The crowds are roaring for Canada’s winningest pro women’s golfer, but sometimes, officials in charge of herding fans around Edmonton’s Royal Mayfair Golf Club this week will want them to be as quiet as possible. Noise and distractions are generally discouraged along the greens and fairways of any golf course to let golfers concentrate. “That’s what we hope for, that people be respectful for the people that are out here playing the game,” George Lemire, one of the course marshals for the CPKC Canadian Women’s Open, told CTV News Edmonton on Thursday. Another marshal says it’s understandable why there might be excitement among the crowds at the Royal Mayfair, which is situated along the North Saskatchewan River next to Hawrelak Park, given the tournament “is probably a lot of people’s first professional event.” However, marshals are there to encourage people to keep potential distractions to a minimum. They’ll even implore people to stop making noise or even moving, holding up signs for the crowd to see the message. “Because even if you’re not making noise, you could be moving in the background,” Hurley said. It certainly can be hard to keep the murmur from the 1,000 or so spectators following Brooke Henderson around the course on Thursday. The Ottawa native is the defending champion of the Canadian Women’s Open and is ranked 11th in the world heading into the annual tournament. No. 1 women’s golfer Nelly Korda headlines the field that also includes Top 10 contenders HyoJoo Kim, Miyu Yamashita, Ruoning Yin, Hannah Green and Minjee Lee. In all, 156 golfers teed off to start the tournament. The 27-year-old Korda has won four of the 12 events in which she’s played in 2026. She, for one, says she doesn’t mind hearing from fans on the course. “No, it never hurts,” she told reporters. “Obviously, you want to play well in front of the people coming out to support you and that cheer you on … “It’s always nice. It’s a motivational factor, for sure.” Except … “Maybe ‘boo,’” she said. “That’s about it.” The four-round CPKC Canadian Women’s Open runs through Sunday. The prize purse for the four-round tournament, which began in 1973, is worth $2.75 million. With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Evan Kenny
