By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

She isn’t exactly humming that old Johnny Nash tune — 'I Can See Clearly Now' — but Brooke Henderson is excited about a change she is making at this week’s CPKC Women’s Open.

Henderson will be wearing glasses for the first time in competition when she tees it up in Thursday’s first round at Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club. “I have worn glasses off the course for a long time, but I’ve never played with them, so it was a bit of a change,” Henderson said after her practice round on Tuesday.

Although she wore glasses off the course, Henderson did not wear contact lenses when playing. “It was just time,” she said. “I wanted to be able to see things a little bit better and maybe not depend on (her sister and caddie) Britt so much.

“So I started practising with them last week and it seemed to go pretty well. This will be the first week in competition. I’m excited. It’s really nice to be able to see some things. Hopefully it gives me maybe not an advantage, but helps me improve my game a little bit.”

Henderson’s game this season has not been quite as good as we have come to expect from the now 25-year-old. Henderson described her year as “up and down” and that’s an apt description. She won the LPGA Tour’s season-opening event, the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, and late last month she finished second in defending her 2022 title at the Evian Championship in France.

In between, we have not seen vintage Brooke Henderson golf. She has missed five cuts this year — including three of her last four events — and has no other top 10s. “I haven’t had as many top results as maybe I would have liked, but I feel like I am learning a lot this year and continuing to grow as a person and a player. I think that’s the main goal, just continuing to grow and try to get better all the different ways you can.”

Henderson got her first look at Shaughnessy earlier this week. She played the back nine Monday night and the front nine Tuesday morning. She loves the course, but expects it to present a stiff test. “Right now, I think pars will be a very good score and I don’t imagine scores will be too low,” she said. “The greens are firm, hard to hold. It’s not like you can just go in and really be attacking a lot of things, either. Pars are good I think this week and birdies are a bonus.

“The fairways are pretty tight and the greens are pretty small, so ball-striking will definitely be very important and a big key. The greens are very slopey as well, so making sure you’re hitting the right spots on the greens is important.”

Henderson, of course, will be a part of one the marquee groups in Thursday’s first round. She tees off number one at 1:21 pm with two-time major champion Lilia Vu and Nelly Korda. They are off number 10 at 8:06 am on Friday. 

Click HERE to see complete tee times.