Brigitte Thibault is no stranger to taking risks. At 17, she decided to try and qualify for the CP Canadian Women’s Open. Never mind the fact that she’d only been playing golf for two years, she figured she was good enough to play with the world’s best.
The Rosemere, Que., resident did just that, making it through the qualifier to play in the national championship.
This week, she’ll blaze another trail, becoming the only Canadian in the first Augusta National Women’s Amateur. This comes in just her fifth year of playing golf.
Let’s state that again – she’s only been playing golf for four and half years and she’s about to play Augusta National.
It’s believed that she’ll become the first woman from this country to tee it up at the famed course best known as the home of the Masters.
“It’s still something that’s really hard to take in. I still don’t believe it’s going to happen,” she said last week from Fresno State, where she was finishing up her exams.
Thibault will be one of 70 golfers to play in the inaugural event that will have the first two rounds at Champions Retreat Golf Club on Wednesday and Thursday. A 36-hole cut will drop the field down to the top 30 but every golfer will get a practice round on Friday at Augusta National before the final on Saturday.
“It’s great that they took the first step to include women on one of the highest platforms,” said Thibault. “I’m really proud to be the first name in the book and to be one that can inspire others. No matter what happens there, this is a great step in history that we’re starting here. I’m really excited to be a part of that.”
Thibault picked up golf after deciding that competitive cheerleading was leading to too many injuries. She became tired of the casts and bandages she’d get from the high-impact endeavour.
It didn’t take her long to get her game into decent shape, something she credits primarily to her athletic ability. However, motivation also played a big role in pushing her to improve.
“My will to succeed is probably one of the strongest things I have,” she said. “I’m really a student of the game and when I put my mind to something, I intend on achieving it.”
Canadian national team coach Tristan Mullally sees nothing but potential in Thibault’s game.
“She’s new to the game but a relatively decent player at this point thanks to her athletic background,” he stated. “There’s just no holding her back. She wants to be a top-50 player in the world.”
Thibault has been taking every possible step to improve her game and position herself to reach that goal.
“I changed the way I was living, eating better, working out, getting up early and practicing all day, playing more competitions,” she said. “Whatever I could do, I did it.”
The hard work is starting to show. In the last year and a half, the 20-year-old went from somewhere around 2,000th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking to 197 and from the 65th best golfer in Canada to No. 1.
“It’s obviously came from a lot of hard work and I’m still in the process of where I want to go but it’s coming to me with an ease.”
Mullally said a reasonable goal for Thibault would be to finish inside the top 20. He said she is long off the tee and has a solid iron game, which should help her tackle the 6,300-yard Augusta National.
Thibault, of course, has loftier ambitions for what might be the most anticipated new golf tournament in a long time.
“Obviously I wouldn’t be in the tournament if I didn’t think I could win,” she stated, “but I’m going to treat it as a normal event, even though it’s crazy. I know how easy it can be to lose yourself in the whole attraction around it. But I want to treat it as normal as I can. That’s going to be my No. 1 goal.”
She will employ a local caddie to help guide her through the two courses and will also be supported by a number of coaches and family members.
No matter how she fares, her appearance in the tournament is a huge stop for her as well as a major golf moment for Canada.
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April 02, 2019 at 11:48PM
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