Brooke Rivers breaks Ashburn Golf Club’s Women’s competitive course record after shooting a 7-under 65 to lead the championship heading into the second round of the 2023 Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship
HALIFAX, N.S. – Sunny weather conditions made for an exceptional start at Ashburn Golf Club (New Course) as the opening round of the 109th Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship presented by BDO kicked off Tuesday morning. The leaderboard fluctuated throughout the day, but Team Canada’s Brooke Rivers shot a 7-under 65 during the opening round to break the Ashburn Women’s competitive course record, to place herself atop the leaderboard.
The 18-year-old from Brampton, Ont., carded a total of seven birdies, four on the front and three on the back. On the front she birded the par-5 second hole, par-4 fourth hole, and back-to-back on the par-4 sixth hole and the par-4 seventh hole. On the back, she again went back-to-back with birdies on the par-4 eleventh hole and par-5 twelfth hole and added another on the par-4 fifteenth hole to finish her impressive round.
“I think the most important thing for today was my game plan. Making sure that I knew where to leave the ball in order to have the appropriate putt and giving myself the easiest chance to make birdie,” said Rivers. “It’s a four-day event, there’s lots of golf to play but the first day just shows that I had the right plan going into the round and that I can continue that plan with hitting my targets and shots.”
Team Canada’s Lauren Kim carded a total of five birdies firing a 5-under 67 to sit in second place after the opening round.
“I just came back from the U.S girls’ championship and played pretty well, so I wasn’t coming into today with many expectations. It’s a new course and tournament so its good to come into it with an empty mind and no expectations,” said Kim. “Coming into today I was hoping to shoot even par since I know this is a pretty difficult course, the greens are pretty tricky so during the round I wasn’t thinking about much. “I think I need to go into tomorrow with the same mindset, no expectations.”
Maisie Filler of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., shot 4-under 68 carding a total of four birdies to sit in third place heading into round two of the 109th Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship.
Five other Canadians ended round one inside the top-10, including defending champion and Team Canada member Monet Chun who is currently in a three-way tie for fourth after shooting 2-under 70 during the first round. Chun finished round one with a total of two birdies, both on the back nine.
The highlight of the day – and quite possibly the tournament – belonged to Chloe Wills from Kyle, Sask., and Team Canada member, Angela Arora from Surrey, B.C. Wills shot a six iron into the 161-yard par-3 fourteenth hole and Arora fired a hybrid into the 198-yard par-3 eighth hole to watch their balls drop for a hole-in-one.
Team Ontario, consisting of Jasmine Ly of Windsor, Ont., Joline Truong of Mississauga, Ont., and Sydney Naro of Toronto, Ont., lead the Inter-Provincial team competition at 4-over. Team British Columbia, looking to defend their title are four strokes back of Ontario, and sit 8-over after the first round.
The 2023 champion of the Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship will earn an exemption into the 2023 CPKC Women’s Open and the 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship.
For the full leaderboard click here.
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