HENDERSON, Nev. (EMUEagles.com) — The Eastern Michigan University men’s golf team is set to compete in its first of three consecutive tournaments in the high desert as the Eagles will take part in the Lake Las Vegas Invitational, Monday-Wednesday, Feb. 24-26, at the Reflection Bay Golf Club in Henderson, Nev. The three-day, three-round tournament, hosted by Arkansas State University, will feature 14 teams on the par-72, 7,204-yard Reflection Bay Course outside of Las Vegas.
 
THIS WEEK’S LINE UP • LAKE LAS VEGAS
Here are the Eagles that will compete at the Lake Las Vegas Intercollegiate (alphabetical):
» James Baxter (Fr.) • 73.1 avg. | Fired a team-best 68 (-4) in the second round at Southern Dunes
» Tim Chan (Sr.) • 72.2 avg. | Carded a school-record 63 at White Sands; #2 all-time 54-hole scored 202 as well
» Pietro Fenoglio (So.) • 73.6 avg. | Finished a season-best T-12 at The Indy at Forest Hills
» Rory McDonald-O’Brien (Jr.) • 74.5 avg. | Placed a season-best T-32nd at White Sands
» Matthew Rastogi (Fr.) • 74.8 avg. | Top finisher for the team at the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate
» Daniel Robles Delval (Jr.) • 73.8 avg. | Led the team at the Virtues Intercollegiate at 2-under (t7th)
 
TOURNAMENT INFO: LAKE LAS VEGAS
Reflection Bay Golf Course will play host to the tournament with the par 72 course measuring 7,204 yards. The three-day tournament will feature one round of play each day with teams teeing off from No. 1 and No. 10 at 10 a.m. ET on Feb. 24 and Feb. 25 before a 10:30 a.m. ET shotgun start is used for the final round, Feb. 26. Along with EMU and host Arkansas State, the field includes Boise State, DePaul, George Washington, Kansas City, Long Beach State, Long Island, Louisiana, Northern Illinois, Southern Illinois, Stetson, TCU, Texas State, and West Virginia.
 
RANKED TEAMS – LAKE LAS VEGAS INVITE
Two teams in the field are ranked the latest Scoreboard Top 50, including No. 39 Long Beach State and No. 44 TCU. Individually, Charlie Forster (No. 81) of Long Beach State, is the only player ranked among the national top 100.
 
RETURNING FOR MORE
Last year, at the 2024 edition of the Lake Las Vegas Invitational, VCU captured the title by two strokes over South Florida and three over both Long Beach State and Arkansas State. The head coach of that team is the current EMU leader Andy Walker. Additionally, one of the five players on the winning team is current EMU senior Tim Chan, who finished 1-over 217 to tie for 47th.
 
CHIP INS
» At the White Sands event, the Eagles placed seventh out of 12 teams by shooting an 8-under, 856, which ranks as the team’s lowest tournament score of the season. The score also is the 11th-lowest in program history.
» Tim Chan fired a program-record 63 in the second round at White Sands, surpassing the 64 shot six ties previously by five different players with the last coming in 2018 (Tyler Lewis).
» Tim Chan finished third at White Sands with a 14-under 202. His 202 ranks as the second-lowest in program history behind Tyler Lewis’ 200 (Feb. 25-26, 2018) at the Loyola Intercollegiate.
» Tim Chan and James Baxter lead the team with two eagles each this year and pace the team in birdies with 55 and 45, respectively, through 14 rounds played.
» Andy Walker was named the 2023-24 Black College Golf Coaches Association Coach of the Year for the second time in his career after guiding his former school, VCU, to another stellar season.
» The Eagles’ roster features eight athletes, all of whom are new to the program. Included on the list are three seniors, two juniors, one sophomore, and two freshmen.
 
RECAP: GATOR INVITATIONAL
The Eagles’ last tournament was the Gator Invitational, hosted by Florida, on the par-70, 6,701-yard Mark Bostick Golf Course in Gainesville, Fla., Feb. 15-16. EMU placed 14th in the team standings at 38-over 878 with the Gators claiming the title at 17-under 823. Rory McDonald-O’Brien led the way for EMU, shooing 8-over 218 to tie for 45th with James Baxter tied for 55th at 10-over 220,
 
CHAN GOES LOW
Tim Chan made major edits to the program’s record book as he added his name to the top of the single-round list and moved into second on the three-round tournament ledger after playing at the White Sands event (Oct. 25-27). In the second round (Oct. 26), he carded an 11-under 63 to break the school record of 64 that was recorded six times by five different players with the last coming Feb. 26, 2018, but Tyler Lewis at the Loyola Intercollegiate. In that same tournament, Lewis finished with a 16-under 200 to set the school record for 54 holes with Chan’s 202 in the Bahamas now ranking second all-time at EMU.
 
ADDING ON
The program signed five players to join the team this summer and take part of the 2025-26 season, a group that includes three freshmen and two junior transfers. The rookies include Hugo Duquaine (Chaumont Gistoux, Belgium), Joshua Hess (Schattdorf, Switzerland), and Robby Turnbull (Auckland, New Zealand) and junior transfers Charlie Box (Leicester, England) from Hutchinson Community College and Jorge Parada (Hermosillo, Mexico) from South Mountain Community College.
 
ON THE HORIZON
The Eagles will travel to Scottsdale, Ariz., to compete in the Desert Mountain Intercollegiate, March 7-8, hosted by the University of Michigan. The 17-team field will play on the par-72, 7,107-yard Outlaw Course at the Desert Mountain Golf Club with 36 holes on Friday, March 7, and 18 holes Saturday, March 8.