GAINESVILLE, Fla. (EMUEagles.com) — The Eastern Michigan University men’s golf team returns to action this weekend as the Eagles will take part in the 48th Gator Invitational, Feb. 15-16, in Gainesville, Fla. The event, hosted by the University of Florida, will see 14 teams compete on the par-70, 6,701-yard Mark Bostick Golf Course with two rounds being played Saturday, Feb. 15, and one round Sunday, Feb. 16.
 
THIS WEEK’S LINE UP • GATOR INVITE
Here are the Eagles that will compete at the Gator Invitational:
» James Baxter (Fr.) • 73.1 avg. | Fired a team-best 68 (-4) in the second round at Southern Dunes
» Tim Chan (Sr.) • 71.8 avg. | Carded a school-record 63 at White Sands; #2 all-time 54-hole scored 202 as well
» Rory McDonald-O’Brien (Jr.) • 75.3 avg. | Placed a season-best T-32nd at White Sands
» Daniel Robles Delval (Jr.) • 73.9 avg. | Led the team at the Virtues Intercollegiate at 2-under (t7th)
» Bavake Sihota (Sr.) • 74.5 avg. | Top finisher for the team at the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate
 
TOURNAMENT INFO: GATOR INVITE
The Gator Invitational is in its 48th year and stands as the sixth-longest running NCAA Division I golf tournament in the nation. The two-day event will feature 14 teams, four of which are ranked in the national top 50 according to the Feb. 11 Scoreboard rankings, including No. 7 Oklahoma State, No. 13 Florida, No. 27 South Florida, and No. 30 Charlotte. The remaining teams in the field include Florida Gulf Coast, Furman, Georgia Southern, Jacksonville, Liberty, North Florida, Penn State, UCF, and West Virginia. Additionally, four players in the field are currently ranked in the national top 50, including No. 11 Ethan Fang (OSU), No. 12 Jake Peacock (USF), No. 23 Ian Gilligan (Florida), and No. 26 Jack Turner (Florida).
 
CHIP INS
» The Eagles are competing in the first tournament of 2025 and their first since Oct. 25-27, 2024, at the White Sands Bahamas Men’s NCAA Invitational in Paradise Island, Bahamas. The Gator Invitational will be the first of six spring events before heading to the MAC Championships, April 27-29, in Grove City, Ohio.
» 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.
» 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: WHITE SANDS
Tim Chan finished third at 14-under (202) and James Baxter was 20th (212) at 4-under to lead the Eagles to a seventh-place showing at the White Sands Bahamas Men’s NCAA Invitational, Oct. 25-27, on the par-72, 7,159-yard Ocean Club Golf Course in Paradise Island, Bahamas. Chan’s 202 ranks as the second-lowest score in program history while his second round 63 lowered the school record. For Baxter, his 4-under 212 marked his lowest scores of the season, one better than his 3-under, 213 at the Southern Dunes Collegiate (Sept. 9-10) to open the year.
 
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 play 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 in 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
Eastern is back in action Feb. 24-26 when the Eagles travel to Henderson, Nev., to compete in the Lake Las Vegas Intercollegiate, hosted by Arkansas State, on the Reflection Bay Golf Course. The Eagles are one of 14 teams set to compete in a field that features fellow MAC foe Northern Illinois and two teams ranked in the national top 50, including No. 39 Long Beach State and No. 4 TCU.