Eastern Michigan Athletics
Women's Golf
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- swagner2@emich.edu
- Phone:
- 734.487.6435
When the Eastern Michigan University athletics department was searching for a head women’s golf coach to lead the team into the future, there was one name that continued to move to the top of the list — Sandy Wagner.
Wagner came highly touted as someone that would provide some needed excitement and stability into the program to begin the resurgence of EMU women’s golf.
The 2007-08 season is Wagner’s third as head coach. Wagner has proven to be the right person for the job after her first two seasons. She has increased the number of team titles in the program’s history from four to ten, along with overseeing numerous individual accomplishments.
Selected as the 2006-07 Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year, Wagner led the Eagles to the school’s best finish at the MAC Championship with a runner-up showing at the Longaberger Golf Club with a three-day total of 1,252 (317-310-311-314). EMU’s second-place finish equaled the mark set by the 2003 squad when it recorded a 925 at Walden Ponds Golf Course in Hamilton, Ohio.
At the 2007 MAC Championship, Catherine Fortin finished in third-place with a 304 (76-72-79-77) while Stephany Fleet placed eighth with a 312 (82-79-75-76). Fortin’s finish was the highest-ever for an Eagle golfer at the MAC Championship and the pair are only the seventh and eighth EMU players to record a top 10 showing in the nine-year history of the event. For their efforts, both golfers garnered first team All-MAC accolades.
Besides guiding the Green and White to a record-setting performance at the MAC Championships, Wagner propelled Eastern Michigan to three championships and a second place finish during the 2006-07 season. The three victories are the most tournament championships during a single-year in the 14-year history of the program.
In her first season in Ypsilanti, in 2005-06, Wagner improved the Eagles’ team score by 13.4 strokes a round (324.7 to 311.3). She also helped guide the squad to six individual top five and six rounds under par after none during the 2004-05 campaign. The team posted its first victory since the 2002 season.
During Wagner’s tenure at EMU, academics have also played an important part of being a student-athlete. The team posted a 3.45 GPA during the 2007 winter semester as Courtney Aili, Kelly Boogaard, Marjorie Thuot and Stephany Fleet each were each singled out by the National Golf Coaches Association as an All-American Scholar selection.
A Grand Rapids, Mich. native, Wagner is the fourth coach of the Eagles in the 10-year history of the program. She came to EMU after serving an assistant women’s golf coach at the University of Michigan for five years.
As a member of the Michigan women’s golf staff from 2000-2005, Wagner helped the Wolverines appear in four NCAA Tournaments (2001, 2002, 2004, 2005). During her tenure the Wolverines also captured a runner-up spot in the 2005 Big Ten Championships. Wagner is a member of the LPGA and teaches golf at Miles of Golf-Kendall Academy in Ann Arbor.
Prior to joining the U-M women’s golf staff, Wagner was a golf professional at Walton Golf Range (1996-99) in Pontiac and also at Willow Creek Golf and Sports Center (1998-2000) in Lake Orion. As a player she finished fourth at the 2000 state of Michigan Women’s Open, and also won the Red Holman Pro-Am tournament, shooting a one-under part 73 at Meadowbrook Country Club.
The 39-year-old Wagner (8-23-68) graduated from Ferris State University in 1991 after earning a bachelor’s degree in business management. She served as a three-year captain of the FSU softball team and also played on the basketball squad for one year.
