More on the CP Women’s Open,
Canadian has struggled in 2019
There has been nothing earth- shattering about Brittany Marchand’s season so far. Soul- destroying might be more accurate.
After a fairly strong rookie year, Marchand has taken a step back. A big step back.
“This year has been a little bit of a grind, to say the least,” Marchand said Tuesday at Magna Golf Club, where the CP Women’s Open is being held this week.
In 2018, Marchand made the cut in 13 of the 17 tournaments she entered and earned close to US$ 140,000 to finish 89th on the LPGA Tour money list. But this season, the Orangeville, Ont., native has made the cut once in 13 tournaments.
Her numbers haven’ t been good: 143rd in driving distance; 139th in greens in regulation; 142nd in putts per GIR; and 145th in scoring average. Numbers don’t lie, as they say, and you’re not going to make many cuts with numbers like those.
So what’s been different this season compared to last?
“I just think I came out of the off- season not feeling very confident,” said Marchand, who has a degree in chemical engineering from North Carolina State and is an advocate for getting girls into the sciences. “I had a lot of time off. I only got into one of the Asian swing events, so I felt like I almost had a fivemonth off-season.
“I started tinkering with stuff that I don’t think I should have. I think I wanted to get a little more distance. I think I was in a really good place (at the end of last season), but I tried to improve stuff and mostly went the other way. Then I put pressure on my short game, which I usually feel is my strength. Then it became 98 per cent mental. Then you start missing a bunch of cuts and it starts to get to yourself.”
But Marchand is a battler and isn’t easily discouraged, just like when people tried to dissuade her from getting her degree while playing NCAA golf.
“A lot of people told me it wasn’t a good idea to have such a big focus outside of golf, so I wanted to prove them wrong and I did,” Marchand said.
Now Marchand, who at one time was looked at as a player who might flourish on the LPGA Tour, needs to prove she still has game.
She made some noise at the Manulife LPGA Classic, in Cambridge, Ont., in 2017 and no doubt will be hoping home soil and the proximity to her home, where she’ll be sleeping this week, gives her a bit of a lift again.
“I’m hoping to kind of finish this year off strong,” Marchand said. “I’ve always really liked playing at home. I know that some people tend to think it might add pressure. I kind of like having a lot of support. I have friends and family this year that will come that have never seen me play, ever. It’s kind of a cool experience for me.”
Marchand is among 14 Canadian golfers in the field not named Brooke Henderson. Obviously Henderson, defending the title she won last year in Regina, is the most well- known female Canadian golfer, if not the most well- known Canadian golfer period. But there are others who would like to get their name on the winner’s trophy as well.
Henderson is joined by veteran Alena Sharp, who is the next highest ranked Canadian at No. 132 and has three top- 10s this season. Another LPGA Tour regular, Anne- Catherine Tanguay, is also in the field. They will be joined by, among others, CP ambassador and Canadian Golf Hall of Fame member Lorie Kane, who is participating in her 29th consecutive national open, and 12-year-old Michelle Liu, who earned an exemption as the low Canadian at the recent women’s amateur and is the youngest player to participate in the event.
Situated north of Toronto, the Doug Carrick- designed course should present a decent challenge for the women.
“I think ball- striking will be pretty key here,” said Henderson. “The fairways are pretty generous and the greens are very large. I think if you can be really precise on approaches, hit the right slopes, the right quadrants on the green, that’ll be really important to give yourself a good look at birdie.”