BYU golfer Annick Haczkiewicz has integrated her love of golf into her life, from hitting the course with her father to including golf in her post-BYU career and using it as a tool to push through difficult times.
She grew up in Las Vegas, where her parents were performers in the original Cirque Du Soleil. Arts have always been a part of her life, with her sister now a professional ballerina in Canada and Haczkiewicz even starting in ballroom dance before forging a new path upon falling in love with golf.
In high school, Haczkiewicz earned the Nevada state title, participated in the IMG Junior Worlds, finished first at regionals three years in a row and reached the 16th round at U.S. Girls Junior.
Haczkiewicz was playing competitively in junior golf tournaments when she caught the eye of BYU’s women’s golf head coach, Carrie Roberts. Roberts watched her play, saw the skill she had and knew Haczkiewicz would be an asset to her team.
“She was a really good player,” Roberts said. “She had a great long ball, and you could tell she wanted to be better.”
Haczkiewicz also got offers from UNLV and Arizona State, but when she toured BYU it was a wholly different experience.
“I came here, and it was just, honestly, hands-down the best coach out of all of the visits I went on,” Haczkiewicz said about her visit to campus. “The culture and the environment of how much the administration, the donors and everyone at BYU, how much they care about you and want you to succeed made BYU so incredible.”
In her 2018–19 freshman season, Haczkiewicz had one top-10 finish at the West Coast Conference Championships and two other top-25 finishes as well.
Haczkiewicz’s game showed even more promise in 2019–20, as she had four top-10 finishes and two more in the top-25 before COVID-19 brought a premature end to the season.
After Haczkiewicz’s sophomore year was cut short, she went home to Las Vegas until the fall. Coming back the following year, Haczkiewicz wasn’t seeing the same success with which she had finished the previous year.
Roberts explained that going home for such a long period didn’t allow her to practice the same way. “She had some mechanics she had to work on, but she never gave up,” Roberts said.
Haczkiewicz would feel good in practice, but once a tournament would roll around it felt like she always had a setback. She continued to perform under the pressure and always kept pushing forward.
Haczkiewicz said her turning point was after the WCC tournament in 2021. She struggled through the last five holes and was determined to go all out and practice over the summer as much as she could.
She wanted to prove in the next season that individually — and with her team — she could come back after the hard loss and season.
Over the summer she competed in the Southern Nevada Women’s Amateur Tournament and took home the championship.
Starting the 2021–22 season, Haczkiewicz was determined to prove herself.
In her first tournament of the season, she played well and tied for 13th. In the remainder of the first half of the season, Haczkiewicz also finished tied for 13th again and tied for fourth right before the holiday break.
Starting the second half of the season, Haczkiewicz dominated at the Texas State Invitational, finishing five-under-par and earning first place individually and as a team.
“Annick is the best teammate to have,” friend and teammate Allysha Mae Mateo said. “Her ability to keep working hard and push through the tough things in life, getting back up every time, is motivation to all of us. Her strength in that aspect is proof that if you work hard and stay the course, things will be where they need to be.”
Both Roberts and Mateo said Haczkiewicz’s strength and determination are essential to the team and that she’s a player and teammate you can always count on.
Haczkiewicz plans on exercising her extra year of eligibility to play a fifth season at BYU as she finishes her degree in sports broadcasting and journalism with a minor in business.
“My dream job would be working for the Golf Channel,” Haczkiewicz said. “If you know Alexandra O’Laughlin, her job exactly is like my dream job. I don’t think I could ever leave golf behind.”
