THOMPSONVILLE – She might hail from Thomasville, Ga., but she feels right at home in Thompsonville of the Mitten State, and specifically at Crystal Mountain.
LPGA Epson Tour player Jessica Welch shot a closing 2-under-par 70 on the Mountain Ridge Course Wednesday and for the second consecutive year was a wire-to-wire winner in the 32nd Michigan PGA Women’s Open Championship presented by Coca-Cola.
Her 9-under 211 total was four shots better than runner-up Ana Murcia, a Michigan State University golfer from Colombia, who shot 71 for 211 and was the low amateur in the championship.
The 31-year-old Welch, who earned $8,000 for the win, is only the second golfer to win consecutive Michigan Women’s Opens, and the first to do it in 24 years. Elaine Crosby of Jackson, who played this week in the Senior Division, won consecutive championships in 2000 and 2001 after her long LPGA career.
Welch, who was 2-under on the front nine after almost holing out her approach shot on the par 5 ninth hole, said her theme for the week was coming home, and in a trophy ceremony speech thanked God, the Michigan PGA, 23-year host Crystal Mountain, her fellow competitors and her local host housing family, Steve and Pam Perry.
“I’m not sure everyone realizes how lonely it can get out here on the road playing golf, and how many pits you can find yourself in,” she said. “So, to have a place like this to come back to, and to get to see Pam and Steve every year, you just kind of get to breathe easier for a week. And I can’t tell you how special that is, and how special of a place Crystal Mountain is, and I hope we get to come back for a lot more years.”
Murcia, who was playing in the final group, said Welch never faltered and that she learned a lot playing with an Epson Tour player.
“I wanted to make her feel a little bit of pressure, but I’m pretty sure she didn’t feel much,” she said. “She had a good lead, and she doesn’t make many mistakes. I feel like I learned a lot from her and it’s good for me to be around pro players like that.”
Welch said she enjoys playing the Mountain Ridge course and it shows in her game.
“I was talking with Ana (Murcia) about it, I think on 18, and I told her you can score on this course, but you better keep it in play,” she said. “If you start going left and right and you’re scrambling, especially on days like Monday where it was super windy, you appreciate par and you appreciate having birdie putts.”
Olivia Stoll of Haslett, a Grand Valley State University golfer, shot 72 for 2-under 214 to finish third, and Elise Fennell of Caledonia, an Illinois State University golfer, shot 72 for 215 to finish fourth.
Two golfers closed at even-par 216, Saginaw Valley State University golfer Brook Herbstreit of Fenton, who shot 71, and Josee Doyon of Boynton Beach, Fla., who closed with a 68 and was second among the professionals in the field.
Welch said the key shot for her was at No. 9.
“I made a bogey on No. 8 with a bad wedge shot, and then on nine I hit a wedge that backed up and almost went in the hole. It left me a two-inch putt for birdie and getting to 2-under with nine holes to go, I just kind of exhaled a bit more.”
She said the check for winning will help as she heads to Indiana and back to the Epson Tour.
“Any time you can remove one stress factor it makes a world of difference, especially in this lifestyle, and especially the monetary impact,” she said. “It helps you breathe easier and swing easier and goodness knows that helps.”
Welch wasn’t the only repeat winner on the day.
Suzy Green-Roebuck of Ann Arbor, the former LPGA player and only three-time winner of the Michigan PGA Women’s Open, won the Senior Division competition for the second consecutive year.
Green rallied from behind with a 4-under 68 and finished with an 8-under 208 total, topping Cheryl Fox of Fostoria Country Club in Ohio by four shots. Fox, who had a hole-in-one in a 64 in the second round, shot 74 to close. Canada’s Gail Graham shot 69 for 219 and third.
Green, a Michigan Golf Hall of Famer, said she enjoyed the Senior Division competition and opportunity to compete.
“I thought Cherly was going to shoot 59 yesterday with the way she kept pouring in putts, so I knew today that I had to get it under 70 and see what might happen,” she said. “I played well, missed a few easy birdie putts early. Then I made like a 60-footer for birdie on No. 12 for birdie that got me closer, and then on 17 I made a not-so-easy birdie putt from about 12-feet. That was big and it always feels great to win and to come up here to Crystal Mountain.”