to Brooke Henderson following a 4-under 67 at the Cognizant Founders Cup. While recapping her first round, which she finished T3 in the dark after fog delayed the start of play this morning, LPGA Founder Shirley Spork wandered over, listening intently to the Canadian’s remarks about her Thursday play.

“I’m really happy to get 4-under par today,” said Henderson. “I feel like I hit the ball really well. I gave myself a lot of opportunities, which is always key. I feel like a couple of putts could have maybe fallen. Hopefully, tomorrow I will make a few more birdies, but it’s nice to see I’m near the top of the leaderboard again. That always feels good. Hopefully another solid round tomorrow and try to catch Jin Young.”

Spork joined in on the fun, inquiring about Mountain Ridge’s challenging par 3s and offering up wisdom that can only come from a well-lived and well-played 94 years. In fact, Henderson and Spork caught up earlier today, with the latter giving the former a putting lesson, one that’s shrouded in secrets.

“Brooke, of the three par 3s that are out here, one is extremely long, correct? Is that the hardest one or is it one that’s the difference in the terrain of it different to make it the hardest? What is the hardest 3 par out here?” asked Spork.

“The one that you’re referring to, the longest one out here, I birdied today, so I like that one,” said Henderson. “They’re very difficult and all uphill, so it’s hard to see the green and you have to really hit a solid approach shot in to give yourself a good look.”

Spork added, “But you have a magic putter now. And you’ll have no problems sinking putts. And it has a name.”

“Shirley named my putter this morning, so maybe that gave me some good luck today. She’s great,” said Henderson. “So much knowledge and so much wisdom, and so any time she can share a little bit with I try to soak it all in. Having her bless my putter this morning was pretty cool. Hopefully, it continues to work for the next few days.”

Henderson demurred when asked the putter’s name, keeping that a secret between her and her Founding mentor. With that blessed putter in tow and a solid round under her belt, Henderson looks ahead to Friday at Mountain Ridge feeling much more confident on the greens. But it’s the sage advice that Spork can provide and the support of a legend in the game that will no doubt fuel her throughout the rest of the week.

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GALLOWAY, N.J. – Celine Boutier birdied two of her last three holes for an 8-under 63 and won the ShopRite LPGA Classic when South Korea’s best two players faltered down the stretch Sunday.

Starting the final round five shots behind, Boutier ran off six birdies on the front nine of the windy Bayside Course at Seaview to join a growing list of contenders.

The 27-year-old from France holed a 12-foot birdie putt on No. 16 and then birdied the par-5 18th from 5 feet to set the target at 14-under 199.

Jin Young Ko and Inbee Park, who shared the lead going into the final round, couldn’t catch her.

Ko and Park were one shot behind playing the par-5 18th. Ko hit a fairway metal to the right side of the green, leaving her some 70 feet away. She lagged that about 8 feet short. Park didn’t have the length to get home in two, and her wedge ran by about 10 feet.

Both missed their birdie putts, giving Boutier her second LPGA Tour victory, and her first on American soil. Her previous win was the 2019 Vic Open in Australia, two weeks before the LPGA Tour was shut down by the coronavirus pandemic.

Brooke Henderson of Canada birdied the 18th for a 64 and also wound up one shot behind. Park and Ko each closed with a 69.