Claire Welsh is coming home.
The native of Barrie, Ont., has been hired as tournament director for the LPGA Tour’s CPKC Women’s Open, Golf Canada announced Tuesday.
Welsh previously was director of player relations for the Scottish-based R&A, with some of her work focused on men’s and women’s majors (the Open Championship and AIG Women’s Open).
“It’s a huge honour to be able to take the helm of this event,” Welsh said in an exclusive interview with Sportsnet. “It’s such a cornerstone of Canadian golf and has a huge fan base across the country — I don’t take it lightly. It’s something that feels quite serendipitous in a way, in terms of the timing. I just cannot wait to get started.”
Prior to going overseas, Welsh worked for the Golf Association of Ontario.
“In taking some time off and figuring out what I wanted to do it became clear pretty quickly that I wanted to work in women’s sports,” Welsh said. “First, the obvious thing — we see women’s sport having an amazing moment at the moment. They are going from strength to strength. We are starting to see the profile of women’s athletes being raised, and I knew that’s what I wanted to do.
“Having worked on the AIG Women’s Open, a major championship, and The Open Championship, I saw the gap between what the men were getting and what the women were getting. There’s a full credit to the LPGA and the R&A and all those people trying to close that gap but it just made me think, ‘this feels meaningful.’ “
Golf Canada was looking for a new CPKC Women’s Open tournament director after Ryan Paul was appointed to run the RBC Canadian Open men’s event earlier this year.
Paul replaced Bryan Crawford, who became commissioner of the OHL earlier this year.
“I have big shoes to fill. Ryan Paul and the team at Golf Canada and CPKC have done an incredible job to set the bar,” Welsh said. “It’s not going to be easy but I know I’m walking into something that is already an exceptionally strong event.”
The 2025 CPKC Women’s Open will be held Aug. 21-24 in Mississauga, Ont.