MICHIGAN PGA WOMEN’S OPEN: Valentina Haupt Earns First Professional Win

By Tom Lang with Greg Johnson contributing

Valentina Haupt’s first professional win happened at the same place she made her debut as a professional in 2019 – at Michigan’s Crystal Mountain in the Michigan PGA Women’s Open.

“That works out perfect for me,” said the Weston, Fla., resident and LPGA Epson Tour player. “I’m so glad because I love coming here. I love this place, the people, my host family, everyone's so nice.”

Haupt, age 26, fired a final 7-under 65 in the third round for a 9-under 207 total on the Mountain Ridge course, topping two fellow Epson Tour players, Jillian Hollis of Rocky River, Ohio, and Jessica Welch of Thomasville, Ga. by two shots.

She earned $7,000 of the $40,000 purse and a Crystal Trophy for her first tournament win of any kind since her freshman year at Southern Mississippi University eight years ago.

Anika Dy of Traverse City, the former Crystal Mountain cart attendant who won the championship in 2019 and just finished her University of Michigan golf career, also shot 68 in the final for 210 total and a T4 with three others, including Sarah White of Caledonia. White, who came roaring from behind a year ago to win, tried to do so again. This time she came up short with a 68 for 210.

Dy plans to remain an amateur in the near future and focus on more schooling at the graduate level.

“I’m of course very comfortable here and with the course, so I’ll keep coming back here as long as I can,” Dy said. “The competition keeps getting better every year, and it’s so fun to see all my friends come here. It’s always a good time, and honestly, it’s just more fun than anything.

“Definitely the energy is different here and everyone shooting low; you don’t get that all the time so when it does happen it’s special,” Dy added about playing as an amateur in what’s a professional tournament. “Everyone here is on a different journey, and for me personally I have a lot of school left so I don’t think I could do both (with pro golf). Some part of me wishes I could do it, but I’ve chosen to play amateur events and finish out grad school.”

Dy was runner up last year in the Michigan Women’s Amateur to her younger sister, Anci, who scored 10-over in the three rounds at Crystal Mountain, a ways back in the pack at T26.

“I started really good,” the winner Haupt said of her front-nine 6-under 30, which included an eagle-2 on the par 4 No. 7 hole courtesy of a 123-yard nine-iron shot that holed out. “Then mid-round I was like, okay, you know you’re playing good, just keep going. I never really thought I was going to be where I am right now, but it worked out because I just played freely pretty much.”

Haupt, a native of Chile who with her family has lived in the U.S. for 11 years, said she surprised herself considerably this week. She was sidelined with a fractured hand from last October through May and didn’t touch a golf club.

“So, I’ve struggled some this year and my comfort level was not high coming into this,” she said. “I never thought I was going to win. So, it’s a good surprise. You know, sometimes when you least expect, you play better.”

It was the third trip to the Michigan PGA Women’s Open for Haupt and her third time staying with Phyllis and Scott Kladder who are Crystal Mountain members and live adjacent to the golf course. The 65 was also her low round on Mountain Ridge.

“It’s like our kid won,” Phyllis Kladder said just before the trophy ceremony.

Haupt, who played for her native Chile in the 2015 Pan American Games, said things lined up from the start on the final day.

“The first tournament I played as a pro was here, and I was paired with Jessica (Porvasnik) and today I was paired with Jessica again,” she said. “And I remember my first time here I was really nervous. She was so nice and played a really good round. I was like wow, this is impressive. So today it was like coming full circle. It was so much fun and so great to see how it worked out.”