OAKLAND TWP. – Mason Sokolowski of Northville said he has been close to finding victory in a lot of tournaments in recent years.

“It’s great to finally make it into the winner’s circle,” said the University of Detroit Mercy golfer Monday after winning the Michigan Publinx State Match Play Championship at Twin Lakes Golf & Swim Club.

“This is really the first big tournament I’ve won, the first trophy I’ve won since winning the GAM Junior Kickoff when I was 15. I had to beat some great players, too, and it feels wonderful.”

Sokolowski beat 2021 champion Anthony Sorentino of Rochester 4 and 2 by winning five consecutive holes to close out the afternoon championship match.

The 20-year-old All-American Scholar athlete earned his spot in the final match with a 3 and 1 win over Peter Stassinopoulos of Novi and Wayne State University, while Sorentino topped Vibhav Alokam of Ypsilanti and Villanova University 3 and 2 in the other semifinal.

“This weekend was the most confident I’ve felt about my game in a while,” Sokolowski said. “I stayed patient. When you play seven rounds of golf in four days, you have to stay patient. I just kept trying to hit good golf shots and keep my head in the game. I had a great match against Peter who is a good friend of mine, and I stayed solid through the final match against a guy who has won a lot of things.”

Sokolowski said a little luck came in handy, too.

“I keep looking back at hole 12 (in the championship match),” he said. “I was 1-down after he won 11 with a good par. I hit my drive on 12 into the long grass but I had a phenomenal lie in there and was able to hit a wedge to about 30 feet, and then I made that for birdie. It got me on a little bit of a roll there.”

He said luck helped him get off to a good start in the morning semifinal, too.

“I nailed a shot over the green into the back bunker on 1 and then holed out the bunker shot for a 3 to go 1-up right away,” he said. “Things went my way. I think it takes some of that to win. I know, it hasn’t always gone my way.”

The win came with some benefits for Sokolowski. He nets a 25-year exemption into the Michigan PGA’s Tournament of Champions, an exemption into next year’s Michigan Open Championship, Golf Association of Michigan Honor Roll points and Carl’s Golfland gift certificates.

A Senior Scratch Division champion was also crowned Monday with Razmig Boghikian of Novi winning his second Senior Michigan Publinx State Match Play title.

Boghikian beat John Leach of Macomb 3 and 2 in the afternoon title match after beating Steve Anderson of Troy 3 and 2 in the morning semifinal. Leach earned his spot in the title match with a 4 and 3 morning win over Frank Comito of Macomb.

It was Boghikian’s fourth Publinx title to go with the 2014 Michigan Publinx State Match Play title and the 2024 Senior Michigan Publinx Medal Play Championship. He was also the runner-up a year ago in the Senior Scratch to Leo Daigle of Wixom.

“In the final I started with a birdie, and I was pretty solid all day and never felt super threatened,” Boghikian said. “He’s a really good player, but I was playing well. My (distance control on shots) was really good. Nothing was short or long. It was always right there. I kept him trying to make birdies because I was always in there close for par or birdie.”

The 57-year-old physical education teacher at the Cranbrook Early Childhood Center said he has kept his game in shape because he gets the opportunity to practice.

“And I love to practice,” he said. “It’s one of my favorite things to do, and I also get good tips from my golf buddies to work on.”

EAST LANSING – They are a bit past being “Sweet 16,” but they are once again in the “Sweet 16” of the Michigan Women’s Amateur Championship presented by Carl’s Golfland at Eagle Eye Golf & Banquet Center.

There’s the usual ample collection of collegiate players, but five of the 16 golfers who won round of 32 matches Wednesday are experienced former college players, including three with past champions credentials.

Stroke play medalist Kimberly Dinh of Midland heads the group of veteran players after a 6 and 5 win over Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll of Haslett, the golf coach at Michigan State who is the winningest golfer in GAM history and a member of the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame. Dinh, the 2021 state champion and 2023 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champion, is 32.

Two-time state champion, Laura Bavaird of Trenton, is the oldest player to advance. She is 39, won in 2007 and 2008, had a career as a professional tour player, and is a reinstated amateur who is now the GAM Foundation director. The GAM Women’s Mid-Amateur champion from earlier this season, turned back Alena Li of Okemos, a recent winner of her second Michigan Girls’ Junior Amateur title, 3 and 2.

Elayna Bowser of Dearborn, the 2019 champion, was a professional briefly before being reinstated a year ago. She is 28, a real-estate broker, won the GAM Women’s Mid-Amateur in 2024, and she powered past Abigail Slankster of Northville and Duquesne University 6 and 5.

Anika Dy of Traverse City, the 2019 Michigan Women’s Open champion, and a former University of Michigan golfer, advanced with a 3 and 2 win over Ava Weeks of Troy and Northwood University. She will be 24 on Saturday and is doing post-graduate work and deciding on her future. She reached the final match of the 2022 Michigan Women’s Amateur only to fall to her younger sister, Anci Dy, who is in graduate school this summer and missing the tournament.

Rounding out the experienced fivesome is Mary Kartes of Kentwood, who is an LPGA Tour representative for Callaway Golf and former Mercer University (Ga.) golfer. She is 28 and topped Lily Bargamian of Grosse Ile and Oakland University 3 and 2. She and Dinh have been teammates in the U.S. Women’s Four-Ball Championship the last two years.

The remaining 11 players are currently on college teams (see the list below) and include defending champion Shannon Kennedy of Beverly Hills and Michigan State University, as well as last year’s runner-up, Elise Fennell of Caledonia and Illinois State University.

Kennedy topped Brook Morris of Canton and Central Michigan University, 5 and 4, and Fennell advanced with a 5 and 4 win over Chaille Payne, a high school golfer from Spring Lake who has committed to the University of Findlay (Ohio).

Kennedy said she played her best golf of the week so far and is excited about moving on.

“I hit the ball the best I have all week and feel good, ready for what’s ahead,” she said. “Having gone through the long week, two matches a day the last two days last year, I know what to expect. I’m giving it my best shot.”

Dinh and Slobodnik-Stoll gave it their best shots in the banner match of the day, and Dinh continued her hot play.

“Stacy made me earn it and I knew she would,” Dinh said. “She’s a great competitor and she played well. I made a lot of pars early, then started making birdie putts, including a bomb on 12 and on 13 I hit it to like an inch. I didn’t really like seeing her in the first round. She’s not the usual 32 seed. I would prefer to play her later. It was unfortunate to see her in the first round of match play.”

Bavaird had a birdie binge, too, in her win. She is playing in her first Michigan Women’s Amateur since 2008, her second win.

“I missed one green and made far more putts today than I did the first couple of days,” she said. “It’s great to be back for the first time since 2008. It’s nice to see the girls and just get back to that competitive feel of match play.”

Bowser won four consecutive holes starting at No. 2 in her win, including birdies on the two par 3 holes in that stretch.

“I hit every fairway and every green and rolled in a few putts early in the round,” Bowser said. “I think the game has been coming along. It was a little slow to start the year with the spring weather we had, but it is coming to form at the right time and it is fun to play like I did today.”

THE SWEET 16

Kimberly Dinh, 32, Midland, Associate Research Scientist at DOW

Laura Bavaird, 39, Trenton, Director of the Golf Association of Michigan Foundation

Kamryn Shannon, 21, Jackson, Golfer at Ferris State University

Elayna Bowser, 28, Dearborn, Working as a real estate agent

Bridget Boczar, 21, Canton, Golfer at Baylor University

Sophie Stevens, 19, Highland, Golfer at University of Florida

Olivia Stoll, 21, Haslett, Golfer at Grand Valley State University

Jessica Jolly, 19, Rockford, Golfer at University of Nebraska

Kate Brody, 20, Grand Blanc, Golfer at University of Wisconsin

Rachel Krieger, 22, Milford, Golfer at Grand Valley State University

Shannon Kennedy, 22, Birmingham, Golfer at Michigan State University

Macie Elzinga, 19, Byron Center, Golfer at Bowling Green State University

Elise Fennell, 19, Caledonia, Golfer at Illinois State University

Ashleigh Duflo, 19, Ada, Golfer at University of Findlay

Anika Dy, 23, Traverse City, Recent post-graduate student

Mary Janiga Kartes, 28, Kentwood, LPGA Tour Representative

EAST LANSING – Lake Orion’s Connor Fox picked up where he left off last year and had the lead through the first day of the 47th Michigan Junior State Amateur Championship presented by Imperial Headwear.

The defending champion shot rounds of 4-under 67 and 2-under 69 for a two-round 136 total Sunday at Michigan State University’s Forest Akers West Course. It earned him medalist honors for the stroke play competition in the championship, and he will start match play Monday as the No. 1 seed.

The 16-18 age players in the overall division played 36 holes on Sunday to determine the field for a 32-golfer bracket for match play. The golfers playing in the 15-and-under division will play 18 holes on Monday to fill out an 8-golfer bracket. Match play rounds follow on Tuesday and the semifinal and championship matches for both age divisions are on Wednesday.

Like the weather, Fox warmed up and built a lead. He said being the medalist wasn’t really on his mind, though.

“Once you get to match play the seeds don’t really mean anything, so I wasn’t really thinking about being medalist, but it’s still pretty cool to be medalist,” he said.

He said the weather was anything but cool and made it tough to play.

“It was really hot,” he said. “It was tough. I think towards the end I was feeling it, but I just tried to keep my hands dry.”

Cody Rowe of Pleasant Lake shot 68 and 71 for 139, finishing second by three shots.

Adam Thanaporn of Ann Arbor shot 69 and 73 for 142, Sutton Schroeder of Gowen, who shot rounds of 70 and 72 for 142, and John Cassidy of Grand Rapids, who shot a pair of 71s for 142, tied for third.

Fox, who will join the Michigan State golf program this fall, played well in last week’s Michigan Amateur Championship at Belvedere Golf Club in Charlevoix. He was among the top 25 in stroke play and won a first-round match before being knocked out in the round of 32.

“I just had some little things to clean up that I didn’t do well in the Amateur, and I cleaned them up and scored well and played really well today,” he said.

His plan for match play is simple.

“I want to keep doing the same things I’m doing,” he said. “I don’t want to go in like I’m trying to control the match and just make par,” he said. “I want to just keep thinking about making as many birdies as I can.”

CHARLEVOIX – A stunning, seeing-eye 60-foot birdie putt on No. 16 tied the match, and a two-putt par from 20 feet wrapped it up on No. 18.

Caleb Bond, a Michigan State University golfer from Williamston beat PJ Maybank, a University of Oklahoma golfer from Cheboygan, 1-up, in tense and birdie-filled championship match at the 114th Michigan Amateur Championship presented by Carl’s Golfland Saturday at 100-year-old Belvedere Golf Club.

“As much as you can wish to win every week, it’s really hard,” said Bond who with the victory will have his name inscribed on the historic Staghorn Trophy and earn a USGA exemption into the U.S. Amateur Championship later this summer.

“To win an event like this, especially with match play takes a lot of luck and a lot of help. I think that’s always the goal and I think having to give that speech with the trophy is something you play through your head ever since you were a kid. Winning is always the goal, and you just kind of keep your head down and hit one shot at a time out there.”

Birdies were winning holes, and Bond went 1-up on the first hole with a birdie, and Maybank tied it on the second with a birdie. Bond had the biggest lead in the match at 2-up, but Maybank holed a 30-foot flop shot from heavy rough for a birdie at No. 7 and then won No. 9 with a par to tie the match through nine holes.

Maybank made a birdie on No. 10 to take his first lead, but Bond tied it at No. 12 with a birdie. Maybank made a birdie on 15 to lead again, and then Bond dropped the dramatic putt at 16.

“I made a little bit of a mistake in my driving in the rough there, especially with that pin (hole location off the front right edge),” he said. “I hit a decent wedge, but it had to be 60 feet. PJ missing the green there gave me a little bit of an opportunity. I didn’t expect to make it. I just focused on the speed and kind of finding a good line. That was pretty fortunate and just a good putt that went in the hole.”

Bond earned his spot in the finals with a 4 and 2 semifinal win over Zach Koerner of Laingsburg, his former roommate at Ferris State University before he transferred a year ago to MSU.

Maybank, meanwhile, topped Adam Burghardt, a former Wayne State University golfer from Clinton Township, 1-up in another match that stretched for all 18 holes. The semifinals were delayed until the afternoon because of rain and lightning, and the championship match didn’t start until 5 p.m.

Maybank said Bond played great in the final.

“I didn’t hit a very good iron shot (on 18) and had about a 50-footer downhill, and uphill and back downhill again and I left it 10-feet short and missed that unfortunately,” Maybank said. “All he had to do was get his par. Hey, but he played awesome. He deserves it. I thought I had him when I was 2-up, but then he made that freaky 60-footer on 16. I guess that’s golf. You lose a lot more than you win that’s for sure.”

Bond said beating Maybank, a two-time Michigan Junior State Amateur champion and top-level recruit out of high school, was a full-circle moment.

“I know how good PJ is and it was great to see him come back to the Michigan Am this year,” he said. “I think everybody appreciates great competition. There are so many great players here. I played PJ in the semifinals of the Michigan Junior (State Amateur) and lost on 18. It was my turn to win on 18 this time and that was pretty awesome.”

Bond gave an emotional speech during the trophy ceremony and made sure to thank his parents, Alexis and Brian Bond, and his 15-year-old sister Cara, who caddied for him. She said she isn’t a golfer, but she enjoyed carrying the bag.

“It was an incredible week,” Bond said. “The kind you dream about, and it feels amazing to be going to the U.S. Amateur.”

EAST LANSING – Lake Orion’s Connor Fox doesn’t want to think or talk about repeating in the Michigan Junior State Amateur Championship presented by Imperial Headware, but he admitted it’s cool that Michigan State University’s Forest Akers West Golf Course is hosting.

“It would be cool to win my last GAM junior event at my future place,” said Fox, who over a year ago committed to the Michigan State golf program and this week is playing in the Michigan Amateur Championship in Charlevoix.

He said he plans to approach the 47th Michigan Junior the same way he approached the 46th, which he won a year ago at Ferris State University’s Katke Golf Course.

“I go in wanting to play my best golf, taking it one shot at a time, get into match play and then take it one shot at a time,” he said. “It doesn’t help to start thinking about that trophy or anything like that.”

He did acknowledge winning the title a year ago means a lot to him, and the exemption it earned from the USGA for the U.S. Junior Amateur was something he would love to have happen again.

“It was all very cool, but I just have to approach it all the same way,” he said.

The field of 108 golfers, ages 18-and-under, has been determined by past performance and through sectional qualifiers. They will compete starting Sunday, June 22, for the overall championship or in an age 15-and-under division on Monday.

The golfers playing in the overall division will play 36 holes of stroke play Sunday to determine a medalist and top seed to lead the low-scoring 32 golfers into the match play bracket. The 15-and-under division starts with 18 holes of stroke play on Monday to determine an eight-golfer bracket for match play. The semifinal and championship match rounds for both age divisions will be held on Wednesday.

Forest Akers West is home to the successful Michigan State golf teams. It is one of two courses at the facility (East and West), both of which were redesigned by Michigan State alumnus and highly regarded golf course designer Arthur Hills in 1992.

The West plays from 5,278 yards to 7,013 yards with five tee positions and hosts the Big Ten home competition for the Spartans.

The players in the field are familiar with the Forest Akers properties, which have hosted several GAM junior events and high school state championship tournaments over the years.

Bryan Harris is the PGA golf professional and general manager at Forest Akers and Ben Keeler is the golf course superintendent. Learn more at golf.msu.edu.

Last year in Big Rapids, Fox turned back future MSU teammate Julian Menser, a South Lyon native and Detroit Catholic Central grad, 7 and 6, in the title match. Menser has aged out of the competition and is a current member of the MSU team.

In the 15-and-under bracket, Julian Sinishtaj of Macomb and Warren De La Salle earned the 15-and-under championship with a 9 and 8 win over David Han of Midland in the championship match.

CHARLEVOIX – Lorenzo Pinili of Rochester Hills appears to have made Michigan Amateur Championship history at the place where much of the tournament’s history has been made, although a weather-suspended round must be completed before it becomes official.

The 20-year-old Michigan State University golfer and Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice grad shot a course and tournament record 7-under-par 63 for a two-round tournament-record 130 total and has likely earned medalist honors in the stroke play portion of the 114th state championship presented by Carl’s Golfland Wednesday at Belvedere Golf Club.

Pinili played in the morning, however, before heavy rain and lightning forced a delay of just over two hours and finally a suspension of the round at 7 p.m. The round is scheduled to resume at 7:30 a.m. Thursday.

If Pinili remains in front through the completion of the round, he would be the No. 1 seed heading into the match play later Thursday. The medalist has their name added to the prestigious Chuck Kocsis Medalist Trophy.

A lot is yet to be determined, however. The 36-hole cut to the low 64 golfers must be decided before match play begins. Match play will continue through Saturday to determine the champion.

“It’s definitely a nice feeling to say I have a record and that I might be the medalist, just because I know this tournament is really prestigious in Michigan,” he said. “I still have my goal this week, though, to win the championship, and I know to do that in match play you have to take it one hole at a time, one shot at a time.”

PJ Maybank of Cheboygan at the University of Oklahoma, the co-leader with Pinili after the first round, shot 65 for 132 to stand second before the suspension of play. Defending champion McCoy Biagioli of White Lake and Michigan State shot 66 for 134.

Bryce Wheeler of Augusta and Grand Valley State was 2-under total through 14 holes of his round when play was suspended. He was the only other golfer under par besides Pinili, Maybank and Biagioli.

Pinili’s place in Michigan Amateur history should break down like this:

• The 63 is the lowest round in stroke play qualifying in history. It equals a 63 medalist Andrew Chapman of Traverse City shot in 2014 at Belvedere, but the course was played at a significantly reduced yardage and par due to flooding. The non-asterisk record for 18 holes during stroke play in the GAM records was 64 shot by Andy Ruthkoski of Muskegon in 2003, who was medalist that year.

• The 130 stroke play total is the best by one shot in tournament history eclipsing the 131 that Andrew Walker of Battle Creek shot at Country Club of Detroit in 2018.

Pinili’s place in Belvedere history, which includes 40 previous Michigan Amateur Championships, should break down like this:

• The 63 tops the course record 64 that Michigan golf legend Chuck Kocsis shot in 1962 during an October round at the club, and which was equaled by Ruthkoski in 2003 during the stroke play rounds of the Michigan Amateur.

• Emmett French in Aug. of 1929 first set the course record at Belvedere when he shot a 68 in the Great Lakes Open, a professional event created with star touring golfers by golf course architect and first professional William Watson.

• The very next year, in the Great Lakes Open once again, golf legend Walter Hagen shot 65 to set the new mark, which stood in place for 32 years before Kocsis’ 64.

Pinili’s round featured seven birdies and an eagle-3 (Belvedere’s No. 10 hole) against two bogeys. He was low amateur in last week’s Hall Financial Michigan Open at Shanty Creek Resort in Bellaire, and he admitted it has been a while since he consistently shot scores in red numbers.

“The last time I had a run like this was in high school,” he said. “I think a lot of it is momentum and confidence and just knowing I can pull off shots because I have been doing it the last couple of months. I’m trusting in myself and my swing.”

Pinili said solid decisions are leading to his good scores.

“I’m not allowing myself to make big numbers out there, which I think is key,” he said. “That doesn’t matter as much in match play, but I like match play a lot. It gives the underdog a chance to win a match that maybe they are not supposed to win. I just have to prepare to play against myself, and not as much against the other person so that I don’t get out of my game. I’ve played well enough to shoot 10-under so I think if I keep a level head, and just trust my game plan, I’ll have a good chance.”

Maybank made five consecutive birdies in his round of 65 and said he feels ready for match play, too.

“I had it going for a while and my game feels good,” he said. “Lorenzo shot a great round. We’ve been playing against each other for a long time. I feel great for him. It would have been nice to be No. 1 seed, but I’m playing well and now it’s match play. It should be fun.”

CHARLEVOIX – McCoy Biagioli will play Centennial-celebrating Belvedere Golf Club for the first time in a practice round just ahead of the 114th Michigan Amateur Championship presented by Carl’s Golfland, which is being played at the historic venue for the 41st time, June 17-21.

“I’ve read about it and heard a lot of about it and I’m excited to play it,” said the 19-year-old defending champion from White Lake. “It would be cool to make some history at a place with so much history.”

Biagioli, who just finished his sophomore year at Ferris State University and is transferring to Michigan State University in the fall, is seeking to be the first repeat winner of the state amateur championship in 69 years.

Only five golfers have won consecutive Michigan Amateur titles in the previous 113 championships, and the last was legend Glenn Johnson of Grosse Ile, who won his first three of five titles in 1954, ’55 and ’56.

Only 14 golfers have won the championship multiple times as well. The last to garner a second title was Michigan Golf Hall of Famer Randy Lewis of Alma, who won first in 1992 and added another win in 1999.

Chuck Kocsis of Royal Oak, regarded as Michigan’s greatest amateur golfer, won a record six Amateur titles. Johnson won five and Pete Green of Franklin won four in four separate decades. James D. Standish Jr. of Detroit, who later served as a Golf Association of Michigan and United States Golf Association president, was the first to win more than twice with wins in 1909, 1912, 1915 and 1924.

Only Johnson, Kocsis, who won in 1930, ’33, ’34, ’37, ’48 and ’51, John Malloy of Ann Arbor, the 1927, ’28 and ’29 champion, Howard Lee of Detroit, the 1910, 1911 and 1920 champion, who was the first to garner multiple wins, and Carlton Wells of Ann Arbor, the 1922 and ’23 champion, are in the historic consecutive wins club.

As an 18-year-old winner last year, Biagioli started making history by becoming just the fifth player that age to win the championship, and the first since Joey Garber of Petoskey in 2010. Kocsis remains the youngest ever to win at age 17. Biagioli also became just the 11th winner under age 20 a year ago. The last 19-year-old winner was Henry Do of Canton in 2014; the last time Belvedere hosted the Michigan Amateur.

“Obviously the goal is to win again,” he said. “I’m only 19 now and it’s such an honor to be a Michigan Amateur champion. To do it again would be incredible and I’m going to give it my best effort.”

Biagioli, who late last summer became just the 11th golfer in 103 years to win both the Michigan Amateur and the GAM Championship in the same year, said his game is coming around after a slow start this fall at school.

“I was a little rusty but I’m playing well now and excited to play in the Michigan Open and then get to Belvedere and defend in the Amateur,” he said. “My short game is better than it was a year ago. I’m a better player when I get my game going.”

He wasn’t on anybody’s radar a year ago when he arrived at the 113th Amateur at The Highlands in Harbor Springs. It’s a different story this year.

“I had never even made match play before, so that was my goal to start the week,” he said. “Then once I won a match, I just got on a roll, gained confidence, and realized I could win it. This time I will have a target on my back, and it will be more pressure, but I love it, honestly. Sometimes it’s good to be a guy in the shadows and sneak up like I did last year. But having a target on your back adds pressure, but also motivation because everybody is coming after you and they want to beat you.”

Most of the final “Sweet 16” from last year’s tournament are returning either with exempt status or via local qualifying presented across the state in recent weeks. Last year’s runner-up, Jimmy Dales of Northville, has turned professional but the other semifinalists, Matt Zerbel of St. Joseph and Drew Miller of East Lansing, will be in the field.

The starting field of 156 golfers will play two rounds of stroke play Tuesday and Wednesday, June 17 and 18, to determine the match-play field of 64. Two rounds of matches on Thursday, Friday and Saturday will determine the champion.

For the second consecutive year the Michigan Amateur winner will receive an exemption into the U.S. Amateur Championship later in the summer.

Meanwhile, Belvedere is celebrating its centennial in part by hosting another Michigan Amateur Championship in 2025. Dennis “Marty” Joy, the head golf professional with a passion for the club’s history, made the effort to have the GAM schedule the return visits during the 2014 championship.

“It just seemed right that Belvedere celebrates its history with the tournament that is such a big part of the history of the club and Michigan golf,” Joy said.

Joy said the classic golf course designed by Scotsman William Watson 100 years ago is sure to provide another great championship, and Ken Hartmann, the senior tournament director for the GAM, who directed the 2003 and ’14 Amateurs at Belvedere, agreed.

“The older players will love it, and the younger guys will get what makes Belvedere special once they have played it,” he said.

The GAM will be showing support to the Charlevoix golf community in the wake of recent automobile accident involving the local high school golf team. Maroon ribbons matching the colors of the Charlevoix Rayders will be made available to participating players in the championship.