{"id":52695,"date":"2026-08-19T06:52:25","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T06:52:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/52695\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T06:52:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T06:52:25","slug":"huang-on-the-upswing-for-cpkc-womens-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/52695\/","title":{"rendered":"Huang on the upswing for CPKC Women\u2019s Open"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Anna Huang, of Canada, drives from the 11th tee during the second round of the 2026 Women’s PGA Championship golf tournament in Chaska, Minn.Chris Carlson\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

Anna Huang\u2019s CPKC Women\u2019s Open last year was a turning point in her golf career.<\/p>\n

She missed the cut in Mississauga, Ont., as a 16-year-old.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t really sure what I was doing with my life to be honest,\u201d Huang recalled. \u201cI wasn\u2019t playing very well at that time. I\u2019d missed four or five cuts in a row.\u201d<\/p>\n

While her Canadian countrywoman Brooke Henderson charged to victory, Huang headed to the putting green with caddie and coach Sean Burke.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter I missed the cut, he spent the weekend just working on my putting a lot. We also worked on speed things, alignment,\u201d Huang said.<\/p>\n

Brooke Henderson heads into Canadian championship with life\u2019s pieces falling into place<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI definitely would say that with all of the practice and help I got in Mississauga, that really affected what happened afterwards, which was really good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Within the month, Huang had won back-to-back tournaments on the Ladies European Tour. <\/p>\n

The Vancouver teenager won again in May in Morocco, but her victory in the PIF London Championship on Aug. 9 set the women\u2019s golf world abuzz.<\/p>\n

At 17 years, nine months, and 10 days, Huang became the youngest player to win four LET titles, beating the previous record held by New Zealand\u2019s Lydia Ko at 18 years old.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Anna Huang of Canada tees off on the 17th hole on Day 4 of the PIF London Championship at The Centurion Club earlier this month in St. Albans, England.Andrew Redington\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Huang also defeated world No. 6 Charley Hull at the PIF London Championship, the English star\u2019s home tournament.<\/p>\n

So Huang returns to the CPKC Women\u2019s Open this year in a much different headspace.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m definitely a lot more confident in my game,\u201d Huang said. \u201cLast year when I played the Canadian Open, I had zero wins under my belt, and I was a rookie. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis year, second year on tour, I\u2019ve played six majors now, played many LPGA events. I just have a lot more experience. That\u2019s just going to be a really big help.\u201d<\/p>\n

The US$2.75-million CPKC Women\u2019s Open begins Thursday and returns to Edmonton\u2019s Royal Mayfair Golf Club, where Ko won as an amateur in 2013 for her second straight Canadian title.<\/p>\n

Huang is part of a wave of emerging teenage golf talent in Canada that includes Calgary\u2019s Aphrodite Deng, who at 15 was the low amateur in last year\u2019s event in Mississauga, tying for 20th at four-under.<\/p>\n

That was the highest amateur finish since Ko\u2019s victory in 2013.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year did kind of raise my expectations, knowing that I can perform and compete against the best in the world,\u201d Deng said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI definitely feel more confident and more comfortable out there knowing what to expect and playing in front of all the crowds again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deng, who has committed to Stanford University, was the first Canadian to win the U.S. Girls\u2019 Junior Championship in 2025. <\/p>\n

Deng also defended her title in the Mizuho Americas Open in May and tied for 17th in the U.S. Women\u2019s Open in June.<\/p>\n

Both Huang and Deng earned sponsor exemptions into the CPKC Women\u2019s Open, as did 16-year-old Clairey Lin of Langley, B.C.<\/p>\n

Lin made it back-to-back wins for Canadians at the U.S. Girls Junior Championship this year. She\u2019s also committed to Stanford.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis group is doing things that have not been done before, like winning U.S. juniors and getting into U.S. Opens at a young age,\u201d said Golf Canada\u2019s NextGen coach Jeff MacDonald.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m getting asked a lot of questions from college coaches and people in general, \u2018What is going on in Canada right now?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Defending champion Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., will be joined in Edmonton by fellow LPGA Tour Canadians Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que., and Mississauga\u2019s Savannah Grewal.<\/p>\n

Canadian Golf Hall of Famer Alena Sharp of Hamilton, Vancouver\u2019s Leah John, Calgary\u2019s Tillie Claggett and Katie Cranston of Oakville, Ont., were sponsor invites as were amateurs Lauren Kim of Surrey, B.C., Toronto\u2019s Vanessa Borovilos, Eileen Park of Red Deer, Alta., Michelle Xing of Richmond Hill, Ont., and three-time Canadian junior women\u2019s champion Shauna Liu of Maple, Ont.<\/p>\n

Huang chose the pro path early.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never really liked school to begin with,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

That meant starting on the European tour, with the LPGA requiring golfers to be 18 or turning 18 to become a member.<\/p>\n

The combination of loneliness and on-course struggles made her question her decision to turn pro last year, but life eventually improved both on and off the course, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I played a little bit better and started to gain a little bit more confidence, and made a few more friends, everything just came back together, which helped me get my first win on tour,\u201d Huang said. <\/p>\n

Huang\u2019s father Alex will caddie for her in Edmonton. He was on her bag for her four LET wins.<\/p>\n

Upon her arrival in Alberta\u2019s capital less than 48 hours after her London victory, Huang was surprised at her reception at a local club where she went to practice.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got recognized a lot, and it was really cool,\u201d she said. \u201cThey were telling me they watched the final round on TV. I\u2019m really glad they were able to see that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Anna Huang, of Canada, drives from the 11th tee during the second round…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52696,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2098,2082,2099,199,195,2100,2097,2074,2088,2089,2084,2075,2073,2094,374,2093,2087,2081,2111,2076,2077,44,2086,2083,375,899,2101,2079,2106,2107,2109,2104,2108,2102,2105,1979,1106,2092,2090,2091,2103,1150,2095,2096,2085,2080,2078,2110],"class_list":["post-52695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-golf","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52695"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52695\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}