It is not easy being number one. There is a lot of pressure that gets put on you because people expect you to perform every single time. To be able to do this consistently takes a drive and attitude that most people don’t have. Though, this is exactly what Payton Haugen has, and she has been performing towards the top all season. The Brookfield, Wisconsin native is currently in first place for the Hurricane Junior Golf Tour Player of the Year Point Rankings for the Girls 14-18 division. She most recently dominated at the Buffalo Grove Junior Open, where she shot a 147 and finished 11 strokes ahead of nearest competitor.
Haugen has enjoyed the ability to travel to different places across the country that the Hurricane Junior Golf Tour provides as she said, “I love getting to travel to new golf courses for the different HJGT events. Since I live in Wisconsin, I play in tournaments in FL in the winter and the Chicagoland area in the Spring.”
Payton Haugen’s Dominate 2024 Season
Haugen opened up the year at the 2024 Hurricane Cup, where she achieved a first-place finish and was just 8 strokes over par in a commanding showing in Florida. In April, she achieved back-to-back victories at the Mission Inn Spring Junior Open and the Cantigny Junior Open. A little tip that she has found to lead her to this great success is that, “outside of my normal practice routines, I always try to do a practice round the day before a tournament. I have found that to be very helpful.”
In May, she had an impressive second-place finish at the Chicagoland Junior Open at Pine Meadow, where she shot just five over par on the weekend. She got back to the win column in last weekend’s tournament at the Buffalo Grove Junior Open. She told us after the tournament that she felt great about the win and “the highlight was shooting (-4) for a 69 on Sunday when the weather improved.” While Haugen was modest and credited the weather for this amazing round, it was clearly a lot more than that as the next best round Sunday was a +5.
Keep an eye out for Payton Haugen’s name at the North American Cup in August, as she looks to win back-to-back HJGT events again!
What’s Next For Payton Haugen?
As Haugen heads into her junior year of high school, she is sure to take it one step at a time and enjoy the journey. At the same time, she has aspirations to play Division I College Golf, and she is well on her way to completing this goal!
Golf runs in the Haugen family, as she has two sisters who play golf as well, and her “older sister Madison will be playing for Loyola (Chicago) this fall.” With the way that Payton Haugen is golfing right now, she seems to be on the path to be able to follow in Madison’s footsteps!
Read more about other standout golfers in our Player Spotlight Section.