Eastern Michigan Athletics
Brewer Named WGCA East Region Coach of the Year
5/21/2026 2:05:00 PM | Women's Golf
EMU head coach guided the team to its first regional and national appearances this year
FRISCO, Texas (EMUEagles.com) – The Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) announced its annual regional awards today, May 21, with Josh Brewer, the second-year head coach of the Eastern Michigan University women's golf program, being named the 2025-26 WGCA East Region Coach of the Year. Brewer was previously named to the watch list for the 2025-26 Division I Jackie Steinmann WGCA National Coach of the Year Award presented by Golf Pride, May 4, before earning his first WGCA accolade.
Brewer has guided the 27th-ranked Eagles to a historic season with Eastern not only earning an at-large selection into the NCAA Tallahassee Regional for the program's first NCAA postseason berth, but he also helped the team finish fourth in Florida to advance to the NCAA Championships for the first time in program history. Brewer is one of four head coaches honored this year as he joins central recipient Gerrod Chadwell from No. 4 Texas A&M University, south recipient Emily Glaser from No. 3 University of Florida, and west recipient Anne Walker from No. 1 Stanford University.
The first Eastern coach to earn the regional coaching award, Brewer is the second coach from the Mid-American Conference to garner a regional honor from the WGCA. Former Kent State University head coach Mike Morrow was twice named the WGCA Central Region Coach of the Year with awards earned in 2001 and 2008.
This year, Eastern has competed in 12 tournaments and finished in the top 11 times, including three wins, five runner-up finishes, and four fourth-place showings. The team's play helped it climb to as high as No. 19 in the Scoreboard/Clippd and No. 23 in the WGCA Coaches Poll rankings, both the highest in program history and the first time Eastern has been included in the top 25 in either. Based upon their high ranking and success on the course, Eastern was selected as an at-large team into the 2026 NCAA Tallahassee Regional (May 11-13), making it only the second women's team in MAC history to compete in the NCAA event.
Brewer has helped two players earn medalist honors this year with Janae Leovao (Oceanside, Calif./El Camino/Long Beach State) winning The Southern (Sept. 8-9) and the Leadership & Golf Invitational (Sept. 15-16) in the first two weeks of the season before Baiyok Sukterm (Bang Yi, Thailand/Panitchayakan Rajdamnern Tech/Lindsey Wilson) won the Silicon Valley Showcase (March 30-31). At the conference event, three of his players earned top 10 finishes, including Savannah de Bock (Ecaussinnes-d'enghien, Belgium/Institut de l'Enfant-Jésus-Lycée/Georgia), who finished third to mark the best showing at the MAC Championships by an EMU player since 2011. In the team's first regional appearance, Janae Leovao (tie for seventh) and Sukterm (ninth) posted top 10 finishes to punch the Eagles' tickets to Carlsbad.
Overall, the team has continued to shoot low scores. Since taking over ahead of the 2024-25 season, Brewer's Eagles have broken the school record for low team round six times while breaking the 54-hole team score mark four times. Overall, Eastern had shot 890 or lower in a 54-hole event just seven times ahead of Brewer's arrival with his teams posting 14 in the past two seasons, including all 11 events this year (one tournament played was shortened to two rounds because of rain).
Brewer is not the only Eastern coach to earn a place on a national watch list this year as his assistant, Caterina Don, was named to the WGCA National Assistant Coach of the Year Award list April 30. A former player under Brewer at the University of Georgia before joining his staff last year in Ypsilanti, Don joined Brewer on the watch list to make Eastern on only 11 programs nationally with both its head coach and assistant coach placed on the WGCA watch lists for 2025-26.
The Eagles are set to make their national tournament debut this week at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif. One of 30 teams in the field, Eastern is seeded 21st overall and will be paired with Baylor University and Ohio State University for the first two rounds. The Eagles will take the course May 22 with a 6:52 a.m. PT (9:52 a.m. ET) start of the first tee before playing in the afternoon wave on May 23 with a 12:12 p.m. PT (3:12 p.m. ET) start from the 10th tee. Tee times for the third round will be determined based upon the standings following the second round. Should Eastern rank among the top 15 in the standings following the third round, it would play the fourth and final round, May 25, where the top eight earn a spot in the match play tournament, May 26-27.
About the Women's Golf Coaches Association
The Women's Golf Coaches Association, founded in 1983, is a non-profit organization representing women's collegiate golf coaches. The WGCA was formed to encourage the playing of college golf for women in correlation with a general objective of education and in accordance with the highest tradition of intercollegiate competition. Today, the WGCA represents over 750 coaches throughout the U.S. and is dedicated to educating, promoting and recognizing both its members and the student-athletes they represent.
2025-26 WGCA Regional Coaches of the Year
East • Josh Brewer, Eastern Michigan
Central • Gerrod Chadwell, Texas A&M
South • Emily Glaser, Florida
West • Anne Walker, Stanford
All-Time WGCA East Region Coach of the Year Recipients
2025-26 • Josh Brewer, Eastern Michigan
2024-2025 • Ria Scott, Virginia
2023-2024 • Kim Lewellen, Wake Forest
2022-2023 • no East Region honoree
2021-2022 • Kim Lewellen, Wake Forest
2020-2021 • Dan Brooks, Duke
2019-2020 • Kim Lewellen, Wake Forest
Brewer has guided the 27th-ranked Eagles to a historic season with Eastern not only earning an at-large selection into the NCAA Tallahassee Regional for the program's first NCAA postseason berth, but he also helped the team finish fourth in Florida to advance to the NCAA Championships for the first time in program history. Brewer is one of four head coaches honored this year as he joins central recipient Gerrod Chadwell from No. 4 Texas A&M University, south recipient Emily Glaser from No. 3 University of Florida, and west recipient Anne Walker from No. 1 Stanford University.
The first Eastern coach to earn the regional coaching award, Brewer is the second coach from the Mid-American Conference to garner a regional honor from the WGCA. Former Kent State University head coach Mike Morrow was twice named the WGCA Central Region Coach of the Year with awards earned in 2001 and 2008.
This year, Eastern has competed in 12 tournaments and finished in the top 11 times, including three wins, five runner-up finishes, and four fourth-place showings. The team's play helped it climb to as high as No. 19 in the Scoreboard/Clippd and No. 23 in the WGCA Coaches Poll rankings, both the highest in program history and the first time Eastern has been included in the top 25 in either. Based upon their high ranking and success on the course, Eastern was selected as an at-large team into the 2026 NCAA Tallahassee Regional (May 11-13), making it only the second women's team in MAC history to compete in the NCAA event.
Brewer has helped two players earn medalist honors this year with Janae Leovao (Oceanside, Calif./El Camino/Long Beach State) winning The Southern (Sept. 8-9) and the Leadership & Golf Invitational (Sept. 15-16) in the first two weeks of the season before Baiyok Sukterm (Bang Yi, Thailand/Panitchayakan Rajdamnern Tech/Lindsey Wilson) won the Silicon Valley Showcase (March 30-31). At the conference event, three of his players earned top 10 finishes, including Savannah de Bock (Ecaussinnes-d'enghien, Belgium/Institut de l'Enfant-Jésus-Lycée/Georgia), who finished third to mark the best showing at the MAC Championships by an EMU player since 2011. In the team's first regional appearance, Janae Leovao (tie for seventh) and Sukterm (ninth) posted top 10 finishes to punch the Eagles' tickets to Carlsbad.
Overall, the team has continued to shoot low scores. Since taking over ahead of the 2024-25 season, Brewer's Eagles have broken the school record for low team round six times while breaking the 54-hole team score mark four times. Overall, Eastern had shot 890 or lower in a 54-hole event just seven times ahead of Brewer's arrival with his teams posting 14 in the past two seasons, including all 11 events this year (one tournament played was shortened to two rounds because of rain).
Brewer is not the only Eastern coach to earn a place on a national watch list this year as his assistant, Caterina Don, was named to the WGCA National Assistant Coach of the Year Award list April 30. A former player under Brewer at the University of Georgia before joining his staff last year in Ypsilanti, Don joined Brewer on the watch list to make Eastern on only 11 programs nationally with both its head coach and assistant coach placed on the WGCA watch lists for 2025-26.
The Eagles are set to make their national tournament debut this week at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif. One of 30 teams in the field, Eastern is seeded 21st overall and will be paired with Baylor University and Ohio State University for the first two rounds. The Eagles will take the course May 22 with a 6:52 a.m. PT (9:52 a.m. ET) start of the first tee before playing in the afternoon wave on May 23 with a 12:12 p.m. PT (3:12 p.m. ET) start from the 10th tee. Tee times for the third round will be determined based upon the standings following the second round. Should Eastern rank among the top 15 in the standings following the third round, it would play the fourth and final round, May 25, where the top eight earn a spot in the match play tournament, May 26-27.
About the Women's Golf Coaches Association
The Women's Golf Coaches Association, founded in 1983, is a non-profit organization representing women's collegiate golf coaches. The WGCA was formed to encourage the playing of college golf for women in correlation with a general objective of education and in accordance with the highest tradition of intercollegiate competition. Today, the WGCA represents over 750 coaches throughout the U.S. and is dedicated to educating, promoting and recognizing both its members and the student-athletes they represent.
2025-26 WGCA Regional Coaches of the Year
East • Josh Brewer, Eastern Michigan
Central • Gerrod Chadwell, Texas A&M
South • Emily Glaser, Florida
West • Anne Walker, Stanford
All-Time WGCA East Region Coach of the Year Recipients
2025-26 • Josh Brewer, Eastern Michigan
2024-2025 • Ria Scott, Virginia
2023-2024 • Kim Lewellen, Wake Forest
2022-2023 • no East Region honoree
2021-2022 • Kim Lewellen, Wake Forest
2020-2021 • Dan Brooks, Duke
2019-2020 • Kim Lewellen, Wake Forest
Players Mentioned
Josh Brewer on Golf Central live on Golf Channel Tuesday, May 19, 2026
Wednesday, May 20
Eastern Players, Coaches Recap the 2026 Tallahassee Regional
Wednesday, May 13
EMU Women's Golf Reacts to First NCAA Regional Selection in Program History
Wednesday, April 29
EMU Women’s Golf Regional Bound for First Time in Program History
Wednesday, April 29