Michigan Women’s Open Second Round vvv Below
EAST LANSING – When McCoy Biagioli of White Lake won the 2024 Michigan Amateur Championship he and his caddie had a mantra for the week – all gas and no brakes.
That’s what it looked like for Biagioli on Wednesday in the 2026 Michigan Amateur Championship presented by Carl’s Golfland at Eagle Eye Golf & Banquet Center.
The Michigan State University golfer stormed into the prestigious Sweet 16 with a decisive 7 and 5 morning Round of 64 win over Wayne State golfer Grant Ofield of Ada and then topped it with an 8 and 6 win over University of Detroit Mercy golfer Mason Sokolowski of Northville in the afternoon Round of 32.
“It’s awesome to be back in the Sweet 16,” Biagioli said. “Getting knocked out last year in the Round of 32 was a little disappointing. But to be back this year feels great.”
Biagioli shot 30 on the front nine and then won three of the first four holes on the back nine against Ofield. Against Sokolowski, he won holes 5 through 8 and then 10 through 12 on the back nine.
“The first match started a little slow, well, not slow, but I just made a few pars and then I got the ball rolling on (No. 4). I hit a 3-iron to about five feet and made eagle, and then birdies 6, 7 and 8 to go 4-up, and then made another birdie on 10,” he said. “The last two weeks I’ve been figuring it out, starting to play pretty well, so it’s been kind of fun.”
He said he was hitting trap draws with his irons.
“I’ve got the (swing) path a little more neutral now, so I’ve been going at flags and making more birdies,” he said.
Biagioli was joined in the Sweet 16 by defending champion and recent MSU teammate Caleb Bond of Williamston, as well as another Spartan, last year’s stroke play medalist, Lorenzo Pinili of Rochester Hills.
Last year’s runner-up in the championship, PJ Maybank III of Cheboygan and the University of Oklahoma, is also back among the final 16, as is his fellow stroke play medalist from Tuesday, Matthew Novak of Mattawan and the University of Denver.
Of the 16 players remaining, nine played college golf this spring around the country. The oldest player in the group is Chet VandenBerg of Portage, a 37-year-old turf environmental business manager. The youngest is Nicklaus Smith, a 17-year-old Rochester Adams High School student.
Bond and another MSU player, Drew Miller of East Lansing, faced off in a match of local Lansing area standouts in the Round of 32. Bond won 3 and 2.
“It was a good match,” Bond said. “I knew what to expect. I knew it was going to be a long match, maybe a little quieter, you know, playing somebody I know well. I knew it was going to be competitive. Drew is a good player.”
Lansing area golf fans will have a lot to watch in the next four rounds of matches. Three area golfers, Bond, Nick Gunthorpe and David Szymanski are part of the Sweet 16, as are the trio of Spartans, Bond, Pinili and Biagioli. Eagle Eye Director of Operations Luke Thode got involved in the competition on Wednesday. He caddied for Szymanski, who lives adjacent to hole No. 4 on the Eagle Eye course.
THE SWEET 16
P.J. Maybank III, 21, Cheboygan, University of Oklahoma golfer
Robert Burns, 21, Flushing, Oakland University golfer
Joseph Mancinelli, 27, Northville, General Contractor
Nicklaus Smith, 17, Rochester, Rochester Adams student
McCoy Biagioli, 20, White Lake, Michigan State University golfer
Andrew Daily, 22, Brighton, Wayne State University golfer
Joe Montpas, 28, Flushing, IT Technician
Chester Vandenberg, 37, Portage, Manager for Turf Environmental Business
Matthew Novak, 20, Mattawan, University of Denver golfer
Shea Harmeson, 21, Traverse City, recent Kansas State University graduate
Lorenzo Pinili, 21, Rochester Hills, Michigan State University golfer
Logan Price, 28, Grand Blanc, Sales for Ebock Flint
Nick Gunthorpe, 36, East Lansing, owner of Mechanical Contracting business
Caleb Bond, 22, Williamston, recent Michigan State University golfer
Jack Julian, 22, South Lyon, Wayne State University golfer
David Szymanski, 29, East Lansing, Real Estate Litigator with Miller & Johnson
Michigan Women’s Open Second Round
THOMPSONVILLE – Taglao Jeeravivitaporn of Thailand, an ANNIKA-Women’s All-Pro Tour player from Thailand was the leader when lightning forced a suspension of play in the second round of the Coca-Cola/GameAbove Michigan Women’s Open Wednesday at Crystal Mountain.
She had played 16 holes of her round on the Mountain Ridge Course and was at 7-under 137 for the tournament, including 5-under for the day.
Three golfers, including former Michigan State University star Katie Lu who tops the ANNIKA-Women’s All-Pro Tour money list, finished their rounds and were at 6-under 138.
Lu, a New Jersey native who shot 70 for 6-under 138, was tied with first-round leader out of Eastern Michigan University, Janae Leovao, who shot 72, and Florida Gulf Coast University golfer and amateur Sydney Deal of Perrysburg, OH, who shot 69.
ANNIKA-WAPT players Milagros Chaves of Paraguay and Jensen Castle of South Carolina were at 5-under, two off the lead. Chaves completed a 72 and Castle was 2-under through 17 holes.
The suspended second round, which earlier in the day had a rain and lightning delay of two hours and 30 minutes, was stopped with 24 golfers yet to finish. It will be completed on Thursday morning before the final round in the $60,000 championship is played. A 36-hole cut to the low 50 scorers and ties will also be made before the final round starts.
Jeeravivitaporn, a former Iowa State golfer currently standing 43rd on the tour points list, had an eagle 2 on the par 4 No. 13 hole and shot 5-under on her first nine holes of the day (Started on No. 10).
Leovao, 22 and a part of Eastern’s standout team with her twin sister Jasmine, started her round with a triple-bogey 7 off a pushed tee shot into trees, but rallied back to even par for the day and 6-under for the tournament.
“That was my first big mistake of the tournament, but I knew there were plenty of opportunities out there and I just had to stay patient,” she said. “I’m really grateful for my grit out there after starting badly. I was able to get three birdies in-a-row on holes 12,13 and 14 and then I was able to hang in there.”
Lu also started her round slowly before the long rain delay but finished it in strong fashion.
“I was just staying patient during my whole round, then finally in my last four holes I finished with three birdies,” she said. “That was the only time in the round that I kind of had it going. I’m proud of how I took the opportunities when they finally came.”
Lu, who has one win in seven ANNIKA tournaments this season, said she is excited about having a chance to win, especially in Michigan.
“Just being back in Michigan, having (MSU Coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll) here, it would mean a lot to win,” she said. “It’s so great to have Spartans around.”
In the Legends Division tournament inside the tournament, two-time defending champion Suzy Green-Roebuck of Ann Arbor shot a 4-under 68 to take the lead through two rounds.
Barb Moxness of Stuart, FL, shot 70 for 145, and Tracy Hanson of Holland shot 75 for 145 to stand second. All three golfers are former LPGA players, and Green-Roebuck is in the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame.
Also on Wednesday, Detroit Golf Club professional Erin Thorne won the Michigan Women’s PGA Championship, a two-round tournament held in conjunction with the first two rounds of the Coca-Cola/GameAbove Michigan Women’s Open.
ABOUT ANNIKA WAPT: The ANNIKA Women’s All Pro Tour (WAPT) was established in 2019 to provide a premier developmental opportunity for female golf professionals to hone their competitive skills while preparing for a life on the Epson and LPGA Tours. Through its partnership with the LPGA’s Epson Tour, the ANNIKA WAPT provides weekly opportunities for players to earn exemptions to select Epson Tour events. Learn more at www.wapt.golf.
