Head men's golf coach Aaron O'Callaghan announced the hiring of Eric Bae in August of 2025. Bae joins the ETSU men's golf program as an assistant coach.
In the 2025-26 season, Bae assisted O'Callaghan as they 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.
Prior to joining the ETSU men's golf program, Bae was an engagement financial advisor for Deloitte in Charlotte, N.C. Prior to that role, Bae played professional golf following an extremely successful collegiate run at Wake Forest. As a professional golfer, Bae msot notably competed at the 2022 Cazoo Open in Wales, hosted by the European Tour.
As a collegiate golfer at Wake Forest, Bae capped his undergraduate career with a 70.74 stroke average through the 2019-2020 season, the best overall stroke average of his five-year career. In his senior season, he finished in the top-25 at five tournaments in the shortened season and his best career score came at the Old Town Club Collegiate where he shot a 61 and carded a five-under 205. Bae was a two-time PING All-Region East team selection and earned All-ACC honors for the 2018-19 season. Success came off the green for Bae as well, with three ACC academic awards throughout his five-year career.
Wake Forest biography
Bae's success continues back to high school, where he led Pinecrest to three team state championships. He was the 2015 North Carolina 4A state champion and the 2016 North Carolina 4A runner-up, and was tabbed as the 2015 Carolinas Golf Association Junior Player pf the Year.
Eric Bae holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Wake Forest, where he graduated from in 2019. He is the son of John Armstrong and Mine Cho, and his older sister, Sarah, played collegiate golf at High Point and NC State. He was born in South Korea.
Fun Facts:
Q: What is your dream course to play on?
A: Pine Valley Golf Club
Q: Who is your professional inspiration?
A: Tiger Woods
