Men’s Golf Set to Compete at The Virtues Intercollegiate

2024 Virtues Intercollegiate
Date	Saturday-Sunday, Sept. 28-29, 2024
Venue	The Virtues GC \| Nashport, Ohio
Course Information	Par: 72 \| Yardage: 7,243
Live Stats	Live Scoring (Scoreboard)
EMU Notes	Weekly Notes
Social Media	X: EMU_Golf \| Instagram: EasternMichiganMensGolf

NASHPORT, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) — The Eastern Michigan University men's golf team returns to action this weekend as the team is set to take part in the Virtues Intercollegiate at The Virtues Golf Club in Nashport, Ohio, Saturday-Sunday, Sept. 28-29. The two-day tournament will take place on the par-72, 7,243-yard course in Central Ohio where both Bowling Green State University and Miami University will serve as the event's co-hosts. The field includes 17 teams with five members of the Mid-American Conference playing in the event.

THIS WEEK'S LINE UP
Here are the Eagles that will compete at the Virtues Intercollegiate:
1. Bavake Sihota (Sr.) • 74.3 avg. | Top finisher for the team at the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate
2. Tim Chan (Sr.) • 73.7 avg. | Leads the team with 20 birdies through six rounds played (3.34/round)
3. James Baxter (Fr.) • 74.5 avg. | Fired a team-best 68 (-4) in the second round at Southern Dunes
4. Rory McDonald-O'Brien (Jr.) • 78.7 avg. | Made his EMU debut at the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate
5. Daniel Robles Delval (Jr.) • 73.3 avg. | Returns to the lineup after finishing T-37th at Southern Dunes

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
The two-day Virtues Intercollegiate will be played at The Virtues Golf Club in Nashport, Ohio, and features 17 teams: Belmont, Bowling Green (co-host), Butler, Dayton, Eastern Michigan, James Madison, Kent State, Longwood, Marshall, Miami (co-host), Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio, Robert Morris, St. Bonaventure, Wright State, and Youngstown State. The tournament will mark the first time this season the Eagles will have a chance to play against fellow members of the MAC with four schools (BGSU, KSU, MU, and OU) in the field. Action opens both days with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. with 36 holes played Saturday and 18 holes Sunday.

IN THE RANKINGS
The 2024-25 Preseason Bushnell/Golfweek DI Coaches Poll was released Sept. 6 with only one team in this week's field featuring as Notre Dame received votes and placed just outside the top 25. The Fighting Irish are the lone team in the field that competed in the NCAA Championships, May 24-29, in Carlsbad, Calif.

FIRST TIME
Excluding the opening tournament of the season, the Eagles enter a tournament having not played against any member of the rest of the field in 2024-25. This comes after having faced Fresno State, Grand Canyon, and USC in the first tournaments of the campaign.

CHIP INS

Eastern is set for its first tournament of the year in the Eastern time zone after playing its opener in Arizona before playing last week in New Mexico.
The Eagles placed 17th at the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate in their last tournament with Bavake Sihota leading the way with a 227 (78-71-78) in the event.
Andy Walker was named the 2023-24 Black College Golf Coaches Association Coach of the Year for the second time in his career after guiding his former school, VCU, to another stellar season.
The Eagles' roster features nine athletes, all of whom are new to the program. Included on the list are three seniors, two juniors, one sophomore, and three freshmen.

RECAP: WILLIAM H. TUCKER INTERCOLLEGIATE
EMU completed its second tournament of the season with the Eagles finishing 17th in the team standings at the 2024 William H. Tucker Intercollegiate, hosted by the University of New Mexico, Friday-Saturday, Sept. 20-21. The Eagles carded a team score of 925 over two days on the UNM Championship Course in Albuquerque, N.M. Five Eagles played in the event with senior transfer Bavake Sihota leading the way as he finished tied for 71st at 227 (78-71-78). He was followed in the standings by Tim Chan, who was tied for 86th at 231 (78-80-73), and James Baxter, who tied for 92nd at 236 (77-77-80). Rory McDonald-O'Brien finished 94th at 236 (78-78-80) in his EMU debut while Matthew Rastogi was 96th at 238 (80-77-81).

PREVIOUSLY NOTED
GOING LOW
As a team, the Eagles posted a pair of scores at Southern Dunes (Sept. 9-10) that rank highly in program history. Overall, the 857 strokes in the tournament tied for the 13th-lowest in EMU history and were just two shots off the low total from the 2023-24 season. Additionally, the team's 281 score in the second round tied for the 24th-lowest in program history.

STRONG DEBUT
Individually, Tim Chan was the top finisher for Eastern at Southern Dunes (Sept. 9-10) as he carded a 5-under (211) by shooting rounds of 71-70-70, making him the lone Eagle to break par in all three rounds. Chan's 211 ranks as the third-lowest score in his NCAA Division I career, surpassed only by the 208 (2024 NCAA Chapel Hill Regional) and 209 (2024 Hal Williams Collegiate) he fired for VCU last year. At Southern Dunes, Chan was one of only 12 players in the field to break par on Par 4s as he shot 2-under (3.93) while shooting 6-under (4.50) on Par 5s.

MAKING DEBUTS • TRANSFERS
The seven individuals that competed for Eastern at the Southern Dunes Invitational (Sept. 9-10) made their EMU debuts with five of those players playing after transferring in from other institutions. Along Tim Chan (VCU), the transfers that represented EMU included Bavake Sihota (Michigan), who was 3-over (219, T-35), Daniel Robles Delval (Rogers State), who finished 4-over (220, T-37), Pietro Fenoglio (TCU), who shot 9-over (225, 49), and Lucas Hughes (Grand Canyon), who was 12-over (228, T-52).

MAKING DEBUTS • FRESHMEN
The remaining two players in the field at Southern Dunes for Eastern included James Baxter (London, England) and Matthew Rastogi (Toronto, Ontario), both of whom also made their collegiate debuts. Baxter had a strong outing as he tied for 12th at 3-under (213) and led the team with its two lowest rounds of the tournament after firing 68 in Round 2 and 69 in Round 3. Rastogi, who was playing as an individual, carded a 2-over (218) to finish tied for 32nd, which was the third-highest finish of all Eagles in the tournament.

LOGGING MILES
Eastern will play a national schedule this year that will stretch from coast to coast, and a little beyond. Starting with the opening week of the fall slate, the Eagles will play in their first of three events in Arizona while also heading once each to New Mexico and Nevada. Eastern also will take part in events on the eastern coast with two trips to Florida, one to North Carolina and one to the Bahamas. The remainder of the schedule will see the Eagles play three events in the state of Ohio, including the 2025 MAC Championships in Grove City to close out the regular season.

NOTING WALKER
Andy Walker is set to start his first season at the helm of the Eastern men's program in 2024-25 with the Phoenix native taking his Eagles to the Grand Canyon State three times this year. A Tour player from 1999-10 before becoming the Senior Instructor & Director of Player Development at the Golf Channel Academy (2011-18), Walker has worked with teams at several different collegiate levels. He got his start in collegiate coaching as the head coach at South Mountain Community College (Phoenix) from 2013-18 where he guided the Cougars to a pair of NJCAA Division II National Championships (2015 & 2016). Walker then moved on to Lynn University (Boca Raton, Fla.) and helped the Knights to an NCAA Division II National Championship (2019). Following his stint at LU (2018-21), Walker took over at VCU (2021-24) where he led the Rams to one Atlantic 10 Championship and one runner-up crown. He was twice named the Black Collegiate Golf Coaches Association Coach of the Year, including last season.

FANTASTIC FACILITIES
The GameAbove Golf Performance Center opened its doors Jan. 16, 2024, for the men's and women's golf teams to utilize for their preparations each season. The two-story facility, perched elegantly overlooking the 18th green and Ford Lake, was made possible through an $8 million gift from GameAbove, a dedicated group of Eastern Michigan alumni. The facility stands as a testament to EMU's commitment to excellence in collegiate golf. This state-of-the-art training complex, spanning 13,000 square feet, is designed to propel the Eastern men's and women's golf teams to new heights of success. With locker rooms, meeting spaces, indoor putting and chipping areas, and cutting-edge simulators, the facility provides an unparalleled training environment for all elements of the game.

The building features a dedicated practice range, spanning 6,619 square feet, which offers student-athletes the opportunity to hone their skills with targeted training sessions. A specialized area covering 5,383 square feet has been designated for chipping and putting, ensuring that every aspect of the game is meticulously addressed in the training regimen. Additionally, the inclusion of two TrackMan 4 Simulators, totaling 1,974 square feet, adds a cutting-edge dimension to the training experience. These simulators bring the outdoor game indoors, allowing for precision training regardless of external conditions.

ON THE HORIZON
Two events are on the schedule for Eastern next weekend with individuals heading to Indiana and the remainder of the team flying to Florida. Several individuals are set to take part in The Indy at Forest Hills, Oct. 4, at the Forest Hills Country Club in Richmond, Ind., while the remaining players will head to Estero, Fla., Oct. 6-7, to play in the West Bay Collegiate Invitational at the West Bay Golf Club.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

James Baxter

Tim Chan

Pietro Fenoglio

Lucas Hughes

Rory McDonald-O'Brien

Matthew Rastogi

Daniel Robles Delval

Bavake Sihota

Eastern Michigan Athletics