Underdog Eastern Michigan's Final-8 run is the biggest feel-good story in NCAA women's golf
· Yahoo Sports
CARLSBAD, Calif. — Josh Brewer knows what it’s like to be an underdog. He’s an Indiana native who went to Indiana University and watched his school’s football program be the doormat of the Big Ten for decades.
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Then Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti recruited a quarterback in Fernando Mendoza who turned the college football world upside down, and Brewer, sitting beside his father at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami in January, giddily watched Indiana claim its first national title in 58 years.
Brewer, who claimed his own coaching place in women’s college golf and leads the program at Eastern Michigan, admits the thought occurred to him: If Cignetti can win the big one in only his second season, why can’t I?
The blue bloods in the college golf world might have snickered if they heard that notion, but they’ve now got their own underdog to grapple with.
In one of the most remarkable stories in the sport in recent memory, Eastern Michigan is a true, if improbable contender for a national golf title. On Monday, the Eagles shot the day’s best team score—beating No. 1-ranked Stanford by three shots—and stormed into the final eight for the match-play portion of the NCAA Division I Women’s Championships.
Savannah de Bock of Eastern Michigan hits a drive during the NCAA Women's Golf Championship.
Luke Hales
The quarterfinals begin Tuesday morning on the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa’s North Course, with EMU taking on host Texas and their newly crowned individual champion, Sarah O’Keefe. With depth such a key in match play, it will be a tough road to even reach Wednesday’s final, with superpower Stanford up next should the Eagles and Cardinal advance.
But unforeseen things happen in this format, as Northwestern proved last year in winning its first national crown by knocking off reigning champion Stanford in the final.
Why not Eastern Michigan this year?
“It’s starting to turn into a pretty special story,” Brewer said on Monday evening.
Two years ago, EMU was a moribund golf program that had not ever reached the NCAA regionals, let alone the 30-team national title tournament. The Eagles had been so mediocre for years that they hadn’t cracked the top 200 in the nation.
Then a group of alumni put their financial esources together in a collective that would not only fund golfers during their time at EMU but also support as they made their way toward professional careers.
That kind of enthusiasm pulled Brewer away from a successful, 12-year run at the University of Georgia, and he brought with him from Athens a standout player (Belgian Savannah de Bock) and former Bulldogs standout and now-trusted assistant coach (Caterina Don).
Together, they went to work eyeing the portal transfers and recruiting around the world. They got commitments from Erina Tan of Australia and Baiyok Sukterm of Thailand, and then came an unlikely duo. Identical twin sisters Jasmine and Janae Leoveo grew up in the northern San Diego beach city of Oceanside and were standout products of the First Tee program at Pro Kids. After three years at Long Beach State, they were looking at new opportunities, and they got into discussions with Brewer. He was happy to share his vision and show them the 13,000-square-foot indoor performance center that included full-swing hitting bays, putting areas and other techy golf stuff.
“They believed in doing something that there is no way to see it, but you could only dream about it,” Brewer recently told the San Diego Union-Tribune.
The coach inherited a pair so close that they room together, take the same classes and have the same major.
For this campaign, it’s been truly a team effort for the Eagles, with four players posting season averages of 72.5 or better—led by Janae Leovao’s 71.62. She also led the team with two victories, while Sukterm contributed another.
Over the 72 holes of stroke play at La Costa, it was de Brock who led the Eagles by finishing T-12, followed by Sukterm (T-14), Janae Leovao (T-23), Jasmine Leovao (T-46) and Tan (T-64).
There’s little doubt that the financial windfall that EMU men’s and women’s golf received has been instrumental in building up the program. The philanthropic group called GameAbove has contributed more than $14.5 million to the programs. But Brewer hardly thinks that should be the focus on what’s been accomplished by his team.
“Yeah, we have been lucky enough to have resources,” Brewer said. “But don’t tell me those other schools don’t have massive endowments and resources, too. Stanford and USC, their endowments and the money they spend on women’s golf is a lot more than Eastern Michigan. Plus, they have weather and tradition.
“I’m tired of the story thinking that our kids are just getting paid. It’s such disrespect to these young women.”
What will earn Eastern Michigan even more respect? One, two or three more wins before this tournament is over. For Brewer, he’s still got the dream that came to him on that glorious night in Miami.
“In theory, we thankfully are good enough to compete,” he said. “It’s been my motto—‘just get us to Monday.’
“It’s a feel-good story and shows things can be done. But, you know, to make it one of those stories that lives on in the history of college athletics, you need to win three more matches.”