Present and future of Canadian golf set to be displayed at U.S. Women’s Open

As she worked through her freshman year at Texas A&M, Vanessa Borovilos had a sign above her bed reminding her of her major goal.   

She wanted to play in the U.S. Women’s Open.  

It was a pointed signal to the up-and-coming Canadian golf star, now 19, to make sure the work she did that day was helping move her one step closer to a spot in the biggest event in women’s golf.

She just missed out in 2024, but was medallist at her qualifier on May 12, punching her ticket to the second major of the season. Dream achieved.  

Borovilos, from Etobicoke, Ont., will be one of five Canadians in the field at the U.S. Women’s Open, taking place at Erin Hills Golf Course — the host of the men’s U.S. Open in 2017.  

And the present and future of Canadian women’s golf will be on display.

If Brooke Henderson, who is looking for a major spark to her 2025 campaign this week at a golf course that should certainly fit her skill set, is the ‘One,’ then consider Borovilos the ‘Next One.’  

This could be her coming out party before a busy summertime stretch that will likely include a spot at the CPKC Women’s Open. She is, according to Golf Canada’s women’s national team head coach Salimah Mussani, “the real deal.”  

Borovilos captured the Girls 11-12 division title at the national finals of the Drive, Chip, and Putt at Augusta National in 2018 and has been on the fast track to golf stardom ever since. She won the 2025 Chevron Collegiate, was the runner-up in the 2025 Clover Cup and captured the SEC Golfer of the Week prize earlier this year.  

But in a conversation with Sportsnet before the U.S. Women’s Open, Borovilos said she’s actually gone away from focusing on results lately. Instead, she’s just happy to see her hard work paying off. 

She speaks like a golfer beyond her years.  

“It’s mentally draining when you’ve put in so much work and you’re doing all the right drills and you’re not quite seeing the results. It’s taken a couple months for me to get a good practice going and me working on the right things but it’s nice it showed up there and continued for a while,” she said. “Practice is work, but it’s work that I love doing. It’s work I want to complete.  

“When I do the drills, when I’m doing practice, it loosens me up for tournaments. I feel like I can swing away, like I’m five or six years old.” 

Borovilos, who plays out of Weston Golf and Country Club, was a celebrated youngster before deciding on Texas A&M. She said there were three reasons why she picked College Station, one of which makes total sense and one of which makes you laugh — because you realize she’s, yes, 100 per cent, 19 years old.  

“I needed to go south for sure. The facilities, too, I felt like I could actually improve here. And then the food. During my (recruitment visit) they had ribs, lamb chops and mac and cheese and I was like, ‘I think I’ve gotta come here,’” she said.

Borovilos said it’s quick to find inspiration in Henderson, who at 27 (she turns 28 in September) has already re-written the Canadian golf record books as a 13-time winner — including two majors. Henderson has inspired a throng of next-gen golfers, including Borovilos, to follow in her footsteps.  

Although not in the field at the U.S. Women’s Open, there’s also 15-year-old(!) Aphrodite Deng who won The Nelly (Korda) Invitational last year, plus the prestigious Junior Invitational this April and the Mizuho Americas Open (hosted by Michelle Wie-West) a few weeks ago.

At Erin Hills is a pair of early-20s Canadian golfers in Celeste Dao and Leah John, along with newly minted pro Anna Huang, who plays on the Ladies European Tour — and is just 16 herself. Huang and Henderson chatted Monday at Erin Hills.  

Watch out, world — Canada’s next great golf generation is coming fast.  

“Coming from a small town shows that hard work can out-beat talent. (Brooke has) worked incredibly hard and is still so young. Whenever I see her on Tour and whenever I watch her on TV I’m like, yeah, I can be there in a couple of years,” Borovilos said. 

Don’t expect Henderson to just start riding off into the golfing sunset anytime soon, however.  

She told Sportsnet that it’s awesome to see the young group coming up in the ranks now and qualifying for the biggest major in women’s golf, but while Henderson is the first to admit she’s been struggling a little of late, she said she’s been close with her game for a while. She’s eager for a spark.   

“At times I’m like, ‘Oh man. I’m almost right there.’ So, it’s an exciting time for me,” Henderson said. “Not everything has to been perfect all the time — but that’s golf. You have to learn to score. And I think I’ve been learning that the last few months. You don’t to have to hit every fairway or every green, but as long as you’re still scoring that’s important.  

“I’m just trying to play the game instead of trying to perfect it.”

While Henderson sits 24th in strokes gained: driving, it’s been a curious 2025 so far with her iron play. The way she attacks pins has long been her biggest asset, but this year she is 112th in strokes gained: approach. Henderson has no top-10 finishes in stroke-play events yet in 2025, but Erin Hills should certainly fit her game.  

“This course, if I can play aggressively and play smart at the same time, I think it could be really suited for my game and be the place I needed to come to go get things started,” Henderson said. 

Henderson is, of course, looking ahead. Despite the turbulent takeoff to this season, there is a lengthy runway with three more majors after this week, plus the CPKC Women’s Open that will likely feature all of the aforementioned next wave of Canadian women golf stars. Then there’s the big-money CME Group Tour Championship, where $4 million will be handed to the winner at the season finale.   

Plenty of golf remains to turn this season into a successful one.  

“This is the heat of the season right now and it’d be a great time to get things rolling in the right direction,” Henderson said. “I’m just excited for what the rest of the season holds and just continue to chip away and see some great results soon.”  

The 2024 U.S. Women’s Open begins Thursday from Erin Hills. Yuka Saso is the defending champion after capturing her second U.S. Women’s Open title in three years last season. Nelly Korda remains world No. 1 but is not the favourite this week as Jeeno Thitikul, who has six top-10s in eight starts including a win in her last event on Tour, leads the way.