Josee Doyon fires opening-round 65 to take three-stroke lead at ORORO PGA Women’s Championship of Canada

Photos from the opening round can be found here.

On a blustery day on the Heathlands course at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley, Josee Doyon managed the best score of any player in the field, firing a 65 to take a three-stroke lead at the ORORO PGA Women’s Championship of Canada, the second event on the PGA of Canda National Championship schedule presented by Golf Avenue and the final event of the She Plays Golf Series.

Doyon, originally from St-Georges-de-Beauce, Quebec, managed a blemish-free opening nine holes that included four birdies before making a bogey on the 10th. She quickly got that stroke back on the 12th and made three more birdies on her way into the clubhouse, setting a new Heathlands women’s competitive course record.

“It went pretty well today, I hit a lot of fairways and greens,” said Doyon. “The hardest part out here is picking a good target. Once you pick a target you have to really focus on it because there aren’t many trees to aim at. Luckily, I was only in the fescue one time and was able to recover and make par.”

Doyon entered the event in fine form, winning the professional side of the second She Plays Golf Series event - the Glencoe Invitational - last month with scores of 66-71-74.

“Golf Canada is producing a lot of good players, it was nice to win the Glencoe Invitational and see such great players of all ages,” said Doyon. “There are lots of good amateurs coming, so go Canada.”

Though she finished first out of the professionals at the Glencoe Invitational, Doyon wound up third overall, so she is still searching for that coveted exemption into the CPKC Women’s Open, which are handed out to the top two players in each She Plays Golf series event not already exempt.

“It would be awesome and a great opportunity to play an LPGA Tour event. I work really hard every day to have my chance there and it’s one of the biggest reasons I came to play this week; to try to guarantee my spot in the CPKC Women’s Open,” said Doyon.

Meanwhile, Ellie Szeryk, who turned professional just a few months ago and claimed the first She Plays Golf Series event in British Columbia, is Doyon’s closest chaser after firing an opening-round 68.

“It was a really fun day out there. I loved my group with Christine (Wong) and Vanessa (Borovilos) so it really felt like a nice social round,” said Szeryk. “It was really solid, I hit the ball really well. I didn’t make a crazy amount of putts, but made what I needed to.”

Meanwhile, Casey MacNeil leads the PGA of Canada Club Professional section of the leaderboard after a 1-under 70. Club professionals are eligible for a $4,500 bonus pool thanks to the support of PING.

Emma de Groot is not far behind MacNeil after an opening-round 71.

The 9th hole has been designated as the E-Z-GO ‘It’s Good to Go’ Hole of the Week. Any player that makes eagle on the hole will be entered into a draw for a $250 cash prize thanks to E-Z-GO. Two players made eagle on the 9th hole on Wednesday: Michelle Xing and Elliana Buhagiar.

Second round tee times will begin at 7 AM on Thursday. The field will be cut to 30+ ties for Friday’s final round.