Golf Closes Fall Schedule in Hawai’i at the Pearl

2025 PEARL AT KALAUOU INVITATIONAL
Date	Wednesday-Thursday, Nov. 5-6, 2025
Info Hub	EMU Notes (pdf)
Venue	The Pearl at Kalauou Club \| O'ahu, Hawai'i \| Par: 72 \| Yards: 6,955
Live	Live Scoring (Scoreboard)
Social Media	EMU_Golf (X) \| Ea sternMichiganMensGolf (Instagram)

KAPOLEI, O'AHU, Hawai'i (EMUEagles.com) — The Eastern Michigan University men's golf team will close out the fall portion of its 2025-26 schedule this week when the Eagles compete in the Pearl at Kalauao Invitational, Nov. 5-6, at Pearl at Kalauao Club in Kapolei, O'ahu, Hawai'i. The two-day tournament will feature 18 teams in the last event for the Eagles until the spring season begins in February 2026.

THIS WEEK'S LINE UP
Here are the Eagles that will compete at the Pearl at Kalauao Invitational:
» Charlie Box (Jr.) • 69.9 avg. | 2x MAC Golfer of the Week (Oct. 3 & 10)... Coming off win at West Bay Collegiate
» Tim Chan (Sr.) • 71.6 avg. | Coming off a season-best 14th-place finish at the West Bay Collegiate
» Carlos Fernández Mortera (Jr.) • 74.1 avg. | Season-best T34th at Jim DeLapa Collegiate
» Joshua Hess (Fr.) • 71.8 avg. | Captured first top 20 finish by tying for 19th at Highland Invitational
» Rory McDonald-O'Brien (Sr.) • 73.7 avg. | 2025 MAC Runner-Up... T29th at Whirlwind Collegiate
» Leo Mihaich (Sr.) | Making his debut in Hawai'i this week
» Robby Turnbull (Fr.) • 72.2 avg. | T19th at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championships in Dubai last week

CHIP INS
» Charlie Box captured medalist honors at the West Bay Collegiate Invitational, Oct. 6-7, the first tournament title by an EMU player since Oct. 16-17, 2017, when Beau Breault won the Dayton Flyer Invitational. The win also is the seventh in Box' career after winning six times previously with Hutchinson Community College.
» Following his win, the league coaches voted Charlie Box as the MAC Golfer of the Week, giving the accolade for the second-consecutive week. Box was previously honored after taking seventh place (the best among all MAC players in the field) at the Jim DeLapa Collegiate (Sept. 28-29).
» Robby Turnbull, a freshman on the team, recently represented New Zealand in a pair of international events in October. He tied for 65th in the World Amateur Team Championships (Oct. 8-11) in Singapore with Team New Zealand taking 14th before he tied for 19th at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championships (Oct. 23-26) in Dubai.
» As a team, the Eagles are currently ranked No. 109 in the Scoreboard/Clippd rankings, the highest it has been in the rankings that were first released January 17, 2024. EMU opened this season at No. 110 after finishing last year at No. 143, one off last year's highest ranking.
» Individually, Charlie Box is the highest ranked Eagle at No. 234. He opened the year at No. 215.
» Former Eagle Brett White finished fifth on the PGA TOUR Americas Fortinet Cup standings last week to earn his Korn Ferry Tour exemption card for the 2026 season.
» The Eagles are slated to play in six events this fall with stops in four different time zones, including Eastern (Michigan and Florida), Central (Illinois), Mountain (Arizona and New Mexico), and Hawaiian. All told in 2025-26, EMU will play in 12 total events, including spring events in Alabama, California, Florida, Ohio, and Texas, before playing in the 2026 MAC Championships in Zionsville, Ind. (May 3-5).
» EMU's roster features seven players with two returning players in Tim Chan and Rory McDonald-O'Brien, the 2025 MAC runner-up. Both seniors are set for the final collegiate campaigns this year after averaging 72.8 (No. 12 in EMU history) and 73.3 (No. 21) strokes, respectively, last year.
» There are five newcomers to the roster this year, including three transfers and two freshmen. The transfers include senior Leo Mihaich (Argentina/Oklahoma Christian) and juniors Charlie Box (England/Hutchinson CC) and Carlos Fernández Mortera (Spain/Charleston). The two freshmen include Joshua Hess (Switzerland) and Robby Turnbull (New Zealand).

TOURNAMENT INFO: THE FACTS
The 54-hole Pearl at Kalauao Invitational will be played over two days, Nov. 5-6, with 36 holes played the first day and 18 the second. Action on the par-72, 6,955-yard Pearl at Kalauao Country Club in O'ahu gets underway both days with shotgun starts at 7:30 a.m. HT (1:30 p.m. ET).

TOURNAMENT INFO: THE FIELD
The Pearl at Kalauao Invitational will feature 18 teams, including 17 from NCAA Division I and one from NCAA Division II. Along with the Eagles and host Hawai'i, the field features Air Force, Army, Augusta, Baylor, Belmont, Butler, Cal Baptist, Eastern Kentucky, Hawai'i Pacific (DII), Nevada, SIU-Edwardsville, Tennessee-Martin, UC San Diego, Utah Tech, West Virginia, and Wichita State.

IN THE RANKINGS • TEAMS (SCOREBOARD)
Of the 18 teams in the field, 10 are ranked among the top 150 in the Oct. 26 Scoreboard/Clippd rankings, led by West Virginia at No. 31. Two teams are ranked in the top 100, including No. 89 Butler and No. 96 UC San Diego, while three are among the top 125, including No. 105 Utah Tech, No. 109 EMU, and No. 109 in Division II Hawai'i Pacific. Additionally, four individuals are ranked in the national top 200 with WVU's Kaleb Wilson leading the way at No. 99.

MOVING UP
According to the Oct. 29 Scoreboard/Clippd rankings update, the Eagles moved up one spot to No. 109 for the highest ranking in program history. Eastern, who opened the year at No. 110, entered the season with a record high of No. 142, which was earned in the penultimate release of the 2024-25 season. Last year, Eastern opened at No. 161 and ended at No. 143 with the first year of the rankings, which began in January 2024, seeing the Eagles open at No. 172 and finishing at No. 194 with a season-best of No. 167 attained midway through the spring.

RECAP: WEST BAY
Charlie Box tied the program record with a second-round 63 before he sank a 20-foot birdie putt to win a playoff to earn medalist honors as his play helped EMU to a third-place finish at the West Bay Collegiate Invitational, Oct. 6-7, at West Bay Club in Estero, Fla. Box, now a seven-time winner on the collegiate circuit, became the first medalist for the team since the 2018-19 season.

As a team, the Eagles finished third in the 10-team field as they shot 27-under 837 (281-279-277) to place behind host and winner Florida Gulf Coast, who was 37-under 827 on one of its home courses, and runner-up Elon, who shot 29-under 835 (283-278-274). The Eagles, who started the final round in fourth, moved ahead of two teams that tied for fourth in Stetson (280-278-282) and George Mason (276-280-284), both of whom finished at 24-under 840. Eastern, with two players in the top 15, recorded the third-lowest 54-hole score in program history.

Individually, Box got off to a slow start with an opening round 71 before shooting a program-record-tying 63 in the second round to jump 21 places in the standings. On the final day, he closed with a 67 to shot 15-under 201 and tie for the top spot before using a 20-foot birdie putt in the playoff with George Mason's Vaughn McMeans to take the title.

MEDALIST HONORS
The victory by Charlie Box at the West Bay Collegiate Invitational (Oct. 6-7) marked the first by an EMU player since the 2017-18 season when Beau Breault captured the Dayton Flyer Invitational, Oct. 16-17, 2017. Since the start of the 2000-01 season, nine different Eagles have combined to capture 15 titles with Box' win snapping a nearly eight-year long drought for the program in the winner's circle. The previous drought was three-and-one-half years as Kyle Rodes' victory at the Loyola Intercollegiate (Feb. 25-27, 2017) halted the streak following Stuart Grehan's win at the Firestone Invitational (Oct. 7-8, 2013).

FEELING HONORED... AGAIN
Charlie Box was named the MAC Golfer of the Week, Oct. 10, marking back-to-back weeks the Eagle was honored by the conference. Most recently, Box continued his strong recent play as he tied for the title at the West Bay Collegiate Invitational at 15-under 201 before sinking a 20-foot birdie put to win the playoff and claim medalist honors in Florida. His first accolade was earned Oct. 3 as he was the top placer among all MAC players in the Jim DeLapa Collegiate that included host Central Michigan and Northern Illinois. Box was the top finisher for the Eagles as he entered the third round in 16th before climbing nine spots to finish in a tie for seventh place at 4-under 206 (69-70-67), his lowest score in four events with the program.

GROWING LIST
The two MAC Golfer of the Week honors attained by Charlie Box this season made him the 26th different Eagle to earn a weekly award from the league since the 1999-00 season and the 10th to earn multiple awards. The first Eagle to earn multiple honors in the same season since Ty Celone was recognized Feb. 25 and April 1, 2022, Box is now one of five Eastern players to earn two awards in a career, joining Cougar Collins, Stuart Grehan, Casey Olsen, and Kyle Rodes. Cam Burke, Graham Hill, and Christopher Ross lead the way for the program with four honors each.

RECAP: INTERNATIONAL DUTY
Robby Turnbull represented his native New Zealand in a pair of international competitions in October with tournaments played in Singapore and Dubai. First, Turnbull took part in the World Amateur Team Championships, Oct. 8-11, in Singapore where he shot 6-over 294 (71-73-73-77) to tie for 65th in the 108-player field while helping his team to a tie for 14th with Czechia at 6-under 570. Turnbull's international duties ended at the 16th Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, Oct. 23-26, in Dubai where he tied for 19th in a field of 120 players. Over the four days, Turnbull shot 3-under 285 (75-69-67-74) with his third-round 67 standing as the second-best round of the day behind only the 65 carded by Japan's Taisei Nagasaki.

TOUR CARD EARNED
Brett White is back on the Korn Ferry Tour as the former Eagle, who last competed full time on the tour in 2022, finished fifth in the 2025 Fortinet Cup standings to earn automatic membership for the 2026 Korn Ferry Tour. After sitting 11th on the list following the PGA TOUR Americas Latin America swing with 411 points, White scored 722 points on the North America swing to climb to fifth overall and earn his card. Along with the membership, he also earned exemption into the PGA TOUR Q-School Final Stage (Dec. 11-14) where the top five finishers (plus ties) will earn their PGA TOUR card.

GETTING CLOSER
Having played 15 rounds this season and eligible for the program's single-season average rankings, the trio of Charlie Box, Tim Chan, and Joshua Hess have taken over the top three spots overall. Box is currently averaging a program-record 69.9 while Chan is second at 71.6. Hess, a freshman, is at 71.8, which ties Beau Breault for third with Breault having been the previous school record holder with his average set in 2018-19. Rory McDonald-O'Brien has played 12 rounds with his 73.7 average currently sitting 32nd all-time.

Current Season Scoring Average Rankings
1. Charlie Box • 69.9 • 2025-26
2. Tim Chan • 71.6 • 2025-26
3. Joshua Hess • 71.8 • 2025-26
3. Beau Breault • 71.8 • 2018-19
5. Ty Celone • 71.9 • 2018-19

GOOD TO BE BELOW AVERAGE
As a team, the Eagles currently hold a four-player average of 284.9, which is the lowest in program history by 4.2 strokes, surpassing the previous record of 289.1 set in 2018-19. As it stands, this year's team average, should it hold, would be one of just two to finish below 290 as the 2016-17 team set broke the record with its 290.4 average (9,875 strokes, 34 rounds).

LOGGING MILES
The Eagles will once again spread their wings and play in tournaments in 11 different states in 2025-26, including five of the six time zones across the United States. In the fall, Eastern is set to play in tournaments in Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Michigan, and New Mexico before taking part in events in Alabama, California, Florida, Indiana, Ohio, and Texas during the spring season.

ON THE HORIZON
The tournament in Hawai'i marks the end of the fall slate. The Eagles will return to action to open their spring schedule, Feb. 16-17, 2026, when they travel to Mobile, Ala., to compete in the Hall Williams Collegiate. The two-day season-opener will be played on the RTJ at Magnolia Grove Course and will feature 14 teams in the field that will feature host University of South Alabama and fellow Mid-American Conference foe Kent State University.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Charlie Box

Tim Chan

Joshua Hess

Rory McDonald-O'Brien

Leo Mihaich

Robby Turnbull

Eastern Michigan Athletics