Written By: Greg Johnson
FARMINGTON HILLS – JP Levan of Grand Rapids feels better damage control helped him improve in 2026.
“I took a big step with my scores,” he said. “My bad rounds last year were in the 74 and 75 range, and this summer I was able to work those down to 71 or 72. I felt like I could not hit it my best but still be able to shoot around par or even under, and that helped keep me in tournaments.”
Levan, a 17-year-old East Grand Rapids High School golfer who recently committed to Northwestern University’s golf program, used his better scoring to top the Golf Association of Michigan (GAM) Junior Boys’ Points List and has been named the GAM Junior Boys’ Player of the Year, Ken Hartmann, the GAM’s senior director of competitions and USGA services, announced today.
Player of the Year point totals can be found on a pull down from the PLAY tab at GAM.org. Carl’s Golfland is the presenting sponsor of the points lists.
Levan is the Junior Boys’ Player of the Year for a second consecutive year. Two wins on the American Junior Golf Association schedule, including the AJGA Eastside Championship played this year at Forest Lake Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, and top finishes on a busy GAM schedule, powered his points total of 1,261.25.
He finished just ahead of fellow Grand Rapids golfer Tommy Preston, a Michigan State University commit, who won the Michigan Junior Amateur Championship and had 1,140 points.
Landon Guenther, the GAM Junior Invitational champion, was third with 975 points and Draven Rogers of Fort Gratiot, who had 870 points, and Harris Hoekwater of Grand Rapids, who had 718.75 points, rounded out the top five.
In the last two weeks, McCoy Biagioli of White Lake was named Men’s Player of the Year, Bridget Boczar of Canton and Elayna Bowser of Dearborn were named Co-Women’s Players of the Year, Greg Davies of West Bloomfield was named the Senior Men’s Player of the Year, Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll of Haslett was named the Senior Women’s Player of the Year and Steve Maddalena of Jackson was named the Super Senior Player of the Year. The GAM will announce more Junior Players of the Year over the next two weeks.
Levan said he was honored to win the Player of the Year honor once again.
“I had a solid year and a lot of tough competition,” he said. “Finishing on top means a lot, and I want to thank my teachers, Jimmy Wisinski (Kent Country Club) and Andy Matthews (Neuropeak Pro). They help me a lot with my game.”
He said his AJGA win at Forest Lake was his top performance of the summer.
“I shot 65 in the final round to come back from being down seven shots,” he said. “That was exciting and a big confidence boost to know I can come from behind like that.”
