East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State’s men’s and women’s golf programs begin play in the St Andrews Links Collegiate, a four-team men’s and women’s golf tournament in St Andrews, Scotland, the home of golf.
Michigan State is one of four schools competing in the three-day tournament, which will be played Monday, Oct. 13 and Tuesday, Oct. 14 at the Jubilee Course and on Wednesday, Oct. 15 at the Old Course, where the game began centuries ago.
The Spartans are joined by California, Princeton and the University of St Andrews. The teams will play six players (rather than five as in most college tournaments), with the best five scores counting toward the team total in stroke play on Monday and Tuesday.
Wednesday’s Medal Match Play will feature the top two teams in the Championship Match at the Old Course. The third seed will play the fourth seed in the Consolation Match. Monday and Tuesday scores from the stoke play portion of the event will be combined to determine seeding to Wednesday’s Match Play.
The St Andrews Links Collegiate will be broadcast live on The Golf Channel throughout the week, as well as Sky Sports in the United Kingdom. Live coverage will air from 9 a.m. to noon (ET), with replays each day.
Monday, Oct. 13 – round one: 9 a.m. – noon (live); 1 p.m. – 4 p.m. (replay); 1 a.m. – 4 a.m. (2nd replay)
Tuesday, Oct. 14 – round two: 9 a.m. – noon (live); 1 p.m. – 4 p.m. (replay); 4 p.m. – 7 p.m. (2nd replay)
Wednesday, Oct. 15 – match play: 9 a.m. – noon (live); 1 p.m. – 4 p.m. (replay); 7 p.m. – 10 p.m. (2nd replay)
ST ANDREWS LINKS COLLEGIATE
Dates: Monday, Oct. 13 – Wednesday, Oct. 15
Course: St Andrews, St. Andrews, Scotland.
Format: Stroke play, 36 holes followed by one round of match play / Play six, count five
Monday, Oct. 13 – stroke play, 18 holes
Tuesday, Oct. 14 – stroke play, 18 holes
Wednesday, Oct. 15 – match play, 18 holes
Live Stats: Clippd
Men’s scoring
Women’s Scoring
MICHIGAN STATE WOMEN’S GOLF LINEUP
No. 1 – Ana Sofia Murcia
No. 2 – Grace Vetter
No. 3 – Paula Balanzategui
No. 4 – Taylor Kehoe
No. 5 – Lucia Valderrama
No. 6 – Shannon Kennedy
ABOUT THE SPARTANS
Michigan State enters the weekend for its fourth and final event of the Fall season … The Spartans are coming off a fourth-place finish among 11 teams at the Windy City Classic in Chicago, shooting a 5-under par 859 (288-285-286) … Junior Ana Sofia Murcia finished in third place, firing a career-best 6-under par 210 (68-71-71) to lead the team … Through three events, MSU has posted a pair of top-five finishes, including a fifth-place showing among 12 teams at the season-opening Folds of Honor Collegiate … Murcia has been MSU’s top finisher twice, tying for ninth place at the Folds of Honor Collegiate at 3-over par 219, and leads the team with a 73.00 scoring average through eight rounds this season (minimum five rounds played) … Sophomore Grace Vetter, who was named to the Second Team All-Atlantic Sun Conference during her freshman year at Queens University in North Carolina, made her MSU debut at the Windy City Classic, tying for 22nd place at 1-over par 217 … Senior Paula Balanzategui is third on the team in scoring average at 74.25, her best finish a tied for 16th place at the Folds of Honor Collegiate (8-over par 224) … Balanzategui is the most experienced on the MSU roster with 96 career rounds played and a career scoring average of 74.73 that ranks No. 11 all-time in program history … Classmate Taylor Kehoe, an Alabama transfer who was an All-Big Ten Second Team selection last year, is second on the team with a 74.00 scoring average … Her best finish was a team-best tie for 13th place at the Canadian Collegiate Invitational, shooting an even-par 144 in the rain-shortened event … Freshman Lucia Valderrama is making her third appearance of the season and through five rounds, carries a 74.60 scoring average … Playing as an individual at the Canadian Collegiate Invitational, she tied for 28th place at 4-over par 148 (77-71) … Senior Shannon Kennedy will be playing in her second event of the year, tying for 57th place at the Canadian Collegiate Invitational last month at 16-over par 160.
INTERNATIONAL LINEUP FOR THE SPARTANS
Michigan State’s lineup features players from five different countries – Columbia (Murcia), Spain (Balanzategui, Valderrama), Germany (Vetter), Canada (Kehoe) and the United States (Kennedy) … The lineup also has several golfers with match play experience … Kehoe advanced to the quarterfinals of this year’s U.S. Women’s Amateur, to the Sweet 16 of the Women’s Western Amateur and to the Round of 8 at the North & South Amateur … Balanzategui and Vetter both played in the European Women’s Amateur in Germany in July … Kennedy, meanwhile, won the 2024 Michigan Women’s Amateur and played in the U.S. Amateur, and this summer advanced to the Round of 16 at the Michigan Women’s Amateur … MSU Head Coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll herself is still a competitive golfer and played in the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, while also reaching match play in the Michigan Women’s Amateur.
MICHIGAN STATE MEN’S GOLF LINEUP
No. 1 – Caleb Bond
No. 2 – Lorenzo Pinili
No. 3 – Ashton McCulloch
No. 4 – McCoy Biagioli
No. 5 – Lucas Acevedo
No. 6 – Julian Menser
ABOUT THE SPARTANS
Michigan State is playing its fifth (and final) event of the Fall season at the St Andrews Links Collegiate … The Spartans opened the season with a fourth-place showing among 12 teams at the Island Resort Collegiate, firing a 32-under par 832 (282-277-273) … Junior transfer McCoy Biagioli, who came to MSU from Division II Ferris State after earning All-American honors as a sophomore, led the team with a tie for third place at 15-under par 201, the second-best 54-hole score in program history … Senior Caleb Bond, who earned All-Big Ten Second Team honors last year after transferring to MSU from Ferris State, leads the team with a 70.17 scoring average through 12 rounds … He has two top-10 finishes this year, a sixth-place showing at the Folds of Honor Collegiate (even-par 213) and a 10th place finish at the Windon Memorial Classic (5-under par 211) … Junior Lorenzo Pinili, who was an All-Big Ten Championship selection after a fifth-place finish in MSU’s conference championship, is second on the team with a 71.58 scoring average and has one top-20 showing (a tie for 11th place at the Folds of Honor at 2-over par 215) and three among the top-25 … Graduate Ashton McCulloch is third on the team with a 71.67 scoring average and has one top-20 finish, a tied for 14th-place at 5-under par 211 at the Windon Memorial Classic … Biagioli will be making his fourth appearance of the season and is fourth on the team with a 71.78 scoring average … Junior Lucas Acevedo is fifth on the team with a 72.56 average and will be making his fourth appearance of the season … Sophomore Julian Menser has played in three events this year and is coming off his first collegiate win, firing an 8-under par 202 at the Golfweek Put Me in Coach Invitational in Indiana … Through nine rounds, he carries a 72.33 scoring average.
SPARTANS SUMMER AND MATCH PLAY EXPERIENCE
Michigan State’s lineup features several golfers with strong summer resumes and match play experience … Senior Caleb Bond won the Michigan Amateur this summer and advanced to the Round of 16 at the U.S. Amateur in August … Graduate Ashton McCulloch was the winner of the 2023 Canadian Amateur Championship and advanced to the U.S. Amateur that summer … McCulloch also qualified and played in the 2025 US Amateur and the Western Amateur … Pinili tied for sixth place at the Golf Association of Michigan Championship in early August and, along with sophomore Drew Miller, advanced to the US Amateur Four-Ball Championship in May … Pinili was also the stroke play medalist at the Michigan Amateur and advanced to match play, while Biagioli advanced to the Round of 32.
