LANSING - After a week of intense competition at the Eagle Eye Golf Club in Bath, a winner emerged for the 105th annual Michigan Amateur Golf Championship. Sam Weatherhead, a Michigan State senior on the golf team, played the course like he knew it well, surviving bump after bump to birdie his way to the Staghorn Trophy.

“Being from Michigan, born and raised, it was definitely a goal, and I knew I would have one of my better shots here,” Weatherhead said, noting that he had played countless times over the course of the year at the nearby Eagle Eye.

For an athlete balancing an amateur golf career and his internship for the summer, Weatherhead had one of his best performances in recent memory.

“For as many rounds as I played, eight in five days, probably the best golf I’ve ever played,” Weatherhead said. “With that much packed into one week, it was a great week. You definitely have to be at your best in a field like this to win.”

Weatherhead was down early in the match, but battled back to take the last five holes against Dominic Mancinelli with two birdies and three pars.

"I didn't know at the start of the week that this is where I'd be at the end of the week," Weatherhead said. "But I'm really happy with how everything played out, and I'm glad that I could stick to my gameplan and join this elite group of men who have one this tournament."