GAM PLAYER OF THE YEAR: McCoy Biagioli of White Lake
By Greg Johnson
McCoy Biagioli of White Lake was just the 11th golfer to pull off the state’s top amateur golf feat by winning the Michigan Amateur Championship and the GAM Championship in the same year.
“All my close friends are not surprised, they are very proud of me, but I know from around golf in Michigan most people were surprised I did it,” he said. “My close friends, my teammates that play with me all the time knew the things I could do. Those who didn’t know me so well just didn’t know what I was capable of.”
Biagioli, age 19 and a Ferris State University golfer, scored 881.5 points, and John Quigley of Sterling Heights and the Michigan Publinx Golf Association, this summer’s GAM Mid-Amateur Champion, finished second with 564.5 points. Julian Menser of South Lyon, a MSU golfer with 455 points, Drew Coble of Lake Orion, a Grand Valley State University golfer with 400 points, and Drew Miller of East Lansing, an incoming MSU golfer with 370 points, rounded out the top five.
At the Michigan Amateur, Biagioli set a first goal of making match play.
“I had never made match play, and I didn’t know what to expect but I always knew I could win matches,” he said. “My dad told me before I left that week for the tournament to bring home that (Staghorn Trophy). I thought it was possible. I knew I could win. I didn’t play that great in stroke play, but I made it to match play and won a match that wasn’t pretty. But I built on it, gave myself chances and pulled off big shots.”
He said the most memorable shot was a clutch 18-foot putt on hole 18 in the semifinals against Matt Zerbel of St. Joseph to win 1-up and move on to the final match with Jimmy Dales of Northville.
GAM senior director of competitions and USGA services, Ken Hartmann, said Biagioli was a surprise and not on anybody’s list of favorites to win the Michigan Amateur.
“I think we all learned about him that week,” he said. “I’m not surprised he is the Player of the Year. He went out and won the two biggest tournaments of the summer, so he definitely deserves it. It’s not an easy accomplishment.”
