CHENEY – On Thursday, Eastern Washington’s men’s golf team was announced fifth in the Big Sky preseason poll, a statement by the conference said. For the first time since 2002, Eastern Washington men's golf is in the Big Sky preseason poll, EWU athletics said in a statement.  

Last October, EWU athletics announced that men’s golf would be returning as a varsity program for the 2025-26 season for the first time since 2002. In that statement, Director of Athletics Tim Collins said the return of men’s varsity golf was important for connecting to their community and future prospective students.  

“We have a great opportunity to build a roster featuring student-athletes from the Pacific Northwest and reconnect with our golf alumni as we rebuild the program alongside the women's team, which has been active for 32 years,” Collins said.  

After Russell Grove was named the program's sixth head coach, EWU athletics announced it would rejoin the Big Sky conference, after being a member from 1992 to 2002. Along with the Eagles, Francis Marion moves to the Big Sky from the Southland Conference, bringing the total membership to six programs. Idaho, Northern Colorado, Sacramento State and Weber State complete the group of full-time members.   

Grove leads the program's reintroduction into competition after leading both the men's and women's golf teams at North Idaho College for the last 10 years. He earned seven Northwest Athletic Conference Coach of the Year awards in his tenure.  

Grove is also a certified Class Member of the Professional Golfers Association of America. He competed at the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York. 

Going into the season, Grove has a 10-player roster to build the program. The new Eagles are led by freshman Callan Anderson, Charlie Gaffney and Kevin Wang. Grove added transfers Jason Bustos, Trey LeCheminant, Lucas Hughes, Eli McNelly, Zach Miller, Hogan Park and Ethan Parker. 

Miller qualified for the 2025 US Amateur in July, tying for 33rd on the leaderboard.

Sacramento State was picked to repeat as conference champions after winning the title in April. The Hornets received five of the possible six first place votes.  

According to the Big Sky conference, the poll is voted on by the league’s head coaches. Coaches are not permitted to vote for their own teams.  

EWU begins its first season back on the course at the Palouse Collegiate in Pullman on Sept. 8 through the 10th. The Eagles also compete at The Tindall (Sept. 21-23) in Bremerton, the Mark Simpson Invitational (Sept. 28-30) in Erie, Colorado and the Beaver Invitational (Oct. 13-25) in Salem, Oregon during the fall season.   

2025-26 Men’s Golf Preseason Coaches’ Poll 

Sacramento State (5) – 25
Idaho (1) – 21
Northern Colorado – 13
Weber State – 12
Eastern Washington – 10
Francis Marion – 9 

() – Indicates First-Place Votes