MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — One of the oldest championships in the women's game returns to one of the oldest clubs in the sport this week, as the 112th Canadian Women's Amateur Championship, presented by BDO, tees off Tuesday at The Toronto Golf Club. A field of 156 will play 72 holes of stroke play for the Duchess of Connaught Gold Cup, on a Harry Colt design celebrating its 150th anniversary.
It is a homecoming of sorts for the championship. Founded in 1876 and the third-oldest golf club in North America, The Toronto Golf Club has hosted the national women's amateur seven previous times — but not since 1947. That it returns now, as the club marks its sesquicentennial, gives the week a fitting sense of occasion.
THE FIELD
Leading the home charge is Aphrodite Deng of Calgary, Canada's top-ranked amateur at No. 7 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking and one of the marquee names in the field. She is joined by a deep Team Canada contingent that includes Vanessa Borovilos of Etobicoke (No. 17 WAGR), 2023 champion Lauren Kim of Surrey, B.C. (No. 19), two-time Canadian Junior Girls champion Shauna Liu of Maple, Ont. (No. 59) and Clairey Lin of Langley, B.C. (No. 77), among others.
Defending champion Michelle Xing of Richmond Hill, Ont., a Team Canada NextGen athlete, returns to defend the title she claimed last year by four shots for her first national championship. With 48 of the world's top 250 amateurs and 12 countries represented, she will have to hold off a genuinely international chase to keep the Gold Cup at home.
TORONTO GOLF CLUB - CANADA'S FIRST CHAMPIONSHIP COURSE
Set on the banks of the Etobicoke Creek, The Toronto Golf Club commissioned Colt to lay out its current 18 in 1911, and a recent restoration has reintroduced the architect's heathland character. Long regarded as Canada's first championship course, it has also hosted five RBC Canadian Opens and nine Canadian Men's Amateurs — a demanding, storied test that should reward precision over power at a par of 71.
CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
First played in 1901 at Royal Montreal, the Canadian Women's Amateur is among the oldest amateur events in the world, and its champions' roll reads like a who's who of the modern game: Ariya Jutanugarn (2012), Brooke Henderson (2013), Hye-Jin Choi (2016), Jennifer Kupcho (2017) and Yealimi Noh (2018) have all lifted the Duchess of Connaught Gold Cup — though none matched the 11 victories of Marlene Stewart Streit, the first Canadian inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
“We are very excited to begin the 112th playing of the Canadian Women's Amateur Championship as we welcome a world-class field to the historic Toronto Golf Club,” said Golf Canada tournament director Madeline MacMillan. Play begins Tuesday, with the 36-hole cut on Wednesday and the champion crowned Friday.
THE ESSENTIALS
Event: 112th Canadian Women's Amateur Championship, presented by BDO
Host: The Toronto Golf Club (Par 71) · Mississauga, Ont.
Dates: July 21–24, 2026 · 72 holes stroke play
Field: 156 players · 12 countries · 48 of the WAGR top 25
Cut: Low 70 and ties after Wednesday's second round
Also on the line: Inter-provincial team title over the first 36 holes
To the winner: Exemptions into the 2026 CPKC Women's Open (Royal Mayfair, Edmonton, Aug. 19–23) and the 2026 U.S. Women's Amateur (Ooltewah, Tenn., Aug. 4–9)