Canadian Women's Amateur: Brooke Rivers eyes wire-to-wire win with 18 holes left

Brooke Rivers of Brampton, Ont., shot 1-over par 73 at Ashburn Golf Club (new) in Halifax, N.S. on Thursday and will take a two-shot lead into the final round of the 109th Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship presented by BDO.

The 18-year-old Rivers—who opened the championship with a course-record 65 followed by a second-round 69—sits at 9-under par through 54 holes of the prestigious championship. She got off to a good start Thursday with back-to-back birdies on the par-5 second hole and the par-4 third, then struggled with three consecutive bogeys on holes six through eight. Rivers’ back nine included a birdie and a bogey as the Team Canada member looks ahead to Friday’s final round with hopes of going wire-to-wire for her first-ever Canadian Women’s Amateur title.

“I still think that having a good game plan going into the last day is the most important thing,” said Rivers. “The pins are getting more tucked as the day goes on so paying attention to where the pins are and where the flat putt is crucial to have a good score," Rivers said.

Ultimately, it will take focus and a game plan.

"I like to play my own game, focus on one shot at a time and not focus where everyone else is in correlation to me but just try to hit a good shot and leave the ball where I want.”

Rivers will need to hold off a hard-charging group of competitors including her teammate on the National Amateur Team, 18-year-old Lauren Kim of Surrey, B.C., who continues to sit alone in second at 7-under after shooting a third-round 1-over 73.

A trio of Americans—Sadie Englemann (Austin, Texas), Phoebe Brinker (Wilmington, Del.), and Maisie Filler (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.), hold a share of third at 5-under par, four shots off the lead, while defending champion and Team Canada member Monet Chun of Richmond Hill, Ont. sits alone in sixth at 2-under for the championship.

The low round of day belonged to Vanessa Borovilos (Toronto, Ont.) and Antonia Malate (Seaside, Calif.) who shot matching 5-under 68’s to sit T7 and T12 respectively.

The winner of the 2023 Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship will earn an exemption into the 2023 CPKC Women’s Open, 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship.