Calgary’s Jennifer Ha recalls father’s advice
Golfer will think of spectators as flowers at first tee at women’s open
Her father planted this seed several years ago.
And as Calgary’s Jennifer Ha blossoms into a career in the birdie-making business, she continues to keep it in mind.
“When the Canadian Women’s Open was at Priddis in 2009, we were there watching and I told my dad, ‘If I ever played in a tournament like this, I would be really nervous with all these people watching me,’ ” Ha recalled.
“I just remember him telling me, ‘Imagine all those people as flowers. They’re beautiful, beautiful things, so you really shouldn’t feel nervous when they are there watching you because they’re only there to cheer you on.’
“That’s what he would say to me, and I’ve kind of held on to that. That’s what I’m going to think when I’m on that first tee.”
When Ha is called to the first tee this week, there should be plenty of fans … er, flowers … following along.
The 22-year-old is one of two locals in the field for the 2016 Canadian Pacific Women’s Open, the much-anticipated showdown on the Raven Course at Priddis Greens Golf & Country Club. Jaclyn Lee, 19, also scored an exemption to swap birdies and pars with the LPGA Tour’s biggest stars.
The superb field for the four-day, US$2.25-million tournament is headlined by top-ranked, recordshattering teen Lydia Ko, who left the 2016 Summer Games in Rio with a silver medal, and Canada’s Brooke Henderson, winner of three LPGA Tour events at 18.
Other big names on the tee-sheet this week include Olympic bronze medallist Shanshan Feng of China, Americans Paula Creamer, Stacy Lewis, Gerina Piller and Michelle Wie and Norway’s Suzann Pettersen, who cruised to a five-stroke triumph when Priddis Greens last played host in 2009. Ha was just a star-struck spectator that week.
“At that age, I was just like, ‘Wow, there’s Michelle. Wow, there’s Suzann,’ ” she said.
“Now, to be in the field, that just means so much to me because I get to play with the people that I looked up to so much.”
A former collegiate golf standout at Kent State University, Ha turned professional after winning the 2015 Sun Life Financial Alberta Ladies Amateur Championship and is now a rookie on the second-tier Symetra Tour.
The 2016 Canadian Pacific Women’s Open marks her fourth career start at the highest level.
Meanwhile, this is uncharted territory for Lee, already a twotime winner of the Alberta Ladies Amateur crown and a member of Golf Canada’s national amateur program. She was supposed to be back in the classroom this week at Ohio State University, but received permission to play hooky.
“I would be excited to play my first LPGA Tour event anywhere, but to play it in Calgary, that’s going to be really special,” Lee said.
CHIP SHOTS
Several locals are shooting to join Ha (Country Hills/Glencoe) and Lee (Glencoe) inside the ropes this week. The lineup for Monday’s last-chance qualifier at Hamptons Golf Club includes Morgan Bell (Mickelson National/Windmill Golf ), Andrea Kosa (Glencoe), Kehler Koss (Earl Grey), Tara McWilliam (Priddis Greens), Daphne Rantung (Silver Springs), Mandy Wong (Country Hills) and Nicole Zhang (Silver Springs), plus Calgary-born A.J. Eathorne, the former LPGA Tour regular who is now head of instruction at Predator Ridge Resort in B.C.’s Okanagan Valley.
The top-four finishers in the qualifier will secure a spot in the field ... The CP Women’s Open is offering free admission for the 17-and-under crowd and also for first responders.
For full spectator details, including ticket sales and parking information, visit cpwomensopen.com.