Season Preview: Eastern Mich Men
From Alex Ryan
Andy Walker, head coach of the Eastern Michigan University men’s golf program, announced that the Eagles are set to compete in 13 tournaments for the 2025-26 season with events stretching from Michigan and Ohio to California and Hawaii.
“We will be playing in 11 different states, which is extremely important so we can see different types of grasses, conditions, weather, and time zones,” Walker said of the schedule. “We did this intentionally so come NCAA Regional time; this team won’t be surprised no matter where we are sent. I’m not much of a goal setter, but more of a habit maker. Although this team has five newcomers, this is a veteran group who have all had success collegiately or internationally. If this team does what it’s supposed to do in practice, then we should contend to win a few events and give ourselves a great chance to advance to the NCAA Championship in Carlsbad.”
The journey to the NCAA Championships gets underway Sept. 8-9 with the Whirlwind Collegiate Invitational, in Chandler, Ariz., hosted by the Big Ten’s USC. Additionally, individual competitors could head to Pierson, Mich., for the Pilgrim’s Run Invitational at Pilgrim’s Run Golf Club.
“I’m really excited to get started this fall in Arizona on a course that I’ve competed on dozens of times and had a lot of success on,” Walker said. “Coach Ryan Yip has also played very well at Whirlwind. I’m looking forward to playing Chicago Highlands and Point O’Woods CC, where I had a successful run at the Western Amateur, and am certainly looking forward to ending our fall season at Kapolei in Hawaii. The spring is going to end very strong with one of the best events in the country at Stanford and the Calusa Cup in Naples, Fla., one of the most prestigious to be invited to.”
Here in the home state, Eastern will take part in the inaugural Jim DeLapa Collegiate, Sept. 28-29, with Central Michigan University serving as host at Point O’Woods Golf Course. The fall slate ends, Nov. 4-6, at the Kapolei Invitational, hosted by the University of Hawaii, on Kapolei Golf Club’s Ocean Course in Kapolei, Hawaii.
A huge highlight before closing the regular-season campaign is the Muirfield Shootout, April 20, at Jack Nicklaus’ Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio, hosted by Miami University.
When the regular season is behind them, the Eagles will turn their attention to championship crowns as they will head to Zionsville, Ind., May 3-5, to compete in the 2026 Mid-American Conference Championships at Holiday Farms Country Club. The winner of the team and individual titles will earn automatic berths into the NCAA Regionals, which are slated to run May 18-20 at six locations, including Athens, Ga.
Season Preview: Eastern Mich Women
From Alex Ryan
The Eastern Michigan women’s golf program is set to compete in 12 events that will take the Eagles to eight different states while also playing once in Mexico. Eastern will play host to events this year with one in Mazatlán, Mexico, and the other, in a combined effort with the University of Southern California, in California.
“We have to thank the leadership of Eastern Michigan and GameAbove for allowing us to have such an elite schedule,” coach Josh Brewer said. “Everyone will see we play a marquee national schedule; however, we are most excited to be the host school for two new events in women’s golf: The GameAbove Invitational in Palos Verdes, Calif., where we will co-host with USC, and the Estrella del Mar Invitational presented by Lorena Ochoa in Mexico. These events allow us to invite top schools to our events and then receive reciprocal invitations to their events.
“In the fall, we look forward to returning to Chambers Bay and Vail as many members of our team had sub-par rounds at each event, including Savannah de Bock winning at Vail,” Brewer added. “Of course, we are also excited to end the fall season in Hawaii,” at the Rainbow Wahine Invitational, Oct. 20-22, in Lihue, Hawaii
Eastern will make return trips to tournaments it played during the 2024 fall slate, including the Leadership & Golf Invitational at Chambers Bay in University Park, Wash., Sept. 15-16, and the Golfweek Red Sky Classic, Sept. 22-24, at Red Sky Ranch in Wolcott, Colo. Competing in the Golfweek event will give junior de Bock (Ecaussinnes-d’enghien, Belgium/Institut de l’Enfant-Jésus-Lycée/Georgia) the change to defend her title won last year after she shot 12-under 204 to break the school record.
“In the spring, we will spend many days competing on the West Coast before returning home for the conference championship,” Brewer stated. “These trips will allow Janae Leovao and Jasmine Leovao to return close to home to compete while also allowing us to experience traveling to the West Coast where the NCAA Championship is hosted. We look forward to the challenge of competing against many of the top teams all year.”
Eventually, the Eagles will turn their attention to the postseason as the Mid-American Conference Championships await, April 26-28, at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. The team and individual champions will earn the conference’s automatic berths into the NCAA Regionals, which will take place May 11-13 at four sites. The top eight teams from each site will advance to the NCAA Championships, May 22-27, at the Omni La Costa Resort in Carlsbad, Calif.
