MISSISSAUGA, Ont. – Wearing a blueberry-coloured power suit, Claire Welsh confidently walks to the podium at the Mississaugua Golf and Country Club and addresses a room of dozens – her first official public appearance as the new tournament director of the CPKC Women’s Open.
There’s confidence and grace. And there’s joy and excitement. The event is set to be big – it’s returning to the Greater Toronto Area for the first time in more than half a decade, and Welsh gets to announce that the game’s top player, Nelly Korda, is returning to the field. The Rink is back, too, and Mississaugua will become one of just a small handful of clubs to host the Canadian Men’s Amateur, Canadian Women’s Amateur, RBC Canadian Open and CPKC Women’s Open.
It’s all happening. And Welsh is at the helm.
“What a privilege,” she says.
Welsh has made a big-time return to Canada after a decade with the Royal and Ancient, where she served as director of player relations for the R&A, with a focus primarily on the AIG Women’s Open and The Open Championship.
Prior to that, she spent six years working for Golf Ontario.
Golf Canada was, of course, looking for a new tournament director after Ryan Paul moved over to take the reins at the RBC Canadian Open, with Bryan Crawford moving on to become commissioner of the Ontario Hockey League.
Welsh had taken a year off and ended up getting a call from someone at Golf Canada encouraging her to apply for the role.
“My husband and I were travelling, and we weren’t really looking in Canada – we were just trying to figure out what we wanted to do next,” Welsh says. “When I saw the opportunity, I thought, ‘OK, this is something really interesting,’ and it was the catalyst for us moving home.
“That felt like all the cards had fallen into place.”
The CPKC Women’s Open is one of the most impressive sporting event properties in the entire country. It won back-to-back “Tournament of the Year” titles in both 2022 and 2023 at the LPGA Tour’s year-end awards.
At the 2025 Sport Tourism Canada PRESTIGE Awards, it was also named Sport Tourism Canada’s International Sport Event of the Year.
“Coming home to help shape the next chapter of our national women’s open feels incredibly special, especially at a time when women’s sports are experiencing remarkable growth and recognition,” Welsh said at the time of her hiring. “I know how important this historic event is for golf’s top players, and I’ve also seen its ability to inspire communities right across the country.”
Welsh is also aware of how important a north star the event has in Brooke Henderson. Henderson, who won the event in 2018, is also a CPKC ambassador, along with being a 13-time winner on the LPGA Tour.
Welsh had some history with Henderson after following her while she was at Golf Ontario. The native of Smiths Falls, Ont., was “teeny tiny” and just following in her sister Brittany Henderson’s footsteps.
“To be around to watch that journey and see her become this incredible woman that she is today – it just feels so amazing that she is the face of the event and being a CPKC ambassador and everything she does with them,” Welsh says. “There’s awe. There’s admiration. And how lucky are we to have such an amazing ambassador for women’s golf in Canada?”
Welsh was also quick to heap praise on Mississaugua. The course will have a modified routing for the tournament as golfers will go from Nos. 1 through 10, and then Nos. 11 through 18, for the split-tee starts, with No. 10 being The Rink hole for 2025.
Welsh had a front-row seat to the importance of venues when she was at the R&A, and how giving women priority for the best venues mattered as they reviewed the championship rota for The Open. When Welsh was at the R&A, the AIG Women’s Open was contested at Royal Troon (2020) and Muirfield (2022) for the first time, for example. The Open Championship also visited Royal Portrush (2019) and Northern Ireland for the first time in more than half a century.
Welsh knows it’s different for the CPKC Women’s Open as it moves across the country, but golf has been her passport to the world, and now she says she’s thrilled with the opportunity to do it at home.
“For me, personally, I’ve seen the world and seen amazing golf courses, but now I get to do it in Canada. I was out in Banff a few weeks ago, and I was like, ‘This is amazing.’ Seeing iconic courses – this is a privilege,” Welsh says. “How cool is this?”
A cool opportunity, and a wonderful return home.