McCoy Biagioli defeats Jimmy Dales to win the Michigan Amateur

McCoy Biagioli defeats Jimmy Dales to win the Michigan Amateur

McCoy Biagioli of White Lake, a golfer at Ferris State University, won the 113th Michigan Amateur Championship presented by Carl’s Golfland on Friday at the Heather course at The Highlands at Harbor Springs.

Biagioli, 18 and a sophomore at Ferris, defeated 23-year-old Jimmy Dales of Northville 3 and 1 in the championship game.

As Michigan Amateur champion, Biagioli’s name will be added to the historic Staghorn Trophy and he will receive an exemption to the starting field of the U.S. Amateur Championship at Hazeltine Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota, August 12-18.

“I think it shows that I can compete with the best,” said Biagioli.

He said his previous wins came in high school and on the Meijer Tour for juniors.

“Nothing big, nothing like that,” he said. “Actually, I had no idea about the U.S. Amateur (exemption) until two weeks ago. I guess this week the goal was to win, and then (the U.S. Amateur) is kind of a bonus.”

McCoy, making his first match play appearance in just his third appearance at the Michigan Amateurs, birdied the first hole of the final and won the second with par, but Dales, a recent graduate of the University of Wyoming and planning to turn professional over the summer, caught up and tied the match on the turn.

McCoy eventually turned the game around by winning holes 13, 14 and 15 in succession with two birdies and a par to take a 3-up lead. Dales made a 6-foot birdie putt for birdie on the par-3 16th, but his tee shot on hole 17 hit a tree about 50 feet to the right of the tee and he had to struggle to reach the green in four shots. McCoy, on the other hand, hit the fairway with his tee shot, hit the green with his approach shot and landed his putt inches short of the hole, giving him a par and the win.

“I missed the short birdie putt (4 feet) on hole 13, which really hurt, then he made a birdie on hole 14,” said Dales, who had played bogey-free in three previous matches. “The tee shot on hole 17. I’ve been fighting that tee shot all week, and it was raining pretty hard.”

Dales, who lost in the semifinals to eventual champion August Meekhof in 2023, said he wanted to end his amateur career at one of his favorite places to play golf.

“My dad (Jim) played in the Kircher Cup (Boyne Invitational) for many years and we have a lot of great memories here,” he said. “(McCoy) is a great player. He hit some nice shots and made some good par saves.”

McCoy said the work he put into his short game has paid off.

“I really felt like that was the big one for me,” he said. “I made some good saves and made my birdie putt on the 13th hole when we were both close and he wasn’t. That was great.”

McCoy said his caddie Marcus Kainhofer, a high school teammate and friend, helped him a lot throughout the week.

“He’s definitely been a game changer,” he said. “I don’t know if he deserves as much credit as he should, but he’s been a big help and kept me focused. Our motto this week has been full throttle, no brakes.”

He said he expects a great response from his teammates at Ferris.

“Everyone on the team is like a brother, so I’m sure they’re sending me the cell phone number right now,” he said.

Biagioli, who survived a 26-hole match in the round of 16 on Thursday, also turned heads in the semifinals, making a spectacular 18-foot putt on the 18th hole in his 1-up semifinal victory over Matt Zerbel, the produce merchant from St. Joseph.

Both players hit their approach shots short, landing in the famous big pond at the hole, and both then had to accept putts for bogeys. Zerbel missed his 15-foot putt and then Biagioli made his putt to advance to the playoff.

Dales, meanwhile, won the first hole in his semifinal against Michigan State-bound Drew Miller of East Lansing and never trailed in a 3-2 victory. He was 3 under par through the 16 holes and made no bogey.

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