Crystal Mountain will host the 31st Michigan PGA Women’s Open starting Monday – The Oakland Press
A photo from behind the No. 18 tee box on the Mountain Ridge course at Crystal Mountain during a previous Michigan PGA Women’s Open Championship. The course will be the site of the 2024 Michigan PGA Women’s Open Championship Monday through Wednesday, June 24-26, 2024. (Photo courtesy of Golf Association of Michigan)
THOMPSONVILLE – Crystal Mountain, a family-owned, year-round resort with two golf courses and a focus on family and women’s golf, will host the 31st Michigan PGA Women’s Open Championship presented by Coca-Cola next Monday through Wednesday, June 24-26.
This year marks the 22nd consecutive year the championship will be held at Crystal Mountain, and this year there will be a new Senior Championship division and a competition for players over 50. In addition, the Michigan Section PGA is also hosting its Michigan Women’s PGA Professional Championship for section professionals in conjunction with the Open this year.
The Great Lakes Sports Commission is a partner of Crystal Mountain and is sponsoring the Senior Division competition and will host a special reception for all tournament players on Monday evening.
“You could say it’s three tournaments in one, but really it’s a response to the players’ expectations of the championship and the willingness of Crystal Mountain and its partners to dedicate themselves to women’s golf,” said Justin Phillips, tournament director of the Michigan Section PGA, which organizes the championship.
As it has for several years, the Women’s Open field will feature professionals from across the country, as well as some international players and top amateur golfers from the state and beyond. All competition will take place on the resort’s signature golf course, Mountain Ridge.
“This championship always has a unique field, maybe even more unique this year, and it always makes for a great golf tournament,” Phillips said. “This is also our 22nd consecutive year at Crystal Mountain. It’s a special place and through their commitment to women’s golf and hosting such a great event every year, they have solidified their role as the host of one of the best women’s state opens in the country.”
The field of 79 golfers will play 54 holes of stroke play until Wednesday to determine the champion.
Crystal Mountain and the Michigan Section PGA welcome spectators free of charge.
Defending champion Valentina Haupt, an LPGA Epson Tour player, is not returning to defend her title, but several former champions are in the field. Elaine Crosby of Jackson, a longtime LPGA Tour player and two-time Women’s Open winner (2001, 2002), and three-time winner Suzy Green-Roebuck of Ann Arbor (1994, 1995 and 2016) will compete in the new Senior Division.
Crosby and Green-Roebuck are members of the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame in that area, as are elite amateurs Joan Garety of Ada and Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll of Haslett, the women’s golf coach at Michigan State University.
Garety will compete in the senior division, while Slobodnik-Stoll will vie for the overall Open title. Slobodnik-Stoll encourages many other members of the “Spartan family” to compete each year, including her daughter Olivia Stoll, a standout golfer at Grand Valley State University.
Other celebrities in the field include Stephanie Jennings of Walled Lake, president of the Michigan Section PGA and last year’s Michigan Women’s PGA Professional champion; current MSU golfer Shannon Kennedy, who won the Michigan Women’s Amateur Championship at Plum Hollow Country Club just a week ago; and that championship’s runner-up, Elise Fennell of Caledonia, who is heading to Illinois State in the fall.
Also in the mix are recent GAM Women’s Mid-Amateur champion and 2019 Michigan Women’s Amateur champion Elayna Bowser of Dearborn, and Anci Dy of Traverse City, the 2022 Michigan Women’s Amateur champion and member of the University of Indianapolis golf team that recently won the NCAA Division II national championship.
Several new pros from around the country are playing in the championship, which is also open to non-Michigan residents. Most of them recently completed their college careers and are playing in the State Open to test the professional terrain and prepare for qualifying for the LPGA and Epson Tour this winter.
Designed by noted Michigan architect Bill Newcomb, the Mountain Ridge course features dramatic elevation changes, natural sand flats and holes cut through towering tree tunnels.
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