College Previews: MSU Men
By Mike Carey
It will be a changing of the guard, so to speak, for the Michigan State men’s golf team as Head Coach Casey Lubahn and the Spartans take to the course for the first time in five years without 2021 U.S. Amateur winner and four-time All-Big Ten selection James Piot.
The Spartans do, however, return a deep and talented team coming off one of the best seasons in program history. MSU finished the season ranked No. 46 in the country by Golfstat, fell just 2-strokes shy of winning the Big Ten Championships and played in the NCAA Bryan Regional, the program’s fifth postseason appearance in the last six years.
MSU returns a pair of players who earned All-Big Ten honors last year and four players who appeared in all 13 events and played 37 rounds apiece last year.
Ashton McCulloch was named All-Big Second Team and was the Big Ten Freshman of the Year. He is just the third player in program history to earn that honor, joining Piot and current PGA Tour professional Ryan Brehm. McCulloch was third on the team with a 71.89 scoring average, the sixth-best single-season mark in program history, and posted nine top-20 finishes last year.
Also back is junior August Meekhof, who was named to the All-Big Ten Second Team and to the All-Big Ten Championships Team. He is coming off a strong summer that saw him win the 101st GAM Championship title and reach the semifinals of the Michigan Amateur. Meekhof was second on the team with a 71.84 scoring average, the fifth-best single-season mark in program history, and posted four top-10 finishes.
Troy Taylor II returns for his fifth season in East Lansing following a summer that saw him play in the U.S. Amateur and the John Shippen Invitational, and win a District Amateur title in Ohio.
Also back is junior Bradley Smithson, who posted a 73.14 scoring average and had three top-10 finishes. He enjoyed a strong summer, finishing as the top amateur at the Michigan PGA Tournament of Champions and reaching the Round of 16 in match play at the Michigan Amateur. He is also the 2021 Michigan Open champ.
