White set to defend Michigan PGA Women’s Open title
THOMPSONVILLE >> Sarah White of Grand Rapids is in her third year as a professional, leading the LPGA Epson Tour in average driving distance at over 303 yards a swing, and loving that she gets to be home in Michigan for a few weeks.
“Nothing beats Michigan golf and nothing will ever beat Michigan golf,” she said. “The courses are perfect, the weather is perfect and the people are great. I have so much to be thankful for being from Michigan and getting to come home to play.”
White, 25, heads a field of professionals, amateurs, players with Epson Tour status like her and golfers from around the country starting Monday when Crystal Mountain hosts the 30th Michigan PGA Women’s Open Championship presented by Coca-Cola, Monday through Wednesday, June 26-28.
The resort is hosting the Women’s Open for the 21st time on its signature course, Mountain Ridge, and recognizing the tournament’s 30th anniversary with a party on Monday night. Andy Matthews from sponsoring Neuropeak Pro, who works with golfers on several tours, will speak about the breathing, heart rate and brain performance training his company offers.
“This championship always has a unique field and it makes for great tournament golf each time,” said Justin Phillips, tournament director for the Michigan Section PGA, which created and has administered the championship from the start. “This is also our 21st 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 81 golfers will play 54 holes of stroke play through Wednesday to determine a champion, and the professionals in the field will compete for a share of the estimated $40,000 purse. A cut to the low 70 players and ties will follow the second round.
Crystal Mountain and the Michigan Section PGA welcomes spectators free of charge.
White, currently 50th on the Epson money list with one top 10, will play in the Island Resort Championship in the Upper Peninsula’s Harris through the weekend, and then head to Crystal Mountain for her Monday tee time.
“I’m super excited to defend,” she said. “I don’t want to get too confident or come off cocky because I know there are a lot of great golfers in the event,
but I love playing that course and feel confident that I can do well. Distance helps on that course. It’s an advantage to have wedges into a lot of holes and I can take advantage of the par 5s.”
That’s exactly what White did a year ago, firing a 9-under 63 in the final round to rally from five shots behind to win. She made eight birdies, an eagle and just one bogey to post a 6-under 210 total for the three days, and won by four shots over mini-tour professional Jessica Welch of Thomasville, Ga.
White is not the only former champion in this year’s field. Sarah Burnham, the 2020 champion and former LPGA Tour player who is now the head women’s golf coach at Oakland University, is also competing.
Also returning is 2019 champion Anika Dy of Traverse City, the former Crystal Mountain cart attendant and recent University of Michigan graduate who last year was the runnerup in the Michigan Women’s
Amateur Championship to her younger sister Anci, a University of Indianapolis golfer. Anci is in the Open, too.
Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll, the head women’s golf team coach at Michigan State, Michigan Golf Hall of Fame member and the winningest amateur golfer in Michigan history, is playing once again and heading the usual group of golfers with MSU ties. Her daughter, Olivia Stoll, a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year for Grand Valley State University, is also in the field.
Mikaela Schulz, a University of Michigan golfer and the 2021 GAM champion, is playing, as is Julia Stevenson of Highland, the 2020 GAM champion. Michigan Section PGA vice-president Stephanie Jennings, who is also the women’s golf coach at Eastern Michigan University, is in the field, and Elayna Bowser of Dearborn, now a professional and the 2019 Michigan Women’s Amateur winner, is teeing it up as well.
Some new professionals from around the country are playing in the championship that is open to nonMichigan residents. Most of them have recently completed their college careers and play in state opens as a way to test the professional waters and prepare for LPGA and Epson Tour qualifying this winter.
The Mountain Ridge course, which will be played at par 72 and set up at about 6,115 yards for the championship, 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.