In the span of two years, Eastern Michigan women’s golf went from the bottom of the Mid-American Conference to a national title contender.
The Eagles finished as a semifinalist – two years after being ranked 226th in the nation – at the NCAA Division 1 women’s golf national championships at Omni La Costa in Carlsbad, California, played May 22-27.
The run comes just two seasons after a second straight last-place finish in the MAC golf championship.
Eastern made the most of its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance, advancing out of regionals at Florida State with a top-four finish, after automatically qualifying as a top-50 team nationally.
The Eagles finished fifth in stroke play at nationals and advanced to the semifinals of match play with an upset win over Texas, before falling to eventual national champion Stanford. No other women’s team from Michigan has ever made NCAA match play, and EMU is the first mid-major to win a match in the national championship, Golfweek reported.
EMU quickly turned around its golf program through a shared vision in the athletic department, coupled with sustained financial investment from GameAbove – a private financial company backed by CapStone Holdings with a focus on sports, entertainment and technology – and a new coach who quickly constructed a winning culture.
“Even though the ending wasn’t perfect, it is a special moment that all of us will have the rest of our lives,” second-year EMU golf coach Josh Brewer said Wednesday, May 27. “Those six will go down in history at Eastern Michigan.”
The Eagles made the initial cut line as a top-15 team through the first three rounds of stroke play at nationals, but sat outside of the top-eight teams entering the fourth round.
The Eagles collectively shot 4-under, the best mark of the fourth round, to finish fifth and advance to match play between the top-eight teams.
No. 27-ranked EMU faced No. 5 Texas, which finished third in stroke play.
The match swung in EMU’s favor thanks to two wins from twin sisters Jasmine and Janae Leovao, who transferred from Long Beach State. Janae beat Texas’ Farah O’Keefe, the 2026 individual national champion, putting her sister in a spot to clinch the win in her match against Cindy Hsu.
In front of a large supporting crowd near her California hometown, Jasmine snuck a 17-foot putt just over the front lip, securing her match and a 3½-1½ win.
“I call it 17 feet and it broke about two feet left to right,” Brewer said. “Luckily, it wasn’t 17 feet and two inches, because it would have been short. I guess the wind or the golf gods were looking over her.”
EMU lost later Tuesday, 5-0, to powerhouse Stanford, which beat USC in Wednesday’s final. Here’s more on the Eagles’ stunning turnaround that caught national attention.
Investment lays ground for success
In the eyes of executive senior associate athletic director and golf general manager Dan McLean, the first seeds for the 2026 success were planted nearly a decade ago.
Conversations began in 2017-18 about constructing a new golf facility after touring new ones at other Midwest universities like Northwestern, Ohio State and Ball State. In 2019, GameAbove announced an $8 million donation to build the “GameAbove Golf Performance Center” right next to Eagle Crest Golf Club in Ypsilanti, home to EMU’s golf team.
The Board of Regents approved the building in December 2019.
After a delay in construction, the new golf facility opened in January 2024. The 13,000-square-foot facility allows training at any time of year, a big boost during Michigan’s frigid winters.
“From the opening of the facility to now has been the exponential jump,” McLean said Wednesday.
GameAbove, which already had a longstanding relationship with EMU, invested in the golf program as part of the company’s overall initiative on the links. That arm of the company, called GameAbove Golf, includes collegiate support at EMU, professional sponsorships, hosting events, and giving back to golf-related foundations, according to Adam Squire, GameAbove director of sports operations.
“It is a lot of pride and validation for all of the work we have put in,” Squire said Thursday. “We don’t do this for monetary return. It is all about giving back and the passion behind growing the program. … When you put this much energy and effort into achieving a goal and everyone’s aligned with it, it’s amazing what you can achieve.
“I’m shocked, but not that shocked.”
After the new facility opened, EMU athletics announced another $6.5 million donation from GameAbove to support the mens’ and women’s golf teams “to achieve greatness.” In total, the company donated $34.5 million to the university over five years, helping fund the Brian Clouse Atrium and Football Players Lounge, George Gervin GameAbove Center and the GameAbove College of Engineering and Technology, according to a press release.
The golf donation helped fund new coaching hires, the addition of assistant coaches, consistent travel to warmer parts of the country to play against top competition and compensation for athletes in the Name, Image and Likness (NIL) era.
“I would say we are competitive but it’s not outrageous,” said Jordan Young, GameAbove director of golf operations who played at EMU in the early 1990s. “Probably 75% of what we do is create a different ecosystem of environment for them to thrive.”
Creating that environment includes funding travel to play in tournaments across the country while the ground thaws in Michigan. The Eagles spent most of the schedule playing outside of Michigan, including co-hosting the GameAbove Golf Invite along with USC at the Rolling Hills Country Club, just south of Los Angeles.
“The performance center that we put in, the training trips that we offer, the new scheduling being in great parts of the country all the time and the opportunity to turn professional and have support from a full team once you graduate – those are the things we look at as our NIL,” Squire said.
“You’ve got to be competitive. A lot of that holds weight and we’ve proved that. It’s important to these parents and these families to see that they are fully supported when they come here.”
“No matter what people read, I know it’s not any more and it’s probably less than a lot of other programs,” Brewer said. “It still gives us a fighting chance to go up against those schools and have this magical run.”
New coach hits ground running
In 2024, EMU golf coach Bruce Cunningham retired shortly after the new facility opened. GameAbove’s $6.5 million donation was announced four days later.
“At that point, we just decided this would be a great opportunity to step into the NIL space and really try to elevate,” Young said.
The donation led to the creation of a new GM position, handled by McLean, who helped lead the coaching search.
Brewer’s name joined McLean’s list after Georgia fired Brewer. He spent 12 seasons as the Bulldogs’ coach before being let go after the team came up one stroke short of making 2024 nationals.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think I could get a sitting SEC coach,” McLean said. “So, very fortuitous for us that Georgia made the decision that they did.”
Brewer received only one coaching offer after being let go by Georgia. That call came from Ypsilanti.
“It was the one phone call I received,” Brewer said. “I wasn’t 100% sure, but at the same time I wanted to prove that it is possible and that I still knew what I was doing. So, I answered the one phone call and I’m glad I did.”
Brewer brought along assistant coach Caterina Don, a former All-American golfer at Georgia under Brewer. She became the first assistant in EMU golf history.
Savannah de Bock, a Belgian native who earned All-Freshman SEC honors at Georgia, transferred to Eastern to follow her coaches.
The triumvirate who went from Athens to Ypsilanti helped establish the culture.
“I think that’s the biggest piece, having those two young women here,” Brewer said.
De Bock played her best golf during the postseason. The team consisted of her, the Leovao sisters who transferred in from Long Beach State, Thailand native Baiyok Sukterm as an NAIA transfer, Columbian native Mariana Vega and Australian native Erina Tan.
The roster is a combination of players who bought into the program and Brewer’s vision, or in the coach’s words, “whoever would say yes to us.”
The hope is this postseason run will lead to greater interest from recruits, creating replicable success.
But, before turning to the future, Eastern Michigan is celebrating the history made with the quick turnaround from the 2026 group.
“Hopefully, we made the people at Eastern Michigan and in the state of Michigan proud this week,” Brewer said.
Jared Ramsey covers high school sports for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at jramsey@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: How Eastern Michigan women’s golf went from a nobody to a sleeping giant
Reporting by Jared Ramsey, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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