Junior Players of the Year: East Lansing’s Drew Miller

By Greg Johnson

Drew Miller of East Lansing said his best golf of the summer was during the Michigan Junior State Amateur Stroke Play Championship on the Sundance course at A-Ga-Ming Resort.

“My game was really in good shape then,” he said. “I was 11-under and didn’t feel like I did anything special. I just had great control.”

Miller, a junior at East Lansing High School, had control of his game most of the summer, finished on top of the Golf Association of Michigan (GAM) Points List and has been named the GAM Junior Boys’ Player of the Year.

“It feels awesome to be Player of the Year, it was a goal for sure,” Miller said. “I saw friends win it the last few years and it gave me the drive to represent Michigan. Being on the top is great.”

Miller qualified for the U.S. Junior Amateur over the summer and had top finishes in AJGA tournaments as part of a busy schedule. He topped the points list with 1,018 points.

The Junior Boys’ Player of the Year the last two years, PJ Maybank III of Cheboygan, was second with 983 points. Max VanderMolen of Richland and Gull Lake Country Club, the winner of the Michigan Junior State Amateur, finished third with 773 points.

Miller has verbally committed to play collegiate golf at Michigan State University. He was introduced to the game at an early age by his father Kevin, an accomplished player who played collegiate golf at the University of Toledo. 

“I want to top this year; I want to win the Michigan Amateur next summer,” Miller said. “I like to set high goals and go after them.”

He said it wasn’t hard to commit to MSU’s golf program and end the recruiting process. “I felt it was the best place for my game to develop,” he said. “I liked the coaches, the atmosphere and really loved everything about it.”