College Golf News: Men
U-M senior Hunter Thomson has had a phenomenal final season with the Wolverines. The Calgary, Alberta native is on pace to set the U-M single-season record with his career-best 70.19 scoring average and is likely to break his own record of 70.56 from last season. In one example, he won the Canadian Collegiate Invitational with back-to-back rounds of 66. That win at 14-under par gave him an exemption to play in the 2025 RBC Canadian Open (June 3-5) at the TPC of Toronto on the PGA Tour.
Thomson, who was the reigning Big Ten Golfer of the Week at the time, also won the season-ending Purdue Invitational in April, where he played 42 consecutive holes of bogey-free golf to earn his 3rd career title. Caleb Bond of Michigan State shot 67-68-69-204 to finish one stroke behind Thomson.
A week later, Thomson finished T32 at the Big Ten Championship while his team placed 15th.
Michigan State had a wonderful rally in the final round of the Big Ten Championship. The Spartans jumped from 8th place on the final day to finish 3rd overall, finishing behind winner UCLA and runner up Illinois.
“I can’t even begin to describe how proud I am of this team,” MSU Head Coach Casey Lubahn said. “To do what these guys have done all semester and to grind and find a way to get to where we are today is a testament to the hard work, dedication and determination that they all have. We didn’t win, but we showed we can compete with the best and it’s one of the most rewarding Big Ten tournaments during my career.”
Birmingham Brother Rice graduate and MSU sophomore Lorenzo Pinili completed a strong weekend of play, where he tied for 5th place at 1-under par 209 (70-68-71) and was one of just six golfers in the field of 93 to finish under par. Pinili earned his way onto the Big Ten Championship All-Tournament Team, and made all Big Ten.
MAC Conference Notes:
Eastern Michigan’s Rory McDonald-O'Brien finished 5-under par to place runner up at the Mid-American Conference Men’s Championships. The team placed 3rd overall after leading in early rounds of the tournament. All-told, McDonald-O'Brien recorded his third-best collegiate score.
The team’s finish marked the 14th top three showing in program history and EMU's first since 2019.
No. 78-ranked Kent State University took the title at 10-under 854 (288-276-290) and Ball State, the 2024 championships, capturing second place at 6-over 870 (293-284-293), two shots ahead of the Eagles.
Central Michigan took 9th place in its first year of men’s golf in the last three-plus decades. Keith Hunter jumped 17 spots the final day to finish 16th overall.
Tim Chan of Eastern tied for 13th at 4-over 220 (75-67-78) to tie for the third-best score at the MAC event by an EMU player.
The week of April 24, Eastern Michigan University senior Bavake Sihota earned a share of the MAC Golfer of the Week honor following his play at the Robert Kepler Intercollegiate.
Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC):
Saginaw Valley State junior Shea Harmeson vaulted from ninth place to first, claiming individual medalist honors by shooting a 6-under, 66 round in the second and final round of the league’s medalist competition. Harmeson won with a score of 8-under for 36 holes (136). Grand Valley State junior Manual Cue placed second, just one shot off Harmeson's pace.
Transitioning to medal match play, based off the results of the two rounds of stroke play, Wayne State defeated Saginaw Valley State, 4-1, at Bedford Valley Golf Course in the match play finals to capture the conference title. The teams beat Grand Valley and No. 1-seed Ferris State, respectively, in the semifinals.
Max Leppelmeier, Ian Smith, Luck Warnock and Tyler Hurtubise won their head-to-head matches to secure the crown for the Warriors, the program's first in 21 years.
