Season Preview: Michigan State Men
By Michael Carey
Last year, MSU went into the season with a heavy load riding on a bunch of newcomers. Sure, one of the program’s all-time greats was returning as well, Ashton McCulloch, but that ended quickly when he was injured in the fall – leaving the Spartans to rely heavily on players yet to fully prove themselves.
But prove themselves they did – which has Coach Casey Lubahn looking forward to this season.
Led by junior transfer Caleb Bond, who came to Michigan State from Division II Ferris State and is from nearby Williamston, the Spartans put together a tremendous 2025 spring that looks to carry over to this season. Bond won the 2025 Michigan Amateur in June, which qualified him for the recent U.S. Amateur, where he then made the sweet 16.
Bond and Lorenzo Pinili, who won the springtime Colleton River Collegiate with a 5-under score, carried the team through much of the spring – all adding up to the Spartans taking a third-place finish in the newly-expanded Big Ten Conference, and returning to an NCAA Regional for the third-straight season.
And, oh yeah, the team will welcome McCulloch back into the lineup this fall. He was the team’s top finisher in three Fall events last year, carrying a 69.78 scoring average, before his injury stopped play. As a junior in 2023-24, McCulloch set a program record with a 70.89 season average, and enters this year with a career 71.59 average.
The depth added to the rotation during last season’s run to the NCAA Regionals will make competition for the scoring lineup challenging this season. Rising sophomores Drew Miller (East Lansing), Julian Menser (Detroit Catholic Central) and Juan Velasquez, and rising junior Lucas Acevedo were all key parts of the team’s run.
The Spartans also welcome transfer McKoy Biagioli (White Lake), who comes to MSU from Ferris State, after rooming with Bond. Biagioli, the 2024 Michigan Amateur Champion, helped lead the Bulldogs to an eighth-place finish at the Division II NCAA Regionals.
Season Preview: Michigan State Women
By Michael Carey
When you graduate two of the best players in program history, there is bound to be the expectation that it could lower the expectations for the upcoming 2025-26 season.
That’s not the case for Michigan State Head Women’s Golf Coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll and the program.
The Spartans made a run through the postseason, finishing second at the Big Ten tournament, placing third in the NCAA Regional and advancing to the NCAA Championships for the 15th time under Slobodnik-Stoll.
But Michigan State graduated 2025 All-American and All-Big Ten First Team selection Brooke Biermann, who reached the semifinals of the Women’s Western Amateur before in August finished runner up in the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Bandon Dunes – and 2024 All-American and All-Big Ten First Team selection Katie Lu, a duo who rank among the top-five all-time in scoring average in East Lansing.
Yet, the cupboard isn’t bare in East Lansing by any stretch, with three of the team’s top-five returning for the 2025-26 season, led by seniors Taylor Kehoe, Paula Balanzategui and Shannon Kennedy.
Kehoe, who transferred to MSU from Alabama last year, finished second on the team in scoring average at 72.43 and posted two top-5 finishes, including a tie for fifth place at the NCAA Norman (Okla.) Regional. She is coming off a spectacular summer, reaching the Quarterfinals of the U.S. Women’s Amateur, the quarterfinals of the North/South Amateur and the Round of 16 in the Women’s Western Amateur.
Balanzategui, who has the most career rounds played at MSU of any returning player, was fourth on the team in scoring average last year at 74.25 and posted two top-10 finishes and three among the top-20.
Kennedy, the 2024 Michigan Amateur champ who played in the U.S. Women’s Amateur, appeared in only four tournaments last year (75.81 scoring average) but is returning for her final year of eligibility.
Rising junior Ana Sofia Murcia was one of just two players (Biermann) to appear in all 12 tournaments and play all 35 rounds last year.
