MSU's McCoy Biagioli makes history with second Michigan Amateur title

There was no rematch from the 2025 Michigan Amateur championship match.

Instead, 2024 winner McCoy Biagioli was the one running it back, winning the 115th Michigan Amateur at Eagle Eye Golf & Banquet Center on Friday afternoon.

Biagioli, 20, a senior-to-be at Michigan State, beat Grand Blanc’s Logan Price, 28, in the championship match, 7 and 5. Biagioli held a five-hole lead through the opening nine holes, and closed out the match on the 13th hole. It was the second Michigan Amateur championship for Biagioli, who also won the title in 2024 when he was playing for Ferris State, before transferring to Michigan State.

Biagioli, of White Lake, became the 15th golfer to win multiple Michigan Amateur titles, and the first to collect a second championship since Grand Rapids’ Tom Werkmeister in 2017.

Biagioli credited his friend and caddie, Marcus Kainhofer, who was on the bag for the 2024 Michigan Amateur and this year’s, too. He wasn’t on the bag in 2025, when Biagioli lost in the Round of 32.

“Marcus says he’s undefeated in the Amateur,” Biagioli said. “I guess I have to keep him on the bag.”

It was a grueling tournament for the 156 players who were in the field to start the tournament, battling extreme heat. The Golf Association of Michigan reported no medical issues during the week, but it definitely was a grind.

Biagioli made it more manageable by keeping his matches short. With a hot putter, he needed to play just 85 holes out of a possible 108 holes in match play.

He opened Friday with a 3-and-1 semifinal victory over Cheboygan’s PJ Maybank III, a University of Oklahoma golfer who lost in last year’s championship match. That was Biagioli’s closest match of the week.

In the other semifinal match, Price beat defending champion Caleb Bond of Williamston, 3 and 2. Bond, who was Biagioli’s teammate at both Ferris State and Michigan State and his roommate at Michigan State, was trying to become the first defending champ in 70 years. Bond’s home course is Eagle Eye.

Price was in the Michigan Amateur semifinals for the second time. The last time was in 2020, after which he became professional. He recently regained his amateur status, and made a spirited run before running out of gas.

“I’ve got a couple of years on these young guys and I was exhausted,” Price said. “I played a lot of golf, and it was hot. I got some bad breaks, but some good ones too, and I’m happy to have made it this far. Congrats to McCoy. He played great. I’m happy for him. He’s playing such great golf, and I don’t mind losing to great golf.”

With the win, Michigan State lays claim to the last four Michigan Amateur champions — August Meekhof in 2023, Biagioli in 2024 and 2026, and Bond in 2025. With the win Friday, Biagioli earned an exemption into the U.S. Amateur, set for Aug. 10-16 at Merion Golf Club in Pennsylvania.

Biagioli’s theme for the week was “all gas, no brakes,” and he kept that going in the championship match, hitting an 8-iron approach to a foot for birdie and a one-hole lead on the par-3 second. He won the third and fourth holes with pars, then had another shirt birdie at No. 7 to take a fourhole lead.

On the par-5 ninth, Biagioli hit a 5 iron from 257 yards to 20 feet, and made eagle for the five-hole lead as the finalist made the turn for home. He closed the match four holes later.

“I’ve been working on my swing and in stroke play I hit it really well, but I couldn’t make any putts. Then the putts started to fall,” Biagioli said. “I knew going into match play if I could get some putts to drop it would be really tough to beat me. Once match play started I had it going, and it was fun.

“I wouldn’t say easy because there are a lot of good players out here. Maybe it looked easy, but it was still difficult to do and especially playing and walking in this heat.”

tpaul@detroitnews.com

@tonypaul1984

This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: MSU’s McCoy Biagioli makes history with second Michigan Amateur title