WOMEN’S GOLF
The Jocelyne Bourassa Scholarship Program
Continuing education is an important component of building an impactful career in golf for Canadian women. The Jocelyne Bourassa Scholarship Program (JBSP) will provide critical educational opportunities for women who are developing their careers as professional coaches and professional players, thereby helping to increase the number of Canadian women who are prominent leaders and role models for golf in our country.
Jocelyne established herself as one of the top athletes and ambassadors to golf in Canada. After a successful amateur career, Jocelyne turned professional and won the inaugural 1973 La Canadienne, now the CP Women’s Open, in her second season on tour. Following her term on tour, Jocelyne served as the Executive Director of the du Maurier Classic, one of LPGA’s four major championships from 1980 until 2000. She also served on the LPGA Board of Sponsors, including a role as Vice President.
The Jocelyne Bourassa Scholarship Program will provide support to women in two primary ways. First, it will support the educational needs of professional high-performance coaches by enhancing Golf Canada and PGA of Canada’s Women in Coaching program – a rigorous year-long training program that includes self-assessment and individualized learning plans, a virtual education webinar series, in-person professional development opportunities, and mentorship. Graduates of the Women in Coaching program are on track to serve as Canada’s next generation of high-performance coaches.
Secondly, the Jocelyne Bourassa Scholarship Program will provide university scholarship support to Canadian women who wish to continue their post-secondary educations while also competing in professional golf. The modern path to the LPGA Tour often prompts the best amateurs to turn professional before graduating from college – in fact, only approximately 10% of the current world top 50 graduated from university. The top players in women’s professional golf continue to get younger and age patterns on the LPGA Tour are increasingly reflecting other individual sports like tennis.
The Jocelyne Bourassa Scholarship Program will help ensure that the best Canadian women have the option of continuing their university education if they choose to turn professional prior to graduating from a NCAA program. These “Bourassa Scholars” would be provided with funding to attend university on a hybrid basis – partially online and partially in-person – to continue their studies and graduate while also pursuing professional golf. The Jocelyne Bourassa Scholarship Program will help Canadian women pursue their dreams of being successful on the LPGA Tour without making educational sacrifices.
Donations toward the Jocelyne Bourassa Scholarship Program will be held in an endowment fund to ensure her legacy will continue in perpetuity.
Golf Canada Foundation Women’s Fund
In 2022, the Women’s Fund has elected to support the Jocelyne Bourassa Scholarship Program.
History of the Women’s Fund
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Player Development
Female training or player development programs that focus on long term development and/or player competitive experience will be considered. Programs must have mechanisms in place in order to track the progress of the players who participate in these programs. This data will be required to be provided to Golf Canada. Preference will be given to new programs.
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Women Instructors and Coaches
The Women’s Fund committee recognizes the need for role models for young female golfers. Programs that assist to promote training, mentoring and education of female instructors and coaches will be considered for grant monies. Special attention will be focused on initiatives that are targeted at involving females in the training and certification of the PGA of Canada contexts of Future Links Leader, Coach of New Competitors and Coach of Developing Competitors.
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Volunteers(Rules Officials, Course Raters, Etc.)
The Women’s Fund will pay for one female from each province to attend a National Rules Seminar each year and for one female from each province (who has not attended before) to attend a National Course Rating Seminar (when held). Participants will attend the closest seminar to their homes and will have their travel, accommodation, and course entry fee covered. Golf Canada travel agents must be used and the Golf Canada expense form must be completed.
2021 Women’s Fund Recipients
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PEI Golf Association – Ladies & Girls Learn to Golf Program$3,000
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Golf Canada – Women in Coaching$4,000
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Fareen Samji – Smashing the Grass Ceiling$4,800
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Iron Lady Golf – FORE Golf$9,550
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Iron Lady Golf – Membership Community$6,000