GOLD CANYON, Ariz. (EMUEagles.com) — The Eastern Michigan University women’s golf team is set to open its 2025 spring slate Monday, Jan. 27, as the Eagles will be one of seven teams to compete in the Match in the Desert, hosted by the University of Kansas. The single-day, single-round event will be played on the par-72, 6,271-yard Prospector Course at Superstition Mountain Golf Club in Gold Canyon, Ariz., with teams teeing off at 11 a.m. ET.
 
ON THE COURSE FOR EASTERN
Here is the lineup for the Eagles at the 2025 Match in the Desert:
1. Savannah de Bock (So.) • 70.1 avg. • Led nation with 12 rounds under par in the fall season
2. Riley Kim (So.) • 77.1 avg. • Ranks second on the team with 38 birdies or better
3. Mariana Vega (Fr.) • 74.8 avg. • Finished a career-best T-17 at the Hurricane Invitational
4. Julianna Go (So.) • 77.9 avg. • Finished a season-best T-45 at the Sunflower Invitational
5. Erina Tan (Fr.) • Making her collegiate debut after joining the program in January
IN. Angelica Holman (Jr.) • Playing in first tournament as an NCAA D-I player; January transfer to EMU
 
QUOTING BREWER
“The start of every spring season brings excitement and nervous energy,” Josh Brewer said. “We have high expectations of ourselves. We want to be a program that is considered amongst the nation’s best. We refuse to use the northern school label as a deterrent as every school faces challenges. We also understand we must show we can be elite when given the opportunity. Our spring schedule is packed with top ranked teams so we will have multiple chances. It begins on Monday with the Match in Desert as every school is in the top 40 and five are in the top 25. We look forward to welcoming two new Eagles to the line-up and continuing our climb up college golf.”
 
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION

The Match in the Desert will feature one round of play on the east side of the Valley of the Sun with seven teams set to tee it up. Along with the Eagles and the host Kansas Jayhawks, the participating teams include Arizona State, Baylor, Purdue, San Jose State, and Texas A&M.
 
IN THE RANKINGS · MATCH IN THE DESERT

The Match in the Desert features six highly ranked teams according to the final fall Scoreboard rankings. The field includes No. 7 Arizona State, No. 17 Texas A&M, No. 24 Kansas, No. 27 Baylor, No. 33 Purdue, and No. 39 San Jose State. The Eagles finished the fall ranked No. 143, which was a 79-position improvement over the team’s final ranking of the 2023-24 season.
 
IN THE RANKINGS · INDIVIDUALS

The highly ranked teams will also feature several highly-rated individual players in the field, including six in the national top 50. The list includes No. 19 Natasha Kiel (Purdue), No. 23 Adela Cernousek (Texas A&M), No. 24 Cayetana Fernandez (Texas A&M), No. 29 Patience Rhodes (Arizona State), No. 43 Beth Coulter (Arizona State), and No. 44 Paula Schulz-Hanssen (Arizona State). EMU’s Savannah de Bock enters the tournament ranked No. 77.
 
CHIP INS
» The Eagles added two players to the roster at the start of January, including freshman Erina Tan (Belmont, Western Australia) and junior Angelica Holman (Fort Pierce, Fla.), the 2024 NJCAA National Champion.
» Four Eagles got a jump on the spring season by playing in the Australian Master of the Amateurs, Jan. 3-6, in Melbourne, Australia. Savannah de Bock (T14th) and Mariana Vega (35th) played in all four rounds with Erina Tan and Julianna Go missing the cut after the third round.
» Caterina Don, the Eagles’ assistant coach, received an invitation to play in the 2025 Augusta National Women’s Amateur, April 2-5, at Augusta National, the home of The Master’s. Don will compete in the event for the second time with Josh Brewer serving as her caddy in the event.
» Savannah de Bock finished 12-of-15 rounds played in the fall under par, which was most of any player in the nation among all collegiate divisions. Two players tied for second at 10.
» Savannah de Bock captured medalist honors at the Golfweek Red Sky Classic, Sept. 23-25, as she carded a 12-under, 204 to win by three strokes. It marked her first collegiate victory and the first for Eastern in two years.
» Savannah de Bock was named the MAC Women’s Co-Golfer of the Week following her victory in which also recorded school records for low round (65) and low tournament score (204).
» As a team, the Eagles carded a 3-under 285 in the final round of the Golfweek Red Sky Classic, Sept. 25, which stands as the lowest team single-round score in program history.
» Savannah de Bock has been named to the 2024 ANNIKA Award Fall Watch List. One of 25 players selected nationally, de Bock is on the short list for the award that is considered the Heisman of women’s collegiate golf.
» The current roster is comprised of seven players, six of whom are new to the program this year. Riley Kim is the lone returning player and is joined by two transfers and three freshmen.
» The coaching staff is also new in 2024 as Josh Brewer takes over in Ypsilanti following 12 years at Georgia. Brewer has added two assistants to his staff, including Caterina Don, who was one of his top players at Georgia, and Anna Watson, a four-year member of the Eastern program, both of whom graduated in 2024.
 
ANOTHER RANKING
During the fall season, Savannah de Bock played in all five tournaments for a total of 15 rounds played. Of those 15 rounds, de Bock finished even or under par in 14 rounds, including 12 rounds under par, which was the most among all women’s players across all divisions in collegiate golf. She was followed by Carla Bernat of Kansas State and Lisa Marie Schumacher of Tiffin (NCAA Division II) with 10 rounds under par.
 
DE BOCK REWRITING THE BOOKS
Through five fall tournaments in 2024, Savannah de Bock turned the EMU record book on its head. With 15 rounds played, she is a cumulative 28-under on the season, has won one tournament and finished second in two others, and holds several of the top marks by an Eagle.
 
Ahead of the season, only three players had scored 215 or lower in tournament play in program history, something de Bock has done in all five events she has played. Her 204 at the Golfweek Red Sky Classic (Sept. 23-25) broke the previous school record (211, Anna Watson, Oct. 2-3, 2023) by seven strokes while she also has posted scores of 210 (Hurricane Invitational), 2011 (Rainbow Wahine Invitational), 213 (Sunflower Invitational), and 214 (Leadership and Golf Invitational).
 
GOING LOW
Ahead of the 2024 season, 16 individuals rounds of 69 or lower had been recorded in program history with Anna Watson‘s 69 at the Jan Weaver Invitational (April 4, 2023) being the most recent addition to the list. Through five fall tournaments, Savannah de Bock recorded five rounds of 69 or lower, including a school-record 65 at the Golfweek Red Sky Classic (Sept. 24, 2024). She has added three rounds of 68, which tie for the fifth-lowest rounds in EMU history as well.
 
GOING GREEN
Assistant Coach Caterina Don received an invitation to compete in the 2025 Augusta National Women’s Amateur, April 2-5, at Augusta National, the home of The Master’s. Don, who played in the event once prior, will face some of the top amateur players in the world with EMU Head Coach Josh Brewer serving as her caddy this year. The ANWA will feature 72 players who will compete in 54 holes of stroke play with a cut following 54 holes.
 
WELCOME ABOARD!
Over the winter break, the program added two new players in Erina Tan and Angelica Holman, both of whom will play this week in Arizona. Holman hails from Fort Pierce, Fla., and played for two years at Daytona State where she was the 2024 NJCAA National Champion and helped her team to the team crown as well. She transferred to Georgia over the summer, but did not play this fall before making her way to Ypsilanti. Tan is a freshman from Belmont, Western Australia, has been ranked as high as No. 907 in the WAGR and finished the 2024 season rank No. 9 in the Australian Women’s Order of Merit after earning the 2023 Western Australia Junior Girls Golfer of the Year honor.
 
ON THE HORIZON
The Eagles return to action in one month when they travel to South Carolina to take part in the Daniel Island Invitational, Feb. 24-25. The two-day event will be played at the Daniel Island Club in Daniel Island, S.C., with the College of Charleston hosting the event. Along with the Eagles and host Cougars, participating teams include Campbell, Charleston Southern, Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, Georgetown, Georgia State, James Madison, NC State, Oral Roberts, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, and Yale.