Before Brooke Henderson, Jocelyne Bourassa was a star player for Canadian women’s golf. Golf Canada confirmed that Bourassa passed away this week. She left behind a legacy of kindness and friendship, and did much to elevate women’s golf in Canada.
“She would give you the shirt off her back,” Danielle Nadon, head pro and general manager at Ottawa’s Loch March Golf and Country Club, told the Toronto Sun.
“She was such a great friend. Anything you needed, anything you wanted, she would get it done. She absolutely did so much for women and golf in Canada.”
We are saddened to hear of the passing of Hall of Famer Jocelyne Bourassa. Often considered as Canada’s ambassador for golf, her outstanding career will continue to inspire female golfers across Canada. Our thoughts are with her family and friends. pic.twitter.com/9KGkh5Nr2Q
— Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame (@sportshall) August 5, 2021
Bourassa got her start caddying for her brother Gilles. Her junior and amateur career included winning three Quebec junior championships, four Quebec amateur titles and two Canadian amateur championships.
She won the 1971 Canadian Amateur before embarking on a professional career. That resulted in LPGA Rookie of the Year honors the very next year.
When the tour came to Canada for the first time in 1973, she defeated Sandra Haynie and Judy Rankin in a playoff to win La Canadienne at the Montreal Municipal Golf Course.
Ultimately, that event was Bourassa’s only LPGA title as knee problems forced an early end to her playing career. She remained active in women’s golf as a tournament director for the du Maurier Classic — which later became the CP Canadian Women’s Open.
“I wouldn’t be here and able to talk about my career without Jocelyne,” Lorie Kane, who won four times on the LPGA Tour and was inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 2016, told Golf Canada.
“When I decided to turn pro in 1993 she was working with du Maurier to establish the du Maurier series so I was able to learn how to be a pro from one of the best.”
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