By Greg Johnson
McCoy Biagioli felt he had a poor golf season in 2025.
“Being able to bounce back this year has been pretty special,” said the White Lake resident and Michigan State University golfer who won his second Michigan Amateur Championship in 2026 to go with the first from 2024.
“I think just putting in the hard work, working on the things that I needed to work on and then getting on a roll in match play at the Amateur made it happen,” he said. “I also played pretty well at the U.S. Amateur. Getting into match play, being one of 64 out of 312 there, the top amateurs in the world, was an accomplishment I’m building on.”
Those two performances powered Biagioli to the top of the Golf Association of Michigan Points List, and he has been named the 2026 GAM Men’s Player of the Year.
Biagioli, who was also the 2024 GAM Men’s Player of the Year, earned 770 points to top the Player of the Year list. Caleb Bond of Williamston, a former Michigan State teammate and the 2025 GAM Men’s Player of the Year, finished second with 505 points.
P.J. Maybank III of Cheboygan, a University of Oklahoma golfer, was third with 485 and Will Preston of Grand Rapids and Penn State University, who had 420 points, and Jack Julian of South Lyon and Wayne State University, who had 405 points, rounded out the top five.
Biagioli, who transferred to MSU from Ferris State University and has one year of college play remaining, carried his stellar summer play over into his fall collegiate season. He had two top-10 finishes, including a runner-up finish, in the fall tournaments for the Spartans.
“Continuing to play well this fall was pretty cool,” he said. “It’s been great travelling with the guys. I was able to play more over the winter, and we have good competition right on our team that helped me get better.”
