Michigan Women's Open, Island Resort Championship highlight big week for women's golf in Michigan

For 10 days, the women stole the spotlight of Michigan's golf scene.

Perfect timing, too, because the U.S. Senior Open at Indianwood Golf & Country Club is right around the corner.

Last Wednesday, Katie Burnett used the Michigan Women's Open as her professional debut to prepare for this week's U.S. Women's Open at the American Club in Kohler, Wis.
Crystal Mountain Resort's Mountain Ridge was kind to the 22-year-old from Brunswick, Ga., who recently graduated from South Carolina. She shot a final round 3-under-par 69 for a record-setting 11-under-par 205 total and resounding 10-shot win. It was an impressive show in the 10th anniversary of Crystal Mountain hosting the event (in 19 years).

“I feel pretty awesome right now,” she told tournament PR man Greg Johnson. “I don’t know if I can describe it. It hasn’t quite hit me yet. It gives me a lot of confidence. It was goal of mine to come out and get the confidence and momentum going into the U.S. Open.”

Her 205 was the lowest in tournament history, besting a 10-under performance by 2007 winner Lisa Fernandes. Runner-up Laura Bavaird of Grosse Ile was the only other golfer under par in the 54-hole $36,000 event. Bavaird closed with a 1-over-par 73 for 1-under-par 215, and then headed to Harris, Mich., in the Upper Peninsula for the Symetra Tour's Island Resort Championship at Sweetgrass Golf Club at the Island Resort and Casino. She didn't fare so well there against a tougher, more international field, tying for 46th.

Leah Wigger of Louisville, Ky., shot 73-66-70 to finish at 209 to earn $16,500 of the $110,000 prize money. She won by three shots over three players on the 6,286-yard Sweetgrass to cap off the biggest 10 days of the summer for the women.

Former Spartan cashes in at Michigan Women's Open, Island Resort Championship at Sweetgrass

It's been a great week for women's professional golf in Michigan.

Hopefully these two back-to-back events -- last week's $100,000 Island Resort Championship presented by Delta County Chamber of Commerce in the Upper Penninsula June 24-26, followed by the Michigan PGA Women's Open at Crystal Mountain Resort June 27-29 -- can continue to piggy-back off one another to attract more top players.

Nobody took better advantage of the two tournaments in such close proximity as former Michigan State University star Laura Kueny of Whitehall. The former Big Ten Player of the year shot a final round 69 to win the Michigan PGA Women’s Open, just days after finishing in seventh at the Island Resort Championship.

“It was another win for the Spartans and there’s no other place I’d like to get my first win than Michigan,” she said after completing rounds of 71-71-69 (211) on Crystal Mountain's wonderful Mountain Ridge course.

Kueny was tied with Ashley Tait of Littleton, Colo., and Jean Bartholomew of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., going into the final round. But her “short game came through” while Bartholomew and Tait were slow out of the gate. Bartholomew’s first tee ball shot into the woods resulting in a double bogey.

Kueny's win at the Michigan PGA Women’s Open earned $5,500. She will continue to play on the Futures Tour and enter LPGA Q-school in the Fall. Kueny shot 74-68-73 for a 215 total to earn $2,968 at Sweetgrass.

Tait has also had two good weeks. She won more money for finishing second at the Michigan Open ($4,400) than she did winning the Texas Women’s Open the week prior ($4,300). Maybe more aspiring LPGA Tour players will notice that the Michigan Women's Open is only a notch below a Futures Tour event and remains one of the country's top state-wide events. Unfortunately, only 63 players participated in the Michigan Women's Open, coming from from 11 states and Brazil. Amazingly, there were more amateurs (38) than pros (25) in the field.

As for the Futures Tour event, the first in Michigan since 2005, it was a solid success, especially for its new venue, the Sweetgrass course at Island Resort & Casino in Harris near Escanaba.

Teenager Stephanie Kim earned her first professional victory in wire-to-wire fashion.
The 2011 LPGA and LPGA Futures Tour rookie carded rounds of 67-72-70 to win by two shots at 7-under 209, securing the trophy, a cardbook check for $15,400, and a handmade Native-American blanket. Kim edged runner-up Jane Rah (70) of Torrance, Calif., who finished at 5-under 211, and Hanna Kang (72) of Seoul, South Korea, who finished third at 4-under 212.

“It wasn’t as hard leading the pack as it was hitting the fairway today,” said Kim, 19, of Bayside, N.Y., who hit only nine fairways in regulation in the final round. “I was scraping it around, but making a lot of putts. When my swing fell apart, I guess I just dug deep.”

First Island Resort Championship at Sweetgrass on tap

For the first time since 2005, the Futures Tour will visit Michigan. The Island Resort Championship at Sweetgrass is set for June 24-26 at Sweetgrass Golf Club in Harris in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

It's also the first major pro golf championship in the U.P. since the Canadian Tour's Bay Mills Open ended in 2004. Solid crowds are expected to attend. Tickets are $10 for all three days.

It's too bad Futures Tour events don't get any TV coverage because for many Michigan golf fans it will be their first look at the Sweetgrass course, designed by Paul Albanese of Plymouth.

Here are some story lines to watch:

* A number of professional players with Michigan ties will be in the field, including: SHASTA AVERYHARDT of Flint; LAURA BAVAIRD (Western Michigan University) of Grosse Ile; LAURA KUENY (Michigan State University) of Whitehall; ALISON MEYER (Ferris State University) of Duluth, Minn.; rookie AIMEE NEFF (Michigan State) of Carmel, Ind.; and ELISE SWARTOUT (Western Michigan) of Ann Arbor. AVERYHARDT became only the fourth African-American in the history of the LPGA Tour by qualifing through the LPGA’s annual “Q-School” last December. She has competed on both tours throughout the 2011 season.

* Continuing with the minority theme, Native American Cheryl Mitchell of Strongville, Ohio, was invited as a local exemption. Mitchell, 32, a mother of two, turned professional in 2004 after winning the 2003 Ontario Women’s Amateur Championship. She is a member of the CN Canadian Women’s Tour. As a college player at Kent State University, she was twice named to the All-MAC Conference First Team. She also was named to the Mid-Continent Conference First Team twice while attending Michigan’s Oakland University for graduate studies. Mitchell represents the Potawatomi Nation, which owns Sweetgrass Golf Club and the Island Resort & Casino.

* The second local exemption, awarded to a local amateur, went to Marquette Senior High School player Carley Saint-Onge. The three-time defending Michigan High School Athletic Association Upper Peninsula Division I medalist will play at Michigan State University this fall.

4. Four tournament winners from the current 2011 LPGA Futures Tour will play: KATHLEEN EKEY of Sharon Township, Ohio, winner of last week’s Ladies Titan Tire Challenge in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; LISA FERRERO of Lodi, Calif., winner of the Symetra Classic in San Antonio, Texas; TZU-CHI LIN of Taichung, Taiwan, winner of the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic in Winter Haven, Fla., and RYANN O’TOOLE of San Clemente, Calif., winner of the Santorini Riviera Nayarit Classic in Mexico. O’Toole is a three-time tournament winner on the LPGA Futures Tour and a former contestant on the Golf Channel’s “Big Break” show. She is also a 2011 LPGA rookie and plays on both tours. Eight of the top-10 money winners on the current 2011 money list will be in the field.

* Two "Big Break" winners will be in the field. Model and professional golfer BLAIR O’NEAL of Tempe, Ariz., also will be in the field. O’Neal, who won the Golf Channel’s “Big Break Dominican Republic” last fall in a field of men and women professionals, was featured in Sports Illustrated’s annual 2011 “swim suit issue” in a full-page ad for Cobra Golf. O’Neal played collegiately at Arizona State University. CARLING COFFING of Middletown, Ohio, won last year’s “Big Break Sandals Resorts” show.

For more, visit sweetgrassgolfclub.com/championship.