Michigan State Golfer Caleb Bond of Williamston Wins 114th Michigan Amateur Championship
By Greg Johnson and Tom Lang
A stunning, seeing-eye 60-foot birdie putt on No. 16 tied the match, and a two-putt par from 20 feet wrapped it up on No. 18.
Caleb Bond, a Michigan State University golfer from Williamston beat PJ Maybank, a University of Oklahoma golfer from Cheboygan, 1-up, in tense and birdie-filled championship match at the 114th Michigan Amateur Championship presented by Carl’s Golfland at 100-year-old Belvedere Golf Club.
“As much as you can wish to win every week, it’s really hard,” said Bond who with the victory will have his name inscribed on the historic Staghorn Trophy and earn a USGA exemption into the U.S. Amateur Championship later this summer.
“To win an event like this, especially with match play takes a lot of luck and a lot of help. I think that’s always the goal and I think having to give that speech with the trophy is something you play through your head ever since you were a kid. Winning is always the goal, and you just kind of keep your head down and hit one shot at a time out there.”
Birdies were winning holes, and Bond went 1-up on the first hole with a birdie, and Maybank tied it on the second with a birdie. Bond had the biggest lead in the match at 2-up, but Maybank holed a 30-foot flop shot from heavy rough for a birdie at No. 7 and then won No. 9 with a par to tie the match through nine holes.
Maybank made a birdie on No. 10 to take his first lead, but Bond tied it at No. 12 with a birdie. Maybank made a birdie on 15 to lead again, and then Bond dropped the dramatic putt at 16.
“I made a little bit of a mistake in my driving in the rough there, especially with that pin (hole location off the front right edge),” he said. “I hit a decent wedge, but it had to be 60 feet. PJ missing the green there gave me a little bit of an opportunity. I didn’t expect to make it. I just focused on the speed and kind of finding a good line. That was pretty fortunate and just a good putt that went in the hole.”
Bond earned his spot in the finals with a 4 and 2 semifinal win over Zach Koerner of Laingsburg, his former roommate at Ferris State University before he transferred a year ago to MSU.
Maybank, meanwhile, topped Adam Burghardt, a former Wayne State University golfer from Clinton Township, 1-up in another match that stretched for all 18 holes. The semifinals were delayed until the afternoon because of rain and lightning, so the championship match didn’t start until 5 p.m. Bond had a little longer break between the semifinals and finals in the afternoon heat by ending his semifinal on the 16th hole in the first group. Thanks to northern Michigan’s long summer days and late setting sun, and the birdie-fest in the final, the championship match was able to finish in good daylight.
Maybank said Bond played great in the final.
“I didn’t hit a very good iron shot (on 18) and had about a 50-footer downhill, and uphill and back downhill again and I left it 10-feet short and missed that unfortunately,” Maybank said. “All he had to do was get his par. Hey, but he played awesome. He deserves it. I thought I had him when I was 2-up, but then he made that freaky 60-footer on 16. I guess that’s golf. You lose a lot more than you win that’s for sure.”
Bond said beating Maybank, a two-time Michigan Junior State Amateur champion and top-level recruit out of high school, was a full-circle moment.
“I know how good PJ is and it was great to see him come back to the Michigan Am this year,” he said. “I think everybody appreciates great competition. There are so many great players here. I played PJ in the semifinals of the Michigan Junior (State Amateur) and lost on 18. It was my turn to win on 18 this time and that was pretty awesome.”
Bond gave an emotional speech during the trophy ceremony and made sure to thank his parents, Alexis and Brian Bond, and his 15-year-old sister Cara, who caddied for him. She said she isn’t a golfer, but she enjoyed carrying the bag.
“It was an incredible week,” Bond said. “The kind you dream about, and it feels amazing to be going to the U.S. Amateur.”
Maybank has been on the national stage in golf since childhood. He went to Augusta National Golf Club three times for the Drive, Chip and Putt national finals, and won the boys 12-13 age group in 2018. He also won the Michigan High School Mr. Golf award as a sophomore in 2021; the only time he played high school golf at Cheboygan.
Earlier in the week, Bond’s teammate at MSU, Lorenzo Pinili set two scoring records at the event; the overall scoring record at 67-63-130 and the Belvedere course record of 63 in the second round of stroke play.
The previous Michigan Amateur two-day scoring record was set at 131 by Andrew Walker of Battle Creek and also a former MSU golfer. Pinili’s 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.
Pinili was knocked out of match play in the first round by Koerner before he made it all the way to the semifinals.
Bond had little time to celebrate as he was off immediately next to play in the 125th North and South Amateur, a collection of mostly college players nationwide competing at Pinehurst the week of June 23.
“Caleb’s growth as a player and a person is special to watch,” MSU coach Casey Lubahn said. “He has worked hard with intention and passion and the confidence just keeps growing. Being a state amateur champion is a milestone he will cherish but I know he is going to just keep believing in himself and his best golf is ahead of him.”
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