East Tennessee State University Athletic Director Dr. Richard Sander announced on Monday, June 10, 2024, the hiring of Aaron O’Callaghan as ETSU men’s golf head coach.
O’Callaghan, who spent the last six seasons as the associate head coach at Wake Forest, becomes the fourth head coach to lead the prestigious Buccaneer program.
In the 2025-26 season, O'Callaghan coached five individuals to All-Conference honors, collected top-10 team finishes in nine of 11 tournaments and paced the team to 76 total rounds under-par and 20 individual 54-hole scores under-par. Yannick Malik and Gavin Tiernan were each tabbed to the All-SoCon Team while Oli Blackadder, Richard Saunders and Veigar Heidarsson earned All-Freshman Team honors. Malik earns the honor for the second consecutive season after wrapping the 2025-26 campaign at the No. 7 ranked golfer in the SoCon. Tiernan was elevated to the All-SoCon Team as the No. 6 ranked golfer in the SoCon after his previous selection to the All-Freshman team in 2024-25. ETSU fired a team score of 24-under-par at the Ka'anapali Classic for the lowest team result of the season. The highest finish for the 2025-26 Bucs arrived in the Highlands Invitational where ETSU placed second overall of 13 teams with a team result of 16-under-par. Tiernan's 203(-7) at the Tar Heel Intercollegiate was the highest-place finish for an individual on the team. Malik's 54-hole low score of 204(-9) at the Ka'anapali Classic was the individual season-low for the Bucs. All five individuals to secure All-Conference honors were ranked in the top-25 of the SoCon following the conclusion of the season. The team totaled 174 rounds and 12,618 strokes for a team average of 73.48.
In his first season as the leader of the ETSU men's golf program, O'Callaghan led the team to the fifth consecutive Southern Conference Championship and NCAA Regional appearance where the Bucs placed ninth overall in the region. ETSU boasted top-10 finishes in eight of 12 showings during the 2024-25 campaign. Kristian Bressum was selected as the SoCon Player of the Year as well as tabbed to the All-SoCon Team alongside Yannick Malik. Gavin Tiernan secured a spot on the All-Freshman Team following his standout freshman season. To put a cap on the outstanding season, Bressum, Maik and Joshua Pritchett were named Division I Cobalt Golf All-Americans at the conclusion of the campaign.
O’Callaghan has 10 years of coaching experience as he spent four years at Louisville prior to making the move to Winston-Salem, N.C.
During his time at Wake Forest, the Demon Deacons captured 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 year under O’Callaghan’s watch, including the 2022 NCAA Regional in New Haven, Conn. and the 2022 ACC Championship – the 18th in program history.
In O’Callaghan’s first season at Winston-Salem, the Demon Deacons won five times in the 2018-19 season, the most by a Wake Forest team since 1983-84. Wake Forest was ranked in the top five nationally for 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.
In 2019-20, Wake Forest won the Rod Myers Invitational, while the Demon Deacons – who shot 20-under-par or better in five of eight events – finished in the top-four in all eight events prior to COVID shortening the season. Individually, Parker Gillam won the White Sands Intercollegiate behind an NCAA-tying 60 in round one, while Mark Power earned medalist honors at the prestigious East Lake Cup.
The spring of 2021 saw Wake Forest register back-to-back team titles at the Kiawah Invitational and Wake Forest Invitational at Pinehurst No. 2, while the Demon Deacons added three individual titles to their resume. Wake Forest made it a clean sweep at both Kiawah and Wake Forest Invitational thanks to Michael Brennan earning medalist honors at both, while Alex Fitzpatrick – the younger brother to 2022 U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick – winning the Valspar Collegiate.
During the 2021-22 season where Wake Forest won the ACC Championship and the New Haven Regional, the Demon Deacons also captured the crown at the Old Town Club Collegiate. Wake Forest set program records for a regional score at 26-under-par, while the 35-under-par at the Old Town Club Collegiate also set a new tournament record.
Wake Forest won two team titles in 2022-23 with the Demon Deacons capturing the Battle at Briar’s Creek and the Battle of the Run. Mark Power made it a clean sweep at Battle at Briar’s Creek as he earned a four-shot win at 9-under-par 207. Brennan began his run for back-to-back ACC titles as he won a playoff over Georgia Tech’s Hiroshi Tai.
This past 2023-24 season, Wake Forest had six top-five finishes, including a win at the Highlands Invitational and advanced to its 48th NCAA Championship after placing fifth at the Austin Regional. To go with the win at the Highlands Invitational, where Wake Forest fired a 31-under-par, Brennan took home the individual title at 12-under-par. Brennan went on to win his second straight ACC individual title, marking his eighth career win, tying him for third all-time in program history with Curtis Strange.
In his run as associate head coach at Wake Forest, 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. Michael Brennan, who earned medalist honors as the 2023 and 2024 ACC Championship, was tabbed All-American in 2022 and 2024, while Cameron Young – the 2022 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year – was also a two-time All-American in 2018 and 2019. Brennan became the first Wake Forest player to win an ACC crown since seven-time PGA Tour winner and 2012 U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson accomplished the feat in 2008.
Prior to Wake Forest, O’Callaghan spent four years at Louisville where he served as an assistant coach for three seasons and an associate head coach for his final season. O’Callaghan led the Cardinals to four team wins, three NCAA Regional appearances and a 14th-place showing at the 2016 NCAA Championship. Among the players he coached at UL was two-time ACC Champion Robin Sciot-Siegrist.
O’Callaghan played collegiately at Southeastern Louisiana from 2005-09, where he posted two career wins and was tabbed first team All-Southland Conference in 2007. As a professional, he advanced to the second stage of the 2011 European Tour Qualifying School.
Following his professional career, O’Callaghan spent four years as the top assistant golf pro at the Baton Rouge Country Club.
