Women’s Golf Heads to Atlanta for East Lake Cup - Eastern Michigan University Athletics

2026 EAST LAKE CUP
Date	Monday-Wednesday, Oct. 26-28, 2026
Info Hub	EMU Notes (pdf)
Venue	Ocean Course at Hokuala \| Lihu'e, Kaua'i, Hawai'i \| Par: 72 \| Yards: 6,039
Live	Live Scoring on Scoreboard: Stroke Play \| Match Play
Social Media	EMUWomensGolf (X) \| EMUWomensGolf (Instagram)

ATLANTA (EMUEagles.com) — The Eastern Michigan University women's golf team heads to historic East Lake Golf Club this week as the Eagles will be one of four teams set to compete in the 12th East Lake Cup, Oct. 26-28, in Atlanta, Ga. The three-day event, which features one round (18 holes) of stroke play before two rounds of match play, will see four teams that reached the match play portion of the 2026 NCAA Championships compete against one another as the Eagles will face Arkansas, Oklahoma State, and USC.

ON THE COURSE FOR EASTERN
Here are the Eagles that will compete in the 2026 East Lake Cup:
» Savannah de Bock (Y-4) • 72.0 avg. | Medalist at 2026 Leadership & Golf; T23rd at Golfweek Red Sky
» Laura Gorgees Baeta (Y-1) • 74.2 avg. | Career-high T19th at Rainbow Wahine Invitational last week
» Constanza Quiroga (Y-2) • 72.8 avg. | Tied for 17th in EMU debut at the Leadership & Golf Invitational
» Baiyok Sukterm (Y-4) • 71.3 avg. | T3rd at the Leadership & Golf Invitational to open the year
» Karen Tsuru (Y-4) • 71.4 avg. | T6th at the Rainbow Wahine Invitational last week

CHIP INS
» Eastern Michigan will compete in a match-play event for the first time since the 2026 NCAA Championships where the Eagles tied for third by reaching the semifinals in their national debut. The East Lake Cup will mark the 10th match-play event for the Eagles in program history, the ninth in the regular season, and the first regular-season match play competition since taking seventh in the MAC Match Play, Feb. 7-8, 2022, at Lakewood Ranch Golf Club in Lakewood Ranch, Fla., which also was the final match play event the conference held.
» Eastern has competed in four events with Eagles earning MAC Golfer of the Week three times, including Karen Tsuru (Oct. 23), Baiyok Sukterm (Oct. 9), and Savannah de Bock (Sept. 11). Eastern has earned 15 MAC weekly awards under Josh Brewer (since the start of the 2024-25 season).
» Eastern fired a program-record-shattering 21-under 843 at the Golfweek Red Sky Classic (Sept. 21-23) to break the previous mark by six strokes after the team shot 849 last year (April 6-8, 2026) at the Chevron Silverado Showdown. The Eagles used a final-round 16-under 272, which broke the single round record by seven strokes, to finish sixth in the deep field. Karen Tsuru led the way at 9-under 209 to finish 13th.
» Eastern opened the season with team and individual victories at the Leadership & Golf Invitational, Sept. 14-15, at Chambers Bay. The wins marked the second consecutive season the Eagles captured both the team and individual crowns at their first tournament of the year and repeated a sweep of the titles at the same event after winning both in 2025. The individual title for Savannah de Bock was the second of her collegiate career and the 29th in program history.
» As a team, Eastern won the Leadership & Golf Invitational for the second consecutive season and won its season-opening event for the sixth time in program history.
» Eastern will compete in five fall events and six spring tournaments before heading into the post season. Including the 2027 MAC Championships, the Eagles are set to play in nine different states, including California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawai'i, Kansas, Ohio, Texas, and Washington.
» The coaching staff is back for its third year with Head Coach Josh Brewer and Assistant Coach Caterina Don returning to lead the program. Brewer was the 2026 Golfweek Women's National Coach of the Year, the WGCA East Region Coach of the Year, and a WGCA National Coach of the Year finalist while Don was a finalist for the inaugural WGCA National Assistant Coach of the Year award.
» The Eagles will serve as co-hosts of two events later in the season, including the GameAbove Invitational and the MAC Championships. Eastern and USC will share hosting duties of the GAI in Somis, Calif., March 15-16, while the Eagles will work with the conference office to co-host the MAC event, April 25-27.

SMILE FOR THE CAMERA!
The East Lake Cup will be featured on GOLF Channel throughout the week with competition airing each day from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET. GOLF Channel will show stroke play from both the women's and men's competitions along with interviews with the individual medalists Monday, Oct. 26, and will visit with winning coaches following their team's rounds both Tuesday, Oct. 27, and Wednesday, Oct. 28.

TOURNAMENT INFO: THE FACTS
The 12th edition of the East Lake Cup will be played at historic East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Ga., Oct. 26-28, and will feature four women's and four men's teams representing seven universities in the three-day event. ELGC, which will play as a par 72 and measure at 6,185 yards for the women, is Atlanta's oldest golf club and the historic home of legendary golfer Bobby Jones. Established in 1904, ELGC has served as the permanent home of the TOUR Championship since 2005, which is the final event of the PGA TOUR Playoffs in the FedEx Cup. Overall, the teams will play 18 holes of stroke play on Monday, Oct. 16, to determine seeding for match play, which gets underway Tuesday, Oct. 27. The winning teams will play in the championship final Wednesday, Oct. 28, with the remaining two teams competing in a consolation match the same day.

TOURNAMENT INFO: TEAMS
Seven institutions will be featured at the 12th East Lake Cup after earning invitations with their finishes at the 2026 NCAA Championships with Oklahoma State's women and men both in the field. The remaining women's teams include EMU, Arkansas, and USC while the men's teams include Arizona, Auburn, and UCLA.

DEEP FIELD
Entry into the East Lake Cup has traditionally gone to the four teams that reached the semifinals of the previous year's NCAA Championships match play event with teams that competed in any round of match play eligible to replace any team that declines an invitation. This year, the four teams feature the national runner-up in USC, both teams that fell in the semifinals in EMU and Arkansas, and Oklahoma State, who fell in the quarterfinals and is replacing national champion Stanford.

IN THE RANKINGS • TEAM
In the women's portion of the East Lake Cup, all four teams are ranked in the top 60 of the Oct. 21 Scoreboard/Clippd rankings with USC leading the way at No. 2. Arkansas enters ranked No. 20, Oklahoma State is No. 29, and EMU is No. 53.

IN THE RANKINGS • INDIVIDUAL
The four teams in the field feature 13 players that are ranked among the top 200 nationally in the Oct. 21 Scoreboard/Clippd rankings with both Arkansas and USC boasting two players each in the top 25. The eight players in the national top 100 include Arkansas' No. 7 Maria Jose Marin, No. 13 Sara Brentcheneff, and No. 80 Melliyal Schmitt, USC's No. 20 Sarah Hammett, No. 22 Elise Lee, No. 48 Jasmine Koo, and No. 92 Bailey Shoemaker, and Oklahoma State's No. 40 Louise Depadt. Eastern Michigan has two players in the top 175 in No. 160 Savannah de Bock and No. 167 Baiyok Sukterm.

MORE ON THE RANKINGS
Eastern has five players on its roster that received rankings in the initial release of the Scoreboard/Clippd lists with two improving over their 2025-26 season starting positions. Constanza Quiroga, who played for Troy in 2025-26, opened last year at No. 651 before starting this season at No. 508, an improvement of 143 places, while Baiyok Sukterm climbed 12 spots to No. 156 this year after opening last year at No. 168. She went on to finish No. 53 in the rankings. The remaining three Eagles in the rankings are No. 152 Savannah de Bock, No. 221 Karen Tsuru, who was not ranked at all last year, and No. 592 Mariana Vega.

MATCHING UP
The East Lake Cup will mark the 10th time in program history Eastern Michigan has compete in a match-play event and its first regular season event since the 2021-22 season when the Eagles finished seventh at the MAC Match Play, Feb. 7-8, 2022, in Lakewood Ranch, Fla. Along with 2026 NCAA Championships, Eastern has reached the semifinals of a match-play tournament three times with the Eagles advancing to the finals twice where they finished second in the MAC event in both 2014 and 2015. Overall, the program stands 11-13-5 in match play after going 1-1-0 at the 2026 national tournament.

LAST TIME IN MATCH PLAY • 2026 NCAA
Match play at the 2026 NCAA Championships was the culmination of several firsts for the EMU program that saw the Eagles compete in the regionals as a team for the first time in program history before advancing to the national tournament and match play for the first time. In match play, the No. 5 Eagles scored a 3-1 defeat of No. 4 Texas that saw Janae Leovao score a massive 5&4 win over No. 1 Farrah O'Keefe while Savannah de Bock won, 5&3 and Jasmine Leovao closed it out with a 1-up win via her birdie putt on 18 to score the upset win in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, the Eagles fell to the eventual champion, Stanford, as the Cardinal won three matches and were ahead on the remaining two as well.

LAST TIME IN REGULAR SEASON MATCH PLAY
The last time the Eagles competed in a regular season match play event came Feb. 7-8, 2022, at the MAC Match Play at Lakewood Ranch Golf Club in Lakewood Ranch, Fla., the final of seven MAC Match Play events. Eastern, seeded fifth, opened with a 2.5-2.5 tie with No. 12 Ball State and advanced on the best individual margin of victory tiebreaker as Alyssa DiMarcantonio won her match, 7&5. Later that day, EMU tied No. 4 Akron, 2.5-2.5, but lost the tiebreaker. On Feb. 8, EMU dropped a 4-1 decision to No. 6 Morehead State before rebounding with 3-2 win over No. 8 Bowling Green to finish seventh in the final standings.

RECAPPING • RAINBOW WAHINE INVITE
Eastern Michigan finished the Rainbow Wahine Invitational at 11-over 875 (292-293-290) to tie with San Diego State for fourth place in the 14-team tournament that was won by BYU, who was the only team to break par as the Cougars shot 5-under 859. Long Beach State took second place at 2-over 866 while Kansas State finished third at 4-over 868.

Individually, Karen Tsuru was the top Eagle in the event as she carded a 1-over 215 (70-72-73) to post her second consecutive top 10 finish after tying for ninth at the Oklahoma Intercollegiate (Oct. 5-6). Tsuru, who is ranked No. 221 nationally, tied one player ranked higher than her in No. 140 Nanami Nakashima of Kansas State while beating out five ranked higher, including No. 53 Jiarui Chen of Kansas State.

Tsuru was followed in the standings by Baiyok Sukterm, who tied for 15th at 3-over 219 (74-73-72) and Laura Gorgees Baeta, who tied for 19th at 4-over 220 (75-73-72). The finish for Gorgees Baeta was her best as a collegiate player as the freshman's previous best came at the Leadership & Golf Invitational where she tied for 45th. Constanza Quiroga finished 32nd overall at 6-over 222 (73-75-74) while Savannah de Bock tied for 42nd at 10-over 226 (77-76-73) to round out the counting players for the team. Matilde Zocchi made her season debut playing as an individual where she tied for 46th at 11-over 227 (73-77-77).

MAC RECOGNITION
Karen Tsuru was named the MAC Golfer of the Week, Oct. 23, after she was the top Eagle in the Rainbow Wahine Invitational as she carded a 1-over 215 (70-72-73) to post her second consecutive top 10 finish after tying for ninth at the Oklahoma Intercollegiate (Oct. 5-6). Tsuru, who was ranked No. 221 nationally, tied with one player ranked higher than her in No. 140 Nanami Nakashima of Kansas State while beating out five players ranked higher, including No. 53 Jiarui Chen of Kansas State. Overall, her finish marked her first back-to-back top 10 showings since she earned three consecutive during the 2024-25 season for Oregon at the Alice & John Wallace Classic (fourth), the Juli Inkster Invitational (tied for first), and the Charles Schwab Women's Collegiate Invitational (tied for sixth). It also marked her third consecutive tournament shooting under par across the 54 holes for the second time in her career and her first with EMU.

FEELING HONORED • SUKTERM
Baiyok Sukterm was named the MAC Golfer of the Week, Oct. 9, after her strong showing at the Oklahoma Intercollegiate. Sukterm finished below par for the third consecutive tournament to open the year and posted her second top 10 finish of the season as she shot 3-under 210 (71-70-69) to finish sixth overall. Sukterm, who opened the year with a third-place showing at the Leadership & Golf Invitational after shooting 5-under 211, tied her own program record for low 54-hole score on a par-71 course after shooting 210 to win the Silicon Valley Showcase (March 30-31, 2026) last season. Her score this week was tied for the seventh-lowest in Eastern history while her 3-under finish tied for 10th all-time on the score-to-par list. Additionally, she was the only player in the field of 66 golfers that shot below par in all three rounds as she tied for 12th in the field with nine birdies and fourth overall for the fewest bogies with just six.

CLIMBING THE LIST
Since Kelly Pickett earned the program's first MAC Golfer of the Week honor, April 18, 2001, the EMU program has secured over 50 weekly awards with Baiyok Sukterm's Oct. 10 recognition standing as the 53rd. Sukterm's latest award pushed her into elite company at Eastern as she became only the fifth player to garner MAC Golfer of the Week four or more times in a career. She joined Stephany Fleet, who leads the way with seven, five-time honorees Catherine Fortin and Sarah Johnson, and fellow four-time winner Darby Peters. All told, 20 different Eastern players have been honored by the MAC with 14 having earned multiple awards while nine have earned three or more, including current Eagle Savannah de Bock.

FEELING HONORED • DE BOCK
Savannah de Bock was voted the MAC Golfer of the Week, Sept. 18, marking the third in de Bock's career after she was twice recognized during the 2024-25 season. De Bock led the charge for an Eastern Michigan sweep at the 2026 Leadership & Golf Invitational, Sept. 14-15, as she finished as the medalist by one stroke after shooting 7-under 209. Only the eighth player in program history to win multiple titles for the Eagles, de Bock, the 2024 Golfweek Red Sky Classic winner, used a barrage of birdies on the final day to shoot 4-under 68 and move from fifth into the winner's circle as EMU successfully defended the team title it won at Chambers Bay one year prior. Her score tied for the third-lowest in program history and gave her four of the top five marks in the EMU record books as she helped the team to its 13th all-time sweep and fourth in the past calendar year. She led the team to a 1-under 863 score, which ranked sixth in the program's history and helped Eastern finish ahead of six teams that competed in the 2026 NCAA Regional competitions, including Oregon State and SMU, who reached the national event in May. Overall, de Bock secured the 28th individual title in program history while the team secured its 31st.

BREWER-ING AWARDS
Since Head Coach Josh Brewer took over the program at the start of the 2024-25 season, Eastern has received 15 MAC Golfer of the Week accolades with Baiyok Sukterm leading the way with four honors while the trio of Savannah de Bock, Janae Leovao, and Jasmine Leovao each added three to the list. Karen Tsuru added her name to the list last week (Oct. 23) while Riley Kim was honored during the 2024-25 campaign as well. The 15 honors are the most in a three-year span in program history, surpassing the 10 earned during the 2007-08 through 2009-10 campaigns and the 2009-10 through 2011-12 seasons. Additionally, the nine earned in just 2025-26 would tie for the third-highest total in a three-season span.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES • THE EAGLES
Savannah de Bock • Ecaussinnes-d'enghien, BEL
Current Rankings (Career Best)
WAGR: #120 (#67)
NCAA: #160 (#25, 3/6/24, w/Georgia
European: #14
» De Bock competed in both matches at the NCAA Championships last year and was 1-0. She opened with a 5&3 win over Angela Heo of Texas in the quarterfinals before facing No. 14 Kelly Xu of Stanford in the semifinals where she trailed, 1-up through 15 holes, when the match was abandoned.
» She also was the first player in EMU program history to compete in the NCAA Regionals after earning an at-larger berth to the 2025 NCAA Columbus Regional where she tied for 45th in the event. She followed that up last year by improving to a tie for 26th at the 2026 NCAA Tallahassee Regional to help EMU to its inaugural berth into the NCAA Championships, where she tied for 12th in her national debut.
» She has played in all four events for the Eagles this year and opened the year by winning the Leadership & Golf Invitational (Sept. 14-15) at Chambers Bay with a 7-under 209 (71-70-68). She was named the MAC Golfer of the Week after her victory, which was the second of her career after capturing the 2024 Golfweek Red Sky Classic crown.
» EMU's all-time scoring average leader at 72.75 (previous record before her arrival was 75.81), de Bock has rewritten much of the program's top marks as she holds the top-two 54-hole scores at 204 (2024 Golfweek Red Sky Classic) and 207 (2025 Leadership & Golf Invitational) while holding eight of the program's top 20 54-hole tournament scores. She also is the record holder for 72-hole scoring at 285 at the 2026 NCAA Championships (was 302) while her 65 at the 2024 Golfweek Red Sky Classic is the lowest single-round score in Eastern history (was 66).

Laura Gorgees Baeta • Zaragoza, ESP
Current Rankings (Career Best)
WAGR: #1,820 (#1,797)
NCAA: #727 (#701, 10/14/26)
European: #430
» Gorgees Baeta is in her first collegiate season and has played in three of the team's events this year. Playing as an individual, shoe shot 10-over 226 in her debut at the Leadership & Golf Invitational to finished tied for 45th and has improved her score in each of the last two events she has played, including her 4-over 220 at the Rainbow Wahine Invitational last week that earned her first top-20 collegiate finish as she tied for 19th.
» Prior to her arrival in Ypsilanti this fall, she played in a trio of championships events and finished among the top 20 in all three. She opened with a 13th-place finish in the Madrid Championships before taking 19th at the Spanish Women's Amateur Championships. She capped her summer with a 12th-place showing at the Grand Prix des Landes Hossegor in France.

Constanza Quiroga • Cochabamba, BOL
Current Rankings (Career Best)
WAGR: #514 (#183)
NCAA: #533 (#521, 11/12/25, w/Troy)
South America: #27
» Quiroga is in her first season with the Eagles after transferring into the program this summer after playing her freshman season at Troy.
» She has appeared in all four tournaments this fall for Eastern Michigan and opened with her best finish of the year by shooting 4-over 220 to tie for 17th at the Leadership & Golf Invitational. She followed that with her second career tournament under par as she shot 2-under 214 at the Golfweek Red Sky Classic where she posted a final-round 68 for her lowest career round.
» Has won one collegiate event in her career after tying for medalist honors at the 2025 The Velvet Classic after shooting 1-over 222 for Troy.
» Fun fact: Constanza's younger brother, Vicente, is a member of the Eastern Michigan men's program and recently was named the MAC Men's Golfer of the Week for the second time (Oct. 23) this season.

Baiyok Sukterm • Bang Yi, THA
Current Rankings (Career Best)
WAGR: #88 (#77)
NCAA: #167 (#53, 6/8/26 / #1, 6/2/25 NAIA)
Asia-Pacific: #33
» Played in two matches at the NCAA Championships last year for the Eagles. She started with No. 34 Selina Liao (Texas) in the quarterfinals and held a 1-up lead through 16 when the match was abandoned and EMU winning the team score. She followed in the semifinals with a 4&3 loss to No. 7 Megha Ganne (Stanford).
» Sukterm has appeared in all four tournaments the Eagles have played this season and finished among the top 15 three times, including third at the Leadership & Golf Invitational and sixth at the Oklahoma Intercollegiate, a finish that earned her MAC Golfer of the Week honors. In those four events, she shot three rounds in the 60s and shot par or lower in nine of 12 rounds.
» For her career, Sukterm has played 63-of-98 rounds at or below par with 24 of those rounds in the 60s.
» Sukterm, the former No. 1 golfer in the NAIA (2024-25) and NJCAA (2023-24) ranks, has won 13 career collegiate titles, including six with Barton College (NJCAA) in 2023-24, six with Lindsey Wilson (NAIA) in 2024-25, and added the 2026 Silicon Valley Showcase title for the Eagles last year. Additionally, she has finished among the top 12 in all three national tournament appearances she has made, including second in the 2024 NJCAA Division I Championships, third at the 2025 NAIA Championships, and tied for 12th at the 2026 NCAA Division I Championships.

Karen Tsuru
Current Rankings (Career Best) • WAGR: #216 (#31) | NCAA: #238 (#26, 4/2/25, w/Oregon) | United States: #70
» Making her return to the East Lake Cup after playing for Oregon in 2024 where she dropped both of her matches, 1-up. She faced No. 24 Rocio Tejedo of LSU in the first match and No. 81 Francesca Fiorellini of UCLA in the second.
» In the 2024-25 season, played in three match play events for the Ducks, posting a 2-3 record. She opened with a 1-up win over No. 20 Kendall Todd of Arkansas before her two losses at the East Lake Cup. At the NCAA Championships, she fell, 2&1 to No. 13 Farrah O'Keefe of Texas in the quarterfinals before scoring a 3&2 win over No. 30 Lauryn Nguyen of Northwestern in the semifinals.
» Tsuru is currently on a streak of three consecutive tournaments under par after shooting 9-under 207 at the Golfweek Red Sky Classic and 1-under at both the Oklahoma Intercollegiate and Rainbow Wahine Invitational. That streak ties the longest of her career after she shot 8-under at the Alice & John Wallace Classic, 13-under to win the Juli Inkster Invitational, and 2-under at the Charles Schwab Women's Collegiate Invitational in 2025 with Oregon.
» Tsuru has shot par or lower in eight of her 12 rounds this year (four tournaments), which is one less than her eight tournament total in the 2024-25 season for the Ducks. Included in her eight rounds this season was a final-round 67 at the Golfweek Red Sky Classic, which tied her lowest collegiate round after shooting the same in the final round of the Alice & John Wallace Classic in 2025.

BACK FOR MORE
Six players have returned to the team for the 2026-27 season, including Savannah de Bock, Julianna Go, Baiyok Sukterm, Erina Tan, Mariana Vega, and Matilde Zocchi with several of those players are coming off award-winning seasons, including All-MAC performers Sukterm (first-team) and de Bock (second-team), who both finished their year among the top 15 at the NCAA Championships. Sukterm was a three-time MAC Golfer of the Week in 2025-26 and won her first collegiate event as an NCAA Division I player when she took medalist honors at the Silicon Valley Showcase, March 30-31, in Millbrae, Calif., while de Bock was selected to the MAC All-Tournament Team after finishing third at the league event. Zocchi was the top ranked freshman in the league last year and was voted the MAC Freshman of the Year.

HELLO! MY NAME IS...
Three newcomers have joined the program this year with one first-year player and two transfers. The rookie is Laura Gorgees Baeta, who hails from Zaragoza, Spain, while the transfers feature Constanza Quiroga (Bolivia), who came to Ypsilanti after one year at Troy, and Karen Tsuru (Carlsbad, Calif.), who played the previous three years at Oregon and was the No. 11 recruit in the Class of 2023.

FAMILY MATTERS
For the second consecutive year, Eastern Michigan golf will feature family ties as transfer Constanza Quiroga will play for the women's program while her younger brother, Vicente Quiroga, joined the men's team as a first-year player this season. Last year, the women's team featured twins Janae Leovao and Jasmine Leovao.

STRONG COACHING
The coaching staff remains unchanged with Josh Brewer back for his third year at the helm of the program and Caterina Don back for her third year as his assistant coach. The duo was highly regarded by their peers in 2025-26 as each earned selections for postseason honors. Brewer was named the Golfweek Women's National Coach of the Year and the WGCA East Region Coach of the Year while also being named a finalist for the WGCA National Coach of the Year award with Don earning a finalist spot on the inaugural WGCA National Assistant Coach of the Year list. The awards earned by both marked the first in the history of the program.

FAMILIAR START
The Eagles will play in many of the same tournaments in 2026-27 that they played in 2025-26, including the first four of this year's slate mirroring a similar start to last year. After playing in The Southern last year, the team embarked on the same four events the Eagles will play this fall, including the Leadership & Golf Invitational (Sept. 14-15), the Golfweek Red Sky Classic (Sept. 21-23), the Oklahoma Intercollegiate (Oct. 5-6), and the Rainbow Wahine Invitational (Oct. 19-21). Last year, in those same events, the Eagles finished 1st, tied for seventh, tied for second, and fourth, respectively, to cap their fall slate. Following the East Lake Cup and the winter break, the Eagles will play six more spring events with four being familiar territory, including return visits to the Alice & John Wallace Golf Classic (Feb. 13-15), the GameAbove Invitational (March 15-16), and the Florida State Match Up (March 21-22), while also playing in the Gators Invitational (March 6-7), an event EMU competed in during the 2024-25 season.

CINDERELLA STORY
Historic. Magical. A Cinderella Story.

It is rare when the entirety of an athletic season can be summed up in so few words. For EMU, those words were fitting for a 2025-26 campaign that saw the Eagles enter the season with momentum and quickly established themselves as one of the nation's top programs.

Eastern opened the campaign with consecutive tournament championships at The Southern and the Leadership & Golf Invitational before adding a third team title at the Silicon Valley Showcase in the spring. The three victories marked the program's most tournament wins in a season since 2011-12 and represented another major step in the program's rapid ascent under Josh Brewer. Individual success accompanied the team's achievements.

Janae Leovao captured medalist honors at both The Southern and the Leadership & Golf Invitational, while Baiyok Sukterm claimed medalist honors at the Silicon Valley Showcase. The accomplishments marked the first time since 2007-08 that Eastern golfers earned three individual tournament titles in a single season.

The Eagles continued their rise throughout the spring and reached No. 19 in the national rankings before finishing second at the Mid-American Conference Championships, their best conference finish since 2015. That success positioned Eastern for another historic milestone. The Eagles then earned the program's first NCAA Regional selection and traveled to Tallahassee as the No. 5 seed. Eastern rose to the occasion, finishing fourth and securing the first NCAA Championship berth in school history. The story only grew more remarkable from there.

Competing against the nation's best at Omni La Costa Resort in California, Eastern advanced through stroke play and made the 15-team cut after three rounds. The Eagles then produced the lowest round of the day during the fourth round, firing a 4-under-par 284 to move into the top eight and qualify for match play.

In match play, Eastern stunned fourth-seeded and third-ranked Texas in the quarterfinals before falling to eventual national champion Stanford in the semifinals. When the final putt dropped, Eastern Michigan stood tied for third nationally.

The accomplishment completed a remarkable two-year climb of 223 spots in the national rankings and established the Eagles as one of the premier programs in collegiate golf.

HAPPY TO HOST
Eastern is set to serve as the co-host for two events this year, including the GameAbove Invitational and the MAC Championships. The GameAbove Invitational will see EMU and USC return as hosts for the second-annual event with teams competing at Saticoy Country Club in Somis, Calif., March 15-16. The Eagles will also serve as the co-host for the MAC Championships, which will return to the Fazio Course at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, April 25-27.

THAT'S A FIRST • PART I
The Eagles' run at the national tournament not only turned heads throughout the golf world, but also helped Eastern etch its name into the history books in numerous ways. When comparing the run to other teams in the Mid-American Conference (EMU vs. Kent State) and the Mitten State (Michigan and Michigan State included), the fifth-place finish for Eastern marked the best showing in MAC history, surpassing the seventh-place finish Kent State produced in 2018, while also breaking the record for a Michigan school after Michigan State finished tied for ninth in 2013. Additionally, the Eagles are only the second NCAA Division I program from the state of Michigan to reach match play.

THAT'S A FIRST • PART II
Janae Leovao saw her final collegiate season in 2025-26 come to a close with countless awards and smiles to last a lifetime. On the course, she won her first two collegiate titles as she won the first two events of the season, The Southern and the Leadership & Golf Invitational, before playing a major role in the team earning its first appearance in the NCAA Regionals and the NCAA Championships. After defying the odds, the Eagles moved even further than anyone imagined as they not only competed in NCAA match play, but won. In that victory, Leovao was the catalyst as the Eagle, ranked 55th nationally, scored a massive 5&4 victory over No. 1 Farah O'Keefe, who one day earlier won the medalist honor at the national tournament. When the dust settled, Leovao moved up to No. 46 in the final rankings and became the first All-American in program history as she was named to the Golfweek All-American Third Team and the WGCA All-American Honorable Mention squad.

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. 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
The East Lake Cup marks the end of the fall season for the Eagles. Eastern is set to return to action with a pair of tournaments in California, starting Feb. 13-15 with a return trip to the Alice & John Wallace Invitational, hosted by Long Beach State, at Monterrey Country Club in Palm Desert Calif. One week later, the Eagles will venture to Valencia Country Club in Valencia, Calif., to compete in the Bruin Wave Invitational, Feb. 22-23, hosted by both UCLA (Bruin) and Pepperdine (Wave).

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Savannah de Bock

Julianna Go

Laura Gorgees Baeta

Janae Leovao

Jasmine Leovao

Constanza Quiroga

Baiyok Sukterm

Erina Tan

Karen Tsuru

Mariana Vega

Matilde Zocchi

Eastern Michigan Athletics