The field is already getting long with impressive names. The course, meanwhile, has never looked better.

With the announcement that defending champion Brittany Lincicome, currently ranked 13th among the top women's golfers in the world, will be coming to Coquitlam, the stakes have been raised for all competitors at the 2012 CN Canadian Women's Open Aug. 20 to 26 at the Vancouver Golf Club.

The Coquitlam private club will be the focus of the women's golf world that week as Lincicome, No. 4-ranked Suzann Pettersen, No. 8 Cristie Kerr, Michelle Wie and Katherine Hull will each be vying to repeat as Canadian Women's Open winner.

Current Rolex world ranking leader Yani Tseng of Taiwan is also confirmed as one of the tournament's 156 players.

The Canadian field will include Lorie Kane and Coquitlam's own Jisoo Keel, who as a 17-year-old amateur, will be appearing in her second Canadian Women's Open.

With $2 million US prize money - including $300,000 to the winner - officials expect the tournament will attract most of the tour's top names.

Having the tour in Coquitlam at the VGC is a great honour, noted club member and tournament volunteer director Paul Batchelor. "The process started a couple of years ago and ideally we were looking at trying to have it for our 100 th anniversary celebration in 2010, but apparently they had already committed to another venue," noted Batchelor. "When they offered us 2012 we jumped at it."

It's the third time that the VGC has hosted the national championship - with the formerly known du Maurier Classic here in both 1988 and 1991.

For a veteran like Kane, who played in the '91 Open, the course will be played differently, Batchelor noted. In both previous stops, the course was played reverse, with the ninth hole becoming the 18th . This time around the course will be played in its regular formation. And with three holes having undergone major renovations, the challenges will be plenty.

"I believe the front nine will give up some birdies, but I like to call it Vancouver Golf Club's Amen Corner as the 14th to 18th holes," said Batchelor. "They are all par fours, they are all strong par fours, so the player who wins this tournament has to be strong on those ending holes."

One player who will have familiarity on her side will be Keel, who locked up an exemption earlier this spring by winning a CN Canadian Women's tour stop in Richmond.

A member of the Canadian women's national team, Keel last year was awarded the Marlene Stewart Streit low amateur medal at the Open after posting a four-day tally of four-overpar 292. "[Keel] made the cut last year and she's going to do wonders here," enthused Batchelor. "We've given Jisoo playing privileges here at Vancouver Golf Club so she practices and plays here when she has the opportunity. She's going to know the course quite well and I think she's going to be excited to play in front of her hometown fans."

Another large part of the CN Canadian Women's Open is its charity tie-in, the CN Miracle Match, which raises funds for children's hospitals across Canada.

This tournament's chosen recipient is the B.C. Children's Hospital Foundation, and CN executive vice-president Sean Finn said his target is to see the fund surpass last year's $2.1 million raised for his hometown Montreal Children's Hospital.

He noted that donations made between May 8 and Aug. 26 will be matched by CN Miracle Match, to benefit B.C. Children's Hospital Foundation.

For ticket and event information or to donate to the CN Miracle Match, go to

sports@thenownews.com

www.cncanadianwomensopen.com.