Lorenzo Pinili Sets Multiple Records at 114TH Michigan Amateur
By Greg Johnson
CHARLEVOIX – Lorenzo Pinili of Rochester Hills made Michigan Amateur Championship history at the place where much of the tournament’s history has been made.
The 20-year-old Michigan State University golfer shot a course and tournament record 7-under-par 63 for a two-round tournament-record 130 total and has earned medalist honors in the stroke play portion of the 114th state championship at Belvedere Golf Club.
Pinili earned the No. 1 seed heading into the match play. The medalist has their name added to the prestigious Chuck Kocsis Medalist Trophy.
“It’s definitely a nice feeling to say I have a record … just because I know this tournament is really prestigious in Michigan,” he said. “I still have my goal this week, though, to win the championship, and I know to do that in match play you have to take it one hole at a time, one shot at a time.”
PJ Maybank of Cheboygan at the University of Oklahoma, the initial co-leader with Pinili after the first round, shot 65 in the second round of stroke play for 132 to stand second. Defending champion McCoy Biagioli of White Lake and Michigan State shot 66 for 134.
Pinili’s place in Michigan Amateur history should break down like this:
The 63 is the lowest round in stroke play qualifying in history. It equals a 63 medalist Andrew Chapman of Traverse City shot in 2014 at Belvedere, but the course was played at a significantly reduced yardage and par due to flooding. The non-asterisk record for 18 holes during stroke play in the GAM records was 64 shot by Andy Ruthkoski of Muskegon in 2003, who was medalist that year.
The 130 stroke play total is the best by one shot in tournament history eclipsing the 131 that Andrew Walker (a former MSU player) of Battle Creek shot at Country Club of Detroit in 2018.
Pinili’s place in Belvedere history, which includes 40 previous Michigan Amateur Championships, should break down like this:
The 63 tops the course record 64 that Michigan golf legend Chuck Kocsis shot in 1962 during an October round at the club, and which was equaled by Ruthkoski in 2003 during the stroke play rounds of the Michigan Amateur.
Emmett French in Aug. of 1929 first set the course record at Belvedere when he shot a 68 in the Great Lakes Open, a professional event created with star touring golfers by golf course architect and first professional William Watson.
The very next year, in the Great Lakes Open once again, golf legend Walter Hagen shot 65 to set the new mark, which stood in place for 32 years before Kocsis’ 64.
Pinili’s round featured seven birdies and an eagle-3 (Belvedere’s No. 10 hole) against two bogeys. He was low amateur in the prior week’s Hall Financial Michigan Open at Shanty Creek Resort in Bellaire, and he admitted it has been a while since he consistently shot scores in red numbers.
“The last time I had a run like this was in high school,” he said. “I think a lot of it is momentum and confidence and just knowing I can pull off shots because I have been doing it the last couple of months. I’m trusting in myself and my swing.”
Pinili said solid decisions are leading to his good scores.
“I’m not allowing myself to make big numbers out there, which I think is key,” he said. “That doesn’t matter as much in match play, but I like match play a lot. It gives the underdog a chance to win a match that maybe they are not supposed to win. I just have to prepare to play against myself, and not as much against the other person so that I don’t get out of my game. I’ve played well enough to shoot 10-under so I think if I keep a level head, and just trust my game plan, I’ll have a good chance.”
Maybank made five consecutive birdies in his round of 65 and said he feels ready for match play, too.
“I had it going for a while and my game feels good,” he said. “Lorenzo shot a great round. We’ve been playing against each other for a long time. I feel great for him. It would have been nice to be No. 1 seed, but I’m playing well and now it’s match play. It should be fun.”
LIVE SCORING: Visit GAM.org or the Golf Genius App.
