In a crowning achievement for a program that has spent the last two years rewriting its own history, Eastern Michigan University women’s golf head coach Josh Brewer has been named the 2025-26 Golfweek Women’s National Coach of the Year. The honor follows a season in which Brewer led the Eagles on a "magical journey," transforming a team once ranked 226th in Division I into a legitimate national title contender.
The national recognition from Golfweek is the latest in a string of prestigious accolades for Brewer, who was also named the WGCA East Region Coach of the Year and was a finalist for the Jackie Steinmann WGCA National Coach of the Year Award. He is the first coach in EMU history to receive these regional and national coaching honors, placing the Ypsilanti-based program alongside traditional golf powerhouses like Stanford University, Texas A&M University, and the University of Florida.
The 2025-26 campaign was defined by "firsts." Under Brewer’s guidance, the Eagles earned their first-ever at-large selection to an NCAA Regional. Competing in the Tallahassee Regional, the team finished fourth to punch their ticket to the NCAA Championships in Carlsbad, California. Once on the national stage, the Eagles stunned the field by vaulting to the No. 5 seed during stroke play before upsetting No. 5 nationally ranked Texas in the match play quarterfinals. This victory marked the first win by any team from Michigan in the NCAA finals.
Statistically, the "Brewer Effect" has been undeniable. Since his arrival ahead of the 2024-25 season, the Eagles have shattered the school record for a low team round six times and the 54-hole team score mark four times. Before Brewer, Eastern had shot 890 or lower in a 54-hole event only seven times in program history; in the last two seasons, his teams achieved that feat 14 times, including every tournament appearance this year. The team reached a peak national ranking of No. 19 in the Scoreboard/Clippd charts, the highest in school history.
This success was fueled by a roster of elite talent that Brewer recruited and nurtured. Janae Leovao became the first All-American in program history, while her twin sister Jasmine Leovao and Baiyok Sukterm joined her on the All-MAC First Team. Matilde Zocchi was honored as the MAC Freshman of the Year, and Savannah de Bock earned All-MAC Second Team honors, underscoring the depth of the roster Brewer assembled.
The program’s rapid ascent was supported by a transformative partnership with GameAbove, which has pledged over $14.5 million to EMU Golf. This investment facilitated the construction of the state-of-the-art GameAbove Golf Performance Center at Eagle Crest Golf Club. It allowed the team to compete on a national schedule alongside elite Power 4 programs. Brewer has often credited this internal passion and support for allowing the team to "think different" and build something the entire Ypsilanti community can take pride in.
As the Eagles look toward the future, the foundation laid by Brewer and his staff, including assistant coach Caterina Don, who also earned national watch list honors, has redefined what is possible for Mid-American Conference golf. Having proven that EMU is no longer a "doormat" in the women's game, Brewer carries a "chip on [his] shoulder" into next season, ready to prove that the Eagles’ presence on the national stage is here to stay.
