On May 5, 2026, the Eastern Michigan men’s golf team concluded its season with a third place finish at the Mid-American Championships in Zionsville, Indiana. The season was full of growth and accomplishments for the team, and their trend of year-over-year improvement continued.
A strong start
Freshman Joshua Hess made his collegiate debut at the Whirlwind Collegiate Invitational on September 8-9, 2025, in Chandler, Arizona. Hess managed to finish 3 under in his debut. In that same event, Tim Chan led the Eagles and finished 5 under. A few weeks later, the Eagles traveled to Benton Harbor, Michigan, to participate in the Jim DeLapa Collegiate. Charlie Box went on to have the best performance of all Mid-American players in the meet and was awarded his first MAC Men’s Golfer of the Week award of the season.
Turnbull-ing into 2026
Freshman Robby Turnbull really began to shine as the season continued into 2026. In February, Turnbull was awarded his first-ever MAC Golfer of the Week award, putting him alongside Box to be the first Eagles to win the award for the 2025-2026 season. This award came after Turnbull placed sixth out of 78 participants in the Hal Williams Collegiate event on February 16-17.
Dominating postseason honors
Each year, the Mid-American Conference names a Freshman of the Year, as well as an overall Golfer of the Year. This year, Eastern Michigan was able to claim both awards, with Robby Turnbull being awarded the Freshman of the Year award, and Golfer of the Year being given to Charlie Box. This marks the first time that Eastern players have swept the pair of awards since 2006.
Along with winning a pair of individual awards, Turnbull and Box both secured honors places on the first team All-MAC, showcasing their abilities as some of the top athletes within the conference. Another Eagle, Joshua Hess, was able to secure the honors as well, making it onto the All-MAC second team.
Top-three finish for the Eagles
The Eagles finished the season off with a third-place finish in the MAC Championships in Zionsville, Indiana. The tournament took place across three days, May 3-5, 2026. The Eagles had a great opening round, finishing day one in first place, being four over par. The team managed to stay at the top of the leaderboards with a score of twelve over on day two. The final day was a tough one for the Eagles as they finished 30 over par, causing them to lose their first-place lead. Overall, their performance was able to give them a third-place finish at this year’s MAC Championship.
Coach Walker
The 2025-2026 season was the second season at EMU for coach Andy Walker. Walker has accumulated a variety of accolades and accomplishments within golf, both as an athlete and as a coach. As an athlete, Walker participated in the PGA Tour. As a coach, Walker has led teams to win numerous championships, such as winning back-to-back NJCAA division two national championships. Since Walker has become the coach at Eastern, the team has climbed nearly 100 spots in the national rankings. When Walker joined, the Eagles were No. 172 in the rankings, and just two years later, they have now broken into the top 100, sitting at No. 98. The Eagles have come a long way under coach Walker, and the growth has continued to trend upwards.
Looking ahead
Of the seven athletes on the roster, there are two seniors, Rory McDonald-O’Brien and Leo Mihaich, and one graduate student, Tim Chan. The rest of the roster is made up of three freshmen and a junior. With the majority of the team being able to return to play under coach Andy Walker, including this year's MAC Golfer of the Year, Charlie Box, and the Freshman of the Year, Robby Turnbull, the team is set up nicely to continue their climb up the rankings and to compete for a MAC Championship.
