Brook Henderson wins “Female Athlete of the Year” award

Red-eye flights, pre-tournament qualifiers and last-minute travel plans were often the norm for golfer Brooke Henderson in her first season as a professional, writes Gregory Strong of the Canadian Press.

At the start of the year, she hoped to post some decent results and use her rookie campaign as a learning experience. Henderson did much more than that in 2015 – she became the first Canadian to win on the LPGA Tour in more than a decade and rocketed into the top 20 in the world rankings, he added.

Not too bad for someone who just celebrated her 18th birthday in 2015.

Henderson capped her impressive season Monday by winning the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award as The Canadian Press 'Female Athlete of the Year'. She picked up 21 votes (37 per cent) in the annual survey of editors and broadcasters from across the country.

“I’m hoping this is just the start of a pretty long career, and one where I can chase after some bigger dreams and goals that I’ve set for myself,” Henderson said to CP. “Really, I think that there are no limits and I think anything is possible. My 2015 year proves that it’s true – that anything is possible.”

Strong says that Henderson hopes to start strong early in the 2016 season with a goal of cracking the top 10 in the world rankings. She’s also a virtual lock to play for Canada when golf makes its return to the Olympic program at the Rio Games in August.

“I still have many years ahead of me and I’m working hard for 2016 and the years after that,” she told the Canadian Press. “But this award for 2015 is definitely something I’m proud of and I’ll be very honoured to accept.”

Source: Canadian Press story