Men's Golf
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- lubahn@ath.msu.edu
- Phone:
- 432-2950
In 13 seasons as the head coach of the men’s golf program at his alma mater, Casey Lubahn has guided the team to both conference and national prominence. Entering his 14th season at helm, the Spartans have been represented in each of the last eight NCAA Tournaments and won at least one tournament in 10 of his 12 complete seasons of competition.
Lubahn was announced as the 10th head coach in Spartan men's golf history on June 30, 2011 after spending three seasons as head coach of Miami University.
Lubahn has led MSU to 14 tournament titles during his tenure, tied for the most by any coach in program history. Individually under Lubahn’s leadership, Spartans have earned PING All-Region honors on 14 occasions and Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholar accolades 20 times.
The greatest individual achievement by a Spartan in program history came under Lubahn’s tutelage in August 2021 when James Piot won the 121st U.S. Amateur Championship. Piot, who garnered PING All-America honorable mention in 2021, became the first Spartan and first player from the State of Michigan to win the U.S. Amateur title. Two years later, Ashton McCulloch won the 118th Canadian Amateur, the third-oldest amateur title in the world, and becoming the second Spartan to win a world amateur championship.
Lubahn has been at the forefront of an aggressive fundraising effort while at MSU, having helped raise more than $20 million for the program. This includes funds for the state-of-the art Lasch Family Golf Center, completed in 2016, as well as endowments, operational expenses and other facility improvements, including the innovative Look Training Grounds, which allows the team to practice every shot inside of 250 yards under championship conditions. The Look Training Grounds was the latest addition, including the Fox Family Putting Grounds, to one of the premier training facilities for college golf in the country.
The program’s rise has also been aided by bringing some of the most talented players in the state of Michigan to East Lansing. Under Lubahn, eight of the last 13 Michigan High School Mr. Golf winners have come to Michigan State.
Last year, in 2023-24, the Spartans made a spirited run in the second half of the year and the team was selected to play in the NCAA Chapel Hill Regional, the seventh time in the last eight years the team reached the regional round. The Spartans finished in the top-five in the last five regular season events, including two runner-up showings, and placed fourth in the Big Ten Championships. Along the way, junior Ashton McCulloch rewrote the MSU record books, setting an all-time record for single-season scoring average at 70.89, besting the mark of 71.33 set by the Piot in 2021. McCulloch was named an All-Midwest Region selection and earned All-Big Ten Second Team honors.
In the classroom, six Spartans were selected to the Academic All-Big Ten Team while three were recognized by the Golf Coaches Association of America as All-American Scholars.
In the classroom in 2022, seven Spartans garnered Academic All-Big Ten honors and two were named Big Ten Distinguished Scholars. The team also had four Spartans garner All-America Scholar honors.
In 2022-23, Michigan State closed out the year with a seventh-place finish in the NCAA Bath Regional, hosted by the Spartans at nearby Eagle Eye Golf Course, falling just shy of qualifying for the NCAA Championships in Arizona. MSU finished the year ranked No. 57 in the country by Golfstat following a season that saw the team post five top-five finishes, including three in the spring season. Graduate transfer Drew Hackett earned All-Big Ten Second Team honors and was an All-Midwest Region selection by the Golf Coaches Association of America.
Off the course and in the classroom, the team won the Athletic Director’s Award at the Spartan Academic Excellence Gala for the first time in program history. The award is presented to the men’s and women’s teams carrying the highest cumulative grade-point average, with the men’s golf team carrying a 3.535 GPA. In addition, senior Parker Jamieson was the recipient of the President’s Award, recognizing a graduating senior with the highest cumulative GPA. Eight members of the team earned Academic All-Big Ten honors, with Jamieson being named a Distinguished Scholar.
The 2021-22 season will rank among the top in program history as the Spartans finished the season ranked No. 46 in the country by Golfstat, fell just shy of winning the Big Ten Championships and played in the NCAA Bryan Regional, the program’s fifth postseason appearance in the last six years. MSU won the season-opening Island Resort Intercollegiate, were the runners-up at the Big Ten Match Play Championship and posted nine top-five finishes. James Piot wrapped up a stellar career by earning All-Big Ten First Team honors for the third time in his career, freshman Ashton McCulloch was named the league’s Freshman of the Year and All-Big Ten Second Team and sophomore August Meekhof earned All-Big Second Team honors and was named to the All-Big Ten Championships Team after tying for third place individually.
In the classroom in 2022, seven Spartans garnered Academic All-Big Ten honors and two were named Big Ten Distinguished Scholars. The team also had four Spartans garner All-America Scholar honors.
The 2021 campaign saw the Spartans finish in the top five in six of nine tournaments. This included a win at the Hoosier Invitational and a third-place finish at the Big Ten Match Play Championship. Lubahn led the Spartans to their second straight top-five finish at the Big Ten Championship, placing fourth.
The 2021 season was highlighted by senior James Piot, who won the world’s premiere amateur event - the U.S. Amateur Championship. Prior to his U.S. Amateur Championship title, Piot set established the best single-season scoring average in program history at 71.33. In doing so, he earned an individual bid to the NCAA Kingston Springs Regional, and then advanced from there to the NCAA Championships.
In the classroom in 2021 a total of nine Spartans garnered Academic All-Big Ten accolades – the most in program history. Additionally, four student-athletes were named Big Ten Distinguished Scholars, tying a program high. The team also set a record with six Spartans garnering All-America Scholar honors.
The shortened season of 2019-20 saw the Spartans earn three top five finishes, while junior James Piot won a pair of tournaments, including the prestigious Inverness Intercollegiate. Piot went on to earn second-team All-Big Ten and PING All-Region honors.
Piot’s All-Big Ten team selection was the eighth for the program during Lubahn’s tenure.
In the classroom, the Spartans posted a pair of program best team GPAs with a 3.73 in the spring and a 3.6 for the year, while a record five Spartans garnered All-America Scholar accolades. Four Spartans earned Big Ten Distinguished Scholar accolades, while six picked up Academic All-Big Ten honors. The six Academic All-Big Ten selections brought the total number of student-athletes to have garnered the honor during Lubahn’s tenure to 50.
The Spartans had one of their best seasons in a decade in 2018-19. The Spartans made their program-record fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance; placed third at the Big Ten Championships; and won the Colleton River Collegiate.
Lubahn helped mentor two of the Big Ten’s top golfers in Donnie Trosper and James Piot, both of whom had record-setting seasons. Trosper, a first-team all-league selection, set school records for both single-season average (71.37) and 54-hole tournament score (201). He also had the best finish by a Spartan at the Big Ten Championships (fourth) since 2008, and the best finish by an MSU player at the NCAA Tournament (seventh) since 1993.
Trosper made his PGA Tour debut in the summer of 2020.
Piot recorded the second-lowest single-season scoring average in program history (71.49), while his first team All-Big Ten selection gave MSU two players on the all-conference first team for the first time in 11 seasons. Both Piot and Trosper were also named to the PING All-Midwest Region team.
The 2018-19 season also saw the Spartans produce a program best eight Academic All-Big Ten honorees.
Michigan State earned its third straight NCAA Tournament bid in 2018. A young Spartan squad had seven top-five finishes, which included its second Big Ten Match Play title in the last three seasons. MSU was led by senior Michael Sharp and sophomore Kaleb Johnson, both of whom earned PING All-Midwest Region and All-Big Ten second team honors.
James Piot had a breakout rookie campaign as he became the first Spartan since 2005 to be voted Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
Sharp, who earned GCAA All-America Scholar and CoSIDA Academic All-District accolades, led the way in the classroom for the Spartans as the team boasted a program-best four Big Ten Distinguished Scholars.
Despite a plethora of injuries that plagued the Spartans through the 2016-17 season, for the second straight year the Spartans won three tournaments and earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Spartans began the year by winning the Bearcat Invitational and Quail Valley Intercollegiate and placing in the top four of their five fall tournaments. Charlie Netzel’s first-place finish helped the Spartans to their third tournament win of the season in the Colleton River Collegiate.
Netzel and fellow senior Sam Weatherhead both collected PING All-Midwest Region honors, while Netzel joined Michael Sharp on the All-America Scholar list.
The 2015-16 season saw the Spartans return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2009 and capture three tournaments titles. The Spartans won their home Fossum Memorial tournament in the fall and then began the spring by claiming the Big Ten Match Play championship. The Spartans also won the Quail Valley Intercollegiate title.
Senior Mitch Rutledge and junior Josh Heinze were both named All-Midwest Region by the GCAA, becoming the first Spartan golfers since 2013 to earn the honor. Rutledge was also named second-team All-Big Ten. Three different Spartans claimed tournament wins, including Rutledge, Heinze and junior Sam Weatherhead.
The 2014-15 season saw Michigan State capture the Fighting Irish Gridiron Classic. Sophomore Sam Weatherhead also tied for first at the Colleton River Collegiate and fellow sophomore Charlie Netzel ended the season with two top-five finishes.
During the 2013-14 campaign, five different Michigan State golfers had top-10 showings, including freshman Charlie Netzel winning the Colleton River Collegiate. As a team, the Spartans won the Wolverine Intercollegiate and finished second at the Fighting Irish Gridiron Classic. Off the course, Carson Castellani and Sean Friel were Academic All-Big Ten selections.
In his second season, the Spartans won their second tournament in as many years, topping the field at the Fighting Irish Gridiron Classic. In addition, MSU had five top-5 placements, including a runner-up showing at the Big Ten Match Play Championship. Senior Matthew Moseley led the Michigan State effort, ending the year by being named PING All-Midwest and second team All-Big Ten. He qualified individually for the NCAA Regional, tying for 22nd in Columbus, Ohio, to finish with nine top-25 finishes in his 12 stroke play events, highlighted by winning the Colleton River Collegiate. Academically, Michigan State was named a GCAA All-Academic Team, after having a team GPA of better than 3.0 in 2012-13. Individually, Dan Ellis was named a Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholar for the second-straight season, while he and his brother Dave were also Big Ten Distinguished Scholars and Academic All-Big Ten.
In 2011-12, the Spartans won one tournament, the Georgetown Intercollegiate, while also posting five top-5 finishes, including a fourth place finish at the Big Ten Championship. It was a marked improvement for MSU at the conference championship, as it had placed 11th (2009), seventh (2010) and 10th (2011) in the previous three seasons.
Individually, every golfer improved their scoring average from the year prior, including impressive increases of over three strokes by Dave Ellis, and two strokes by Dan Ellis and Matthew Moseley, all three regular starters. Ellis led the way throughout the season, posting the ninth-lowest scoring average in a MSU single season (73.06). A PING All-Region selection, he also individually qualified for the NCAA Central Regional and earned all-championship honors after placing fifth at the Big Ten Championship.
In the classroom, six Spartans earned Academic All-Big Ten honors, while two of them (Carson Castellani and Dave Ellis) garnered Big Ten Distinguished Scholar accolades.
Lubahn spent three seasons as the head coach at Miami, building the program on a national level. The RedHawks posted three tournament wins (2008 Georgetown Invitational, 2009 Cincinnati Bearcat Invitational and 2010 Louisville Cardinal Collegiate), in addition to five runner-up and 14 top-5 showings in his three seasons at the helm. Individually, two student-athletes collected medalist honors over his three seasons.
While at Miami, he mentored Nathan Sutherland to one of the most proficient careers in program history, helping him qualify as an individual for the NCAA Regionals in 2010 and 2011.
Off the course at Miami, Lubahn was integral in raising funds for his program through a number of initiatives. He raised over $75,000 for facility upgrades, including a new hitting studio, indoor putting center, and office and locker room renovations.
Prior to accepting the head coaching position at Miami, Lubahn spent three seasons as an assistant coach at MSU, fulfilling the role for the 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2007-08 seasons. During his tenure, he helped lead the Spartans to the 2005 and 2008 Big Ten Championships. His last season at Michigan State, Lubahn was a finalist for the GCAA Jan Strickland Award, which is awarded to the NCAA Division I Assistant Coach of the Year. He also participated in the Golf Channel's reality series, Big Break X: Michigan, in October 2008. During his one season away from MSU, he worked for Morgan Bradley LLC, in its business development and human resources department.
A three-year letterwinner and 2003-04 captain, Lubahn finished his career with the fifth-lowest career stroke average (75.00) in program history. A native of Sand Lake, Mich., Lubahn earned a bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary studies - law and society from Michigan State in 2004.
