The Ferris State men’s golf team finished first in the GLIAC championship tournament this weekend on Sunday, April 14, after a 3-0-2 win over arch-rival Grand Valley State University.
The Bulldogs played three straight days of competition at the Gull Lake View Golf Club & Resort in Augusta, Mich. completing over 36 holes of golf while winning the GLIAC championship. This is the program’s 22nd championship and its first title win since 2021.
Ferris began stroke play on Friday, April 12, on the Stoatin Brae Golf Club course. At the conclusion of play on Friday, the Bulldogs sat in second place with a team stroke score of 290, putting Ferris seven strokes ahead of third-place Parkside. Sophomore Sam Havey led the way with an even-par score of 71.
On Saturday, April 13, spectators saw the Bulldogs fall into third place with a score of 296 but set up a medal match play round against the Wayne State Warriors. Ferris took a 3-2 victory to advance to the championship round.
Freshman McCoy Biagioli and junior Nathan Kraynyk secured two-stroke wins in the medal match to tie the score for the Bulldogs. Sophomore Caleb Bond sealed the match with a one-stroke win.
“A quote I like to live by is ‘winners never quit and quitters never win,’” Biagioli said. “Down four strokes with seven holes to play against Wayne State explains this perfectly. We all pushed each other in the offseason to get ready for moments like this.”
The three-seeded Bulldogs faced off against the reigning champion and one-seeded Lakers in the weekend’s final round on Sunday.
In the championship match, the Bulldogs didn’t drop any flights in their upset victory, winning 3-0-2, including a seven-stroke victory from junior Zach Koerner. Biagioli won by four strokes, and Bond etched a three-stroke win.
Kraynyk and Havey tied their individual matchups to put Ferris on top of the GLIAC conference again.
“As a fifth year this was my last chance to win that championship,” Kraynyk said. “I feel very lucky to have this team around me to help make that happen. I had full trust in them to deliver and every one of them did.”
The men’s team season will continue in early May, where they will compete in the NCAA Regional Championship tournament. The seeding selections for the tournament will be announced later this month. Ferris was ranked fifth in the Midwest regional rankings before their championship win.
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