THOMPSONVILLE – Crystal Mountain, a family-owned four-season resort with two golf courses and a dedication to families 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 will mark the 22nd consecutive year at Crystal Mountain for the championship, and this year will include a new Senior Championship division and competition for players over the age of 50. Also, this year the Michigan Section PGA is also holding its Michigan Women’s PGA Professional Championship for section professionals in conjunction with the Open.
The Great Lakes Sports Commission is partnering with Crystal Mountain and sponsoring the Senior division competition as well as hosting a special reception Monday night for all the tournament players.
“You could say it’s three tournaments in one, but really it’s a response to what the players want from the championship and Crystal Mountain and its partner’s willingness to embrace women’s golf,” said Justin Phillips, the tournament director of the Michigan Section PGA, which administers the championship.
As it has for several years, the Women’s Open field will include touring professionals from across the country as well as some international players, and top amateur golfers from the state and elsewhere. All competition will be on the signature course at the resort, Mountain Ridge.
“This championship always has a unique field, this year maybe a little more unique, and it always makes for a great golf tournament,” Phillips said. “This is also our 22nd consecutive year at Crystal Mountain. It is a special place and through their commitment to women’s golf and putting on such a great event every year they have certainly solidified their role as the home of one of the best women’s state opens in the country.”
The field of 79 golfers will play 54 holes of stroke play through Wednesday to decide a champion.
Crystal Mountain and the Michigan Section PGA welcomes spectators free of charge.
Defending champion Valentina Haupt, an LPGA Epson Tour player, is not returning to defend her title, but some past champions are in the field. Elaine Crosby of Jackson, a longtime LPGA Tour player and two-time Women’s Open champion (2001, 2002), and three-time champion Suzy Green-Roebuck of Ann Arbor (1994, 1995 and 2016) will compete in the new Senior Division.
Crosby and Green-Roebuck are Michigan Golf Hall of Fame members in the field as are elite amateurs Joan Garety of Ada and Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll of Haslett, the Michigan State University women’s golf coach.
Garety will compete in the Senior Division while Slobodnik-Stoll will compete for the overall Open title. Slobodnik-Stoll annually urges many others in the “Spartan family” to compete, including her daughter, Olivia Stoll, a standout golfer at Grand Valley State University.
Other notables in the field include the Michigan Section PGA President Stephanie Jennings of Walled Lake, last year’s Michigan Women’s PGA Professional champion, current MSU golfer Shannon Kennedy, who just a week ago won the Michigan Women’s Amateur Championship at Plum Hollow Country Club, and the runner-up in that championship, Elise Fennell of Caledonia, who is headed to Illinois State in the fall.
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 a member of the University of Indianapolis golf team that won the recent NCAA Division II national championship, are also in the field.
Some new professionals from around the country are playing in the championship that is open to non-Michigan residents. Most of them have recently completed their college careers and play in state opens to test the professional waters and prepare for LPGA and Epson Tour qualifying this winter.
The Mountain Ridge course was designed by noted Michigan architect Bill Newcomb. It features some dramatic elevation changes, natural sand areas and holes cut through towering tunnels of trees.
ABOUT CRYSTAL MOUNTAIN: Established in 1956, Crystal Mountain is a family-owned, four-season resort destination located 28 miles southwest of Traverse City and a short drive from Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The 1,500-acre resort features lodging, dining, downhill and cross-country skiing, two championship golf courses, shopping, award-winning Crystal Spa, Michigan’s only alpine slide, Peak Fitness, the Park at Water’s Edge, Michigan Legacy Art Park, weddings, a conference center, and real estate options.
SPONSORS: The tournament’s presenting sponsor is Coca-Cola, a long-time partner of Crystal Mountain. Click sponsors to see a list of the great support that makes the championship possible.
CRYSTAL MOUNTAIN CONTACT: Brittney Primeau, Director of Communications, 231-378-2091, brittneyprimeau@crystalmountain.com Link to Crystal Mountain’s 2022 Photos and Video
INFORMATION: Results can be found by clicking Leaderboard at michiganpga.com. Justin Phillips of the Michigan PGA is the tournament director and is available at 517-641-7421 or jphillips@michiganpga.com.
NOTE MEDIA: You are invited to cover the tournament live. Please contact Greg Johnson at 616-560-8995 or gregeeee24@gmail.com with your coverage plans and parking, workspace and course transportation will be provided. For those who are unable to cover the tournament live, Johnson will email a release and photo for publication each day.
ATTACHED: A photo from behind the tee at No. 18 on the Mountain Ridge course during a previous Michigan PGA Women’s Open Championship.