College Corner: Michigan State
College Corner: Michigan State Men
By Michael Carey
Michigan State’s men’s golf team opens the 2026-27 season with a determination as a team to continue the success of the program over the last 10-plus years.
Caleb Bond and Ashton McCulloch graduated as two of the best players in program history – going to the NCAA Regionals as individuals. Bond also went to the U.S. Amateur this summer.
What makes coach Casey Lubahn excited for the coming year? Three seniors who have been key parts of the lineup over the last three years lead seven returning lettermen, with each of them ranking among the top-5 on the team in scoring average last year.
Lorenzo Pinili (Brother Rice), a Big Ten Championship All-Tournament Team selection in 2025, is the most experienced golfer at MSU returning. He was third on the team last season with a 72.48 scoring average.
McCoy Biagioli (Lakeland) transferred to MSU last year after earning All-American honors as a sophomore at Ferris State. He finished third on the team with a 72.56 scoring average and posted a pair of top-10 finishes. Bond, Biagioli and Pinili all earned entrance into the 2026 U.S. Amateur in August.
Lucas Acevedo appeared in eight tournaments last year and carried a 73.32 average.
Juniors Drew Miller (East Lansing) and Julian Menser (Detroit Catholic Central) have both been key scoring members during their first two years, including Miller leading the team at the 2025 NCAA Regional. Rising sophomores Connor Fox and Luke Mueller picked up lineup appearances in their first season, with Mueller placing T34 at the Big Ten Championships.
Expect a pair of freshmen in the mix. Louis Goodman comes from Ireland, where he had significant experience playing on the international level, and Winslow Robinson (Traverse City West) was named to the All-State Dream Team.
College Corner: Michigan State Women
By Michael Carey
The names on the roster will change but the expectations rarely do when it comes to Michigan State women’s golf and Head Coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll.
Two years ago, the Spartans graduated two of the top-five players in program history. What happened last year? MSU continued its success, advancing to the NCAA Championships for the 18th-time all-time and the 16th under Slobodnik-Stoll. The challenge will be replacing graduate Taylor Kehoe, who leaves with a 72.33 scoring average in two years, the best-ever in program history.
One year’s graduation hands the baton off to others and that group includes four golfers who as freshmen and sophomores in 2025-26 combined to play in more than 100 rounds, including the NCAA Regionals and Championships.
Senior Ana Sofia Muria is the most experienced returnee with 74 rounds in her career, including 63 in the last two seasons. She carried a 75.25 scoring average last year and had three top-20 finishes, including a tie for 37th place when the MSU tied for fourth place at the regionals.
Rising sophomores Sarisa Pojanalai and Lucia Valderrama and rising junior Grace Vetter appeared in 10 tournaments last year, including all of the postseason. Pojanalai was third on the team with a 74.21 scoring average and was the team’s second finisher at the NCAA Championships (6-over par 222). Valderrama was fifth on the team with a 74.71 scoring average and tied for 16th place at the NCAA Regionals. Vetter, a transfer from Queen’s University, was fourth on the team with a 74.56 average.
Four newcomers, including senior transfer Keeley Marx (75.22 scoring average in 72 rounds at Iowa State), as well as junior Catalina Monroy and three freshmen, Almendra Campoverde, Payton Haugen and Angelina Zhang, will all challenge for spots in the scoring lineup. Campoverde and Zhang arrive at MSU with extensive international experience while Haugen was the state high school champion in Wisconsin.
