Folds of Honor Collegiate and Michigan Men – with 2 Tournament wins – Dominate Early Season Golf News

By Tom Lang

    GRAND HAVEN – The 5th annual Folds of Honor built on the past success to have one of the best tournaments in its short history at American Dunes Golf Club.

    Top men’s and women’s teams from across the country competed for something bigger than themselves – to honor those military and first responders who have died or been injured in service to our country.

    Nothing impressed me more during my visit of the 3-day Golf Channel telecast than the coaches and players who knelt and/or prayed at the white cross between the 17th green and 18th tee to show their ultimate respect for the acts of service of others.

    The winning trophies are pretty darn cool too – U.S. Fighter Pilot Helmets – won by women’s co-champions Haruhi Nakatani of team champion Florida State and Duke freshman Mia Hammond, tied at 6-under par.

    On the men’s side, Georgia Tech won convincingly as a team, and the medalist was their freshman Max Emberson, who held off some later afternoon charges to win his collegiate debut wire-to-wire with an 11-under 202 (63-72-67), two shots ahead of Texas’ Daniel Bennett.

    “There were a lot of close calls up to this point and I think reflecting through those experiences brought me to this tournament,” Emberson said. “We were playing for something bigger than ourselves this week, representing the Folds of Honor and our past and present services members. So, every time you hit a good or bad shot out here, you got to remember that and realize it’s all going to be okay.”

    Michigan State Men:

    Michigan State’s men’s golf team had three players finish among the top-20 as the Spartan team tied for sixth place with Ohio State at 15-under par 849.

    MSU was in second place after the first round, fell to a tie for eighth after the second but bounced back with a 5-under par 283 in the third to finish (279-292-278).

    Junior Julian Menser was the leader throughout for the Spartans and closed with a 3-under par 68. It was his second 3-under par over three rounds and he tied for ninth place overall at 4-under par 209 (68-73-68), the second-best 54-hole score of his career.

    Senior McCoy Biagioli tied for 14th place at 2-under par 211 (69-73-69). Senior Lorenzo Pinili paced Michigan State with the second-best round in the entire field, firing a 6-under par 65 in the final round, the best round of his career and tied for the 5th-lowest 18-hole score in program history. He tied for 18th place overall at 1-under par 212 (71-76-65).

    The Folds of Honor Collegiate, is an idea created by MSU men’s golf Head Coach Casey Lubahn along with Lt. Col. Dan Rooney, a former Kansas golfer who founded the Folds of Honor.

    Michigan State Women:

     Michigan State’s women’s golf team finished in 7th place among 12 teams at the Folds of Honor Collegiate.

    The Spartans fired a 5-under par 283 in the final round, their best score of the tournament and tied for the second-best team round of the day.

    Senior Keeley Marx fired a career-best 5-under par 67 to lead the way for the Spartans. Marx finished her final round with six birdies and 11 pars, with her 67 tied for the 20th-best 18-hole score in program history.  

    Sophomore Lucia Valderrama shot a 1-under par 71 on Tuesday and finished in 24th place overall at 4-over par 220 (74-75-71). Sophomore Sarisa Pojanalai and senior Ana Sofia Murcia tied for 26th place at 6-over par 222.

    Michigan State will next host the Mary Fossum Invitational Sept. 20-21 at Forest Akers West in East Lansing.

    Michigan Men Open the Season with Two Tournament Wins

    By Tom Wywrot

    For the first time in 18 years, the University of Michigan men's golf team posted back-to-back team victories, adding the program's first back-to-back individual medalists to complete a historic weekend at Sage Run Golf Club over the Labor Day holiday.

    The Wolverines carded a 276 (-12) final-round total on Monday, Sept. 7, finishing at 823 (41-under par) to cruise to the Island Resort Intercollegiate title by 25 shots. Junior RJ Arone captured his first collegiate title with a career-low 202 (-14), while freshman Spencer Shropshire was the runner-up at 204 (-12) leading three Wolverines among the top 10.

    After opening the fall season with a career-best tie for third, Arone took command at Sage Run. His 202 (-14) tied for the fourth-lowest 54-hole total in program history, as he recorded just two bogeys across 54 holes to go with 16 birdies and 36 pars. He opened with a 66 (-6), added a 67 (-5) and closed with a 69 (-3).

    Michigan's victory follows the prior weekend's season-opening title at the Virtues Intercollegiate, marking back-to-back team wins. The Island Resort triumph is the seventh team title under head coach Zach Barlow, while Arone's victory represents the program's 13th individual medalist crown during his tenure.

    In his first collegiate start, Shropshire came out firing, playing his opening nine holes at 4-under before closing with a 69 (-3) in the first round. He followed with a career-low 67 (-5) to sit fourth after the opening day at 136 (-8). Saving his best for last, Shropshire carded a bogey-free 68 (-4) in the final round, recording 14 pars and four birdies to earn a runner-up finish at 204 (-12).

    Fresh off his season-opening victory at the Virtues Intercollegiate, junior Nilay Naik tied for 11th with a 211 (-5) total at Island Resort. Junior Dean Muratore finished two spots ahead of Naik, tying for ninth at 210 (-6). Sophomore Jordan Hwang (74-73-68) helped all five Wolverine starters finish under par, tying for 23rd at 215 (-1).

    The Wolverines will look to make it three straight victories as they head down U.S. 23 to Toledo, Ohio, for the Inverness Intercollegiate, Sept. 13-15. The three-day, 54-hole event will be held at the prestigious Inverness Club.

 Eastern Michigan Men Set Records

   Eastern Michigan University men’s golf team opened its 2026-27 season in impressive fashion by breaking team and individual program records as the Eagles tied for fifth at the Bombs Darts Birds Collegiate at Whirlwind Golf Club at Wild Horse Pass in Chandler, Ariz., Sept. 7-8. Eastern had all seven of its entrants finish under par in the two-day, three-round event with Parin Sarasmut tying the program record at 16-under 200 in his collegiate debut.

    Eastern posted a three-round team total of 34-under (273-285-272=830) to share fifth place with host USC, who entered ranked No. 27 according to Golfweek and No. 22 according to Golf Channel. The Eagles also bested one other team that entered the event ranked in the Golf Channel Top 30 as No. 28 California was 12th overall at 27-under 837.

    Sarasmut (Bangkok, Thailand/Srinakharinwirot) was the story of the week for EMU as he finished second in the individual standings at 16-under 200 (66-68-66), just one stroke off the individual title won by Jake Lile (Arkansas State). Competing as an individual in his collegiate debut, Sarasmut tied Tyler Lewis for a pair of Eastern records as his 200 strokes tied Lewis’ mark second in 2018 at the Loyola Intercollegiate.