LAS VEGAS (Dec. 11, 2024) – East Tennessee State University men's golf head coach
Aaron O'Callaghan will be back with Team International at the 2025 Palmer Cup.
After being an assistant coach last year, O'Callaghan was named co-head coach for the International Team, alongside Scotland's Stew Burke.
The Ryder Cup-style competition, which features men's and women's collegiate golfers from the United States versus their International counterparts, will be played June 5-7 at Congaree Golf Club in Ridgeland, S.C.
USA leads the all-time series 15-12-1.
About Coach O'Callaghan
A 2024 Arnold Palmer Cup Team International Assistant Coach, O'Callaghan was named head coach at East Tennessee State on June 10, 2024. The Cork, Ireland, native guided the Buccaneers to top-15 finishes in all five fall tournaments and were led by two-time Southern Conference Golfer of the Week
Kristian Bressum. O'Callaghan spent the last six seasons as the associate head coach at Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons secured 15 tournament wins, appeared in all five NCAA Regionals (2020 was canceled due to COVID), and advanced to four NCAA Championships. Wake Forest won at least one tournament each season, including the 2022 NCAA New Haven Regional and 2022 ACC Championship. The Demon Deacons won five times in O'Callaghan's first season, the most by a Wake Forest team since 1983-84. Wake Forest was ranked in the top five nationally for the majority of the campaign, while the Demon Deacons advanced to match play at the NCAA Championship for the first time in program history. Wake Forest also broke the school record for top scoring average by over four shots per round. O'Callaghan saw seven Demon Deacons account for 11 All-American honors, while he also had 11 All-ACC selections and 14 ACC All-academic selections. Prior to Wake Forest, O'Callaghan spent four years at Louisville as an assistant coach and associate head coach. O'Callaghan helped the Cardinals to four team victories, three NCAA Regional appearances, and a 14th-place finish at the 2016 NCAA Championship. Among the players he coached at UL was two-time ACC Champion and 2016 Palmer Cup alumnus Robin Sciot-Siegrist. As a player, O'Callaghan was an elite junior player in his native Ireland. He won the 2004 Irish Boys U18 Championship and was the recipient of the 2003-04 Jacques Leglise Trophy and 2005 Ireland Junior Sports Star of the Year. He represented Ireland in European and international competitions between 2001-07, including on the Great Britain and Ireland boys team. O'Callaghan played collegiate golf at Southeastern Louisiana from 2005-09, winning twice and earning first-team All-Southland Conference accolades in 2007.
About the Palmer Cup
The Arnold Palmer Cup was co-founded by Arnold Palmer and the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) and began at the Bay Hill Club & Lodge, Orlando, Fla., in 1997. The event is a Ryder Cup-style tournament featuring the top men's and women's university/college golfers matching the United States against a team of International players. The Palmer Cup has been played at some of the world's greatest courses, including The Old Course at St. Andrews, The Royal County Down, Royal Portrush, Baltusrol, The Honors Course, Cherry Hills, and Lahinch. Beginning with the 2018 matches at Evian Resort Golf Club, the Palmer Cup is the only major tournament that features men and women playing side-by-side as partners.
Since its inception, over 245 former Arnold Palmer Cup alumni have gone on to earn cards on the PGA, DP World, or LPGA Tours; 47 have represented Europe or the USA in the Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup, or Solheim Cup and more than 90 have claimed over 430 victories on the PGA, DP World, or LPGA Tours. The United States leads the Palmer Cup series 15-12-1.
For more information about the Palmer Cup, visit
arnoldpalmercup.com.
For more information on Buccaneer men's golf, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the men's golf tab.
