CP Women’s Open heading to Calgary
Published
The CP Women’s Open is heading west and staying west, at least for a few years.
The national women’s championship, which will be contested over Vancouver’s Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club this year, will then shift to the Earl Grey Golf Club in Calgary. It will be held July 22-28, 2024, it was announced Tuesday.
It will be the seventh time the tournament has been held in Alberta but the first time at the Earl Grey Golf Club. The 2024 event will also mark the 50th playing of the CP Women’s Open.
The search for a site began three years ago with courses in both Edmonton and Calgary considered. It was narrowed down to Calgary, home to CP’s head office, and after a number of site surveys by staff from Golf Canada and the LPGA Tour, Earl Grey was selected.
“It’s a tremendous facility and I’m sure it will challenge the players and welcome fans,” said Ryan Paul, the championship’s tournament director.
The course was opened in 1933 on a design by member Philip Boese. It received a major overhaul in 2018 from architect Wayne Carleton. The course’s hole rotation will be altered for the tournament to maximize space and flow, with the 10th hole becoming the 18th and working back from there.
The course has played host to numerous provincial championships as well as the 1972 Canadian Men’s Amateur won by Doug Roxburgh, who held off runner-up Dave Barr.
For CP, this marks yet another opportunity to raise funds for charities in the host community. Through its CP Has Heart campaign, the rail company will be making a significant contribution to the Calgary area. In its nine years of title sponsorship from 2014-2022, the campaign has raised more than $16 million for children’s cardiac care.
“On behalf of the Canadian Pacific team and our more than 2,000-strong Calgary-based employees, we are proud to be part of such a tremendous event and excited to bring the tournament back to Calgary, an integral city within our rail network and home to CP’s headquarters,” said Keith Creel, CP president and CEO. “We look forward to continuing CP’s significant charitable legacy in our home community through CP Has Heart.”
Calgary and golf have a good history of raising funds. The PGA Tour Champions event, the Shaw Charity Classic, has raised $93 million for children’s charities in Alberta over its time.
Canada’s national women’s open championship has traditionally featured one of the strongest fields on the LPGA Tour vying for a total purse of $2.35 million (US). This year’s event at Shaughnessy will be held Aug. 21-27.
First conducted in 1973, Canada’s National Women’s Open Championship has allowed the brightest stars of the LPGA Tour to shine on Canadian soil to inspire the nation’s next generation of female golfers.
Brooke Henderson’s historic victory in 2018 was the first time a Canadian had won the National Open since golf legend Jocelyne Bourassa 45 years earlier.