USGA Golf champions on the 2025 U.S. Women’s Open at Erin Hills
USGA officials and golf champions talk about the 2025 U.S. Women’s Open at Erin Hills on May 5, 2025.
- Brookfield East senior Payton Haugen won the WIAA state girls golf individual title with a record-breaking score.
- Haugen’s 12-under-par 132 shattered the previous 36-hole tournament record of 138 strokes.
- This victory comes after Haugen finished as a runner-up in the previous year’s tournament.
- Homestead freshman Lola Appleby placed fifth in her state debut, and Lake Country Lutheran’s Aubrey Molaison tied for second in Division 2.
MADISON – After a WIAA state girls golf tournament record-tying score of 138 strokes over two rounds was not enough to win an individual state title in 2024, Brookfield East senior Payton Haugen left nothing to chance on Oct. 13-14 at University Ridge Golf Course.
Haugen built upon a 5-under-par score of 67 on day one that had her leading the field by four strokes by attacking her second round. Her front nine of four birdies and two bogeys was complemented by five birdies on the back nine to round out her tournament with a 7-under-par 65 on day two. After two runner-up finishes and three years of threatening for a title prior to her senior campaign, Haugen was well in command down the stretch with her closest competitors unable to keep pace with a record-breaking performance.
“I checked (the standings) one more time after everyone was done, and after that I was kind of left alone like, ‘I’ve got to play six more holes of my game and finish strong,’ ” Haugen said. “I wasn’t really going for anything after that. I was kind of more trying to be like a conservative player after that.”
Even with a double-digit advantage over her closest competitors, Haugen did not ease out of her fundamentals down the stretch. Her final approach on the par-4 18th hole left her with a 35-foot putt for birdie, and just as she had all week according to her coach Mike Serath, Haugen stuck to her process. She measured the green, lined up the putt from various distances between her lie and the hole and finally laid an even strike just past the cup for a just under two foot leave for par.
“The putter was hot today,” Serath said of Haugen’s short game. “That’s her normal routine. It’s just like you step up to a free throw line and you do the same routine, then shoot the free throw. She does her same routine of walking it out, looking at it and seeing the slope, measuring. It’s all on her.”
The senior’s 2025 tournament score of 12-under-par 132 blew away the WIAA state tournament 36-hole record of 138 strokes set by Casey Danielson of Osceola in 2008. Haugen and McKenna Nelson of Beaver Dam/Wayland Academy each tied Danielson’s record in 2024, leading to a playoff hole in which Nelson defeated Haugen. In 2025, a 10-stroke victory over Green Bay Preble junior Emma Cunningham (142) put Haugen in a class all her own.
“Is she human? I don’t think so,” Serath said. “This just cemented her as, if not the greatest, one of the greatest golfers this state has ever had.”
In the 55-year history of the WIAA state girls golf tournament, Haugen now has two of the four best 36-hole scores.
“That’s a really cool thing to think about. I definitely love this course, and so I think reflecting on having a good week two times in a row at state is good with all the pressure and all the circumstances and the weather. Being able to put together four good rounds under so much pressure is an honor for sure,” Haugen said.
For the Michigan State verbal commit, that pressure is finally gone. In its place, the much more manageable weight of an individual state gold medal.
Homestead’s Appleby places fifth in debut at state, DSHA’s Addison Roesch sixth
The Milwaukee area’s second-leading finisher in D1 was a breakout performance from Homestead freshman Lola Appleby of 5-over-par 149. Despite not playing University Ridge prior to her practice round Oct. 12, Appleby made an immediate impression on the medalist race with an eagle on the 424-yard par-5 second hole. The freshman navigated a treacherous tee shot with hazards abound to set up a pitching wedge she landed on the green about 30 feet from the hole. Sinking the putt highlighted a 2-under-par front nine that led a 3-over-par score of 75 that left her tied for fifth after day one.
“It just gave me a lot of momentum going on to the next couple holes. It just showed that I was doing well,” Appleby said.
Day two brought a well-rounded finish of 2-over-par 74 to bring her tournament score to 149. That placed her behind Haugen (132), Cunningham (142), Nelson (143) and DeForest junior Brinley Goninen (149). Appleby said she had no expectations beyond giving her best effort going into the tournament, but the finish was encouraging as she continues to grow in her career. Reflecting on her season overall, Appleby said her biggest improvement was in the mental facet of her game.
“I think overall I just matured on the course, just like you keep going, not overreacting to every single shot,” Appleby said.
Rounding out area appearances on the podium in D1 was the team title-leading effort of Divine Savior Holy Angels sophomore Addison Roesch (150). Also finishing in the top 20 were Arrowhead senior Nina Lang (151) in a tie for seventh, DSHA senior Ava Roesch (153) in a tie for ninth with Waukesha North/South/West sophomore Reagan Piacsek, Arrowhead sophomore Addison Johannes (155) in a tie for 13th, Hartford Union junior Rita Kuepper (156) in 15th, DSHA junior Zoe Gryniewicz (158) in 16th, Slinger junior Ashley Greenhill (159) in 17th and DSHA sophomore Julia Krueger (160) in 18th.
Lake Country Lutheran’s Molaison reaches state podium again
Lake Country Lutheran sophomore Aubrey Molaison was the breakout star of the 2024 D2 state girls golf tournament as a freshman, finishing tied for fourth individually with her score of 21-over-par 165 through 36 holes.
Her encore this year nearly threatened to knock off two-time reigning D2 individual champion Belle Kongshaug (148), who outlasted her competition for a third straight individual title. Molaison nevertheless shaved 12 strokes off her 2024 performance, following a 4-over-par 76 on day one with a 5-over-par 77 to tie Spooner junior Avery Voeltz and Westby/Viroqua senior Maddie Fletcher’s two-day scores of 153 strokes.
For her part, Molaison said she felt more confident with the course and her ability to calm her nerves the second time around at the state tournament.
“Overall I wasn’t too worried about the leaderboard and just focusing on playing my best golf, putting some good swings out there,” Molaison said. “Honestly, the competition was really tough this year and I think it’s really affirming to know that I can still play well in a tough field.”
Molaison led D2 area finishers that also included Catholic Memorial senior Sydney Koetterhagen (179) tied for 16th, St. Thomas More senior Kate Forton (188) in 20th and University School of Milwaukee senior Addie Darrow (193) in 23rd.
Full results from the WIAA state girls golf tournament are available at wiaawi.org.
