East Lansing’s Drew Miller Sets Pace in 44th Michigan Junior State Amateur

KEWADIN – Drew Miller of East Lansing was happy about where he was at and it showed in his scoring.

He shot rounds of 6-under 66 and 5-under 67 Monday on A-Ga-Ming Golf Resort’s Sundance course to earn medalist honors and the top seed for match play in the 44th Michigan Junior State Amateur presented by the Rocket Tour.

“I love Northern Michigan golf and I feel like this course really displays that,” said the 2021 GAM Junior Kickoff winner and a runner-up in the state high school championships.

“I really managed my game well today, too and hit it really straight off the tee. I didn’t throw any shots away. My bad holes I managed to make bogey or par and on my good holes I made birdie.”

A single round of match play is slated for Tuesday with the 32 golfers who made the cut after 36 holes  of stroke play at 4-over 148. Two rounds of match play Wednesday and Thursday will determine an overall champion.

Miller, who was awarded the Forrest B. Wright Trophy as the stroke play winner, said being medalist was his first goal.

“Going into it, I knew I could do it and I wanted to be the number one seed so I went on the chase,” Miller said. “I hit a lot of shots close and I was rolling the ball really well. I had a lot of putts inside 10 feet that I made.”

Josh Lavely of Kewadin, whose father Larry is the director of golf for A-Ga-Ming, earned the No. 2 seed as runner-up with rounds of 68 and 67 for 135.

Peter Stassinopoulos of Novi opened with a 66 and shot 72 in the afternoon for 138 and third.

Three golfers tied at 139, including Lorenzo Pinili of Rochester Hills, whose second round was a 64, the low score of the day, Jack Zubkus of Ada, who shot an afternoon 66, and Julian Menser of South Lyon, who shot rounds of 68 and 71.

The 15-and-under division players start action Tuesday with a stroke play round to determine a match play bracket of 16. Match play rounds on Wednesday and Thursday will determine a champion.

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