Men's Golf
- Title:
- Lyons Family Associate Head Coach
- Email:
- aaron@wfu.edu
- Phone:
- 336-758-2595
Aaron O’Callaghan is entering his sixth season as the Demon Deacons' Lyons Family associate head coach in 2022-23, coming to Wake Forest in July 2018 after four seasons at Louisville.
In the 2022-23 season, the Demon Deacons added a pair of team titles at the Battle of Briar's Creek and the Battle of the Run. For the ACC record 23rd time, a Wake Forest player was the individual medalist at the ACC Championship. Michael Brennan became the first player since Webb Simpson in 2008 to win the title. It was the second individual title of the season for Brennan and the sixth of his career which put him in fourth in program history.
The Demon Deacons had a historic spring of 2022, capturing the 18th ACC Championship in program history and then following that up by winning the New Haven NCAA Regional, setting a program record score for a regional.
During the fall season, the Demon Deacons claimed the Old Town Club Collegiate Invitational with a tournament-record score of 35-under par while Michael Brennan and Alex Fitzpatrick shared the individual title at 12-under-par each. Brennan also took hom individual honors at the Colonial Collegiate, joining rare air with his fourth individual title of his Wake Forest career.
The 2021 spring season brought more trophies to the case for the Demon Deacons with back-to-back victories at the Kiawah Invitational and the Wake Forest Invitational at Pinehurst No. 2. The Deacs also added three individual titles with Michael Brennan taking home a pair at the Kiawah Invitational and the Wake Forest Invitational at Pinehurst No. 2. Alex Fitzpatrick claimed an individual title at the Valspar Collegiate. The Deacs qualified for an ACC best 41st NCAA Championship.
During the 2019-20 season, the Demon Deacons never finished lower than fourth at an event including capturing the initial tournament victory of the season at Rod Myers Invitational. The COVID-shortened season saw the Deacs shoot 20-unde ror better in five of eight events. Behind a NCAA-tying 60 opening round, Parker Gillam captured the White Sands Intercollegiate with a score of 17-under. Mark Power also won the individual title at the prestigious East Lake Cup.
O'Callaghan's impact at Wake Forest was seen immediately during his first season with the program. The Demon Deacons won five times, their most in a season since 1983-84, and were ranked in the top five nationally for most of the season. Wake Forest reached the match play portion of the NCAA Championships for the first time in school history and broke the school scoring average record by over four shots per round.
In his four seasons at Louisville, 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 Robin Sciot-Siegrist.
Prior to joining the coaching staff at Louisville, O’Callaghan was the top assistant golf professional at the Baton Rouge Country Club in Baton Rouge, La., for four years.
As a player, O’Callaghan was an elite junior player in his native Ireland. He won the 2004 Irish Boys U18 Championship, was the recipient of the 2003-04 Jacques Leglise Trophy and was named the 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. As a professional, he advanced to the second stage of the 2011 European Tour Qualifying School.
| O'Callaghan Year-by-Year Coaching Record | |||||||||
| Season/School | Titles | Conf. | All-Conf. | NCAA Reg. | NCAA | All-Americans | |||
| 2014-15/Louisville | -- | 7th | 1 | 8th | -- | -- | |||
| 2015-16/Louisville | -- | 6th | 1 | 6th | 14th | -- | |||
| 2016-17/Louisville | 1 | 11th | -- | -- | -- | -- | |||
| 2017-18/Louisville | 2 | 11th | -- | 9th | -- | -- | |||
| 2018-19/Wake Forest | 5 | 3rd | 2 | 3rd | 3rd | 4 | |||
| 2019-20/Wake Forest | 1 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | -- | |||
| 2020-21/Wake Forest | 1 | T5th | 3 | 3rd | T13th | 1 | |||
| 2021-22/Wake Forest | 3 | 1st | 2 | 1st | 19th | 1 | |||
| 2022-23/Wake Forest | 2 | 2nd | 1 | 7th | -- | -- | |||
| Totals | 17 | 1 | 10 | 7 app. | 4 app. | 6 | |||
