James Piot, MSU standout as well as the 2021 U.S. Amateur Champion was named GAM’s Player of the Year. He is the only Michigan golfer to ever win the U.S. Amateur Championship.
The 23-year-old Piot was GAM’s biggest points earner for the second consecutive year.
In addition to the U.S. Amateur trophy, Piot also won the GAM Championship at Franklin Hills Country Club. The largest amount of points came from the U.S. Amateur and GAM wins, but Piot also made the final 16 in the Western Amateur Championship.
Patrick Sullivan, a member of the University of Michigan Golf Team, won the Michigan Amateur Championship, which included a match play victory over Piot in their quarterfinal round match.
West Bloomfield’s Grant Haefner, a member of the Jacksonville University Golf Team, was third. Bradley Smithson, also on the MSU Golf Team, was fourth in the points list. He became the just the sixth amateur to win the Michigan Open Championship. Tyler Rayman, an Eastern Michigan University golfer, was runner-up to Sullivan in the Michigan Amateur and finished fifth on the points list.
Piot called winning the U.S. Amateur, “life-changing.”
The U.S. Amateur win qualifies him for the Masters Tournament, in April. He snuck in a practice round at Augusta National last month with his Michigan State coaches, Casey Lubahn and Dan Ellis, plus an MSU Alum, who is also a member at Augusta National.
“Winning the U.S. Am is something you think you can do, but you don’t always picture it happening,” Piot said. “Things have been crazy since it happened. I’m super blessed by all the things that have happened because of it. It was the coolest moment of my life.”
Next year, after he plays in the Masters, and the spring college season ends, he plans to turn professional.
