Ottawa serves as capital of Brooke-mania

As the week of Brooke began at the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club began Monday, the star attraction was smiling widely, taking it all in.

Brooke Henderson, the pride of Smiths Falls, Ont., and the poster girl for Canadian golf, conducted a brief skills competition and thanked the crowd that gathered before hosting the Brooke and Friends Pro-Am in the afternoon.

Henderson, 19, will be living a fishbowl existence this week, with so many eyes trained on her game at the CP Women’s Open, which starts Thursday.

Yet as far as fans go, she says it’s a case of the more, the merrier. Henderson says she thrives on the attention and hopes her supporters will help her put together a string of birdies at some point during the week.

After a two-week break from the grind of the LPGA Tour, including kicking back at the family cottage, she is ecstatic about her game.

“I think I’m really close to being awesome. I have been extremely consistent,” she said.

“I had a win (at the Meijer LPGA Classic) and I was second in a major championship (the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship), which is really hard to do, especially against the best players in the world.”

Henderson, who sits 10th in the world standings, says golf fans in the nation’s capital are in for a treat, given the quality of players that will be on the course.

“The last I heard, 96 of the top 100 in the world were competing, which is amazing,” she said.

While Henderson will have no shortage of eastern Ontario support, she won’t necessarily have a home course advantage.

“Actually, the first time I played here was last year,” she said. “I don’t really have too many memories that go back too far, but I’ve always felt really welcome here.”