Luke LaFave just ended his fifth season as head coach of his alma mater in 2018-19. With four championships under his belt as a player and another as an assistant coach, the Titans didn't have to go very far to find its' next men's golf coach as he was elevated to the position in August of 2014 and spending the previous six seasons as an assistant coach.
"I am very excited for the chance to take over this championship program," said Coach LaFave, the 2002 Detroit Mercy President's Award winner. "I have been a part of this program for a long time as a player and coach and have seen this program on top, winning championships and playing in the NCAA Regionals."
In 2018-19, he coached Anthony Occhiuto to Horizon League Freshman of the Year honors, the 11th Titan in school history to earn the honor and the second under in his tenure.
The Titans finished the 2016-17 season with a 301.72 average, fourth in the Horizon League. The Team was also runner-up at Tennessee State's Big Blue Intercollegiate and saw senior Kyle Gaines earn medalist honors at the Bulldog Florida Invitational. At the end of the season, Gaines was named First Team All-Horizon League, while freshman Scott Sparks was tabbed the conference's Newcomer of the Year.
The team would also finish with the highest team GPA among all Titan programs with a 3.369.
In his second season at the helm in 2015-16, LaFave led Detroit Mercy to a win as the Titans captured the Dayton Flyers Fall Invitational, the first win by the program since 2013. In the event, the Titans carded a 287 on the final 18 to move from fifth place all the way up to first.
The Titans ended the campaign with four top-five efforts and senior Wil Wittmann would go on to earn his second-straight All-Horizon League honor.
Detroit Mercy also did the job in the classroom posting a 3.608 GPA to earn the 2016 Team Excellence Award, which recognizes the varsity team with the highest overall grade point average in the past academic year.
His first season as head coach in 2014-15 saw the Titans post four top-five finishes as well as a pair of golfers earning All-Horizon League honors in Wittmann and Gaines.
Since LaFave returned to his alma mater in 2009, Detroit Mercy has been knocking on the doorsteps of championships, capturing the Horizon League title in 2010, while taking second in 2012 and 2014 and placing third in 2013. A total of 11 Titan golfers have been named All-Horizon League since 2009 with David Byrne winning the HL Player of the Year in 2010, and Lucas Kim (2012), Wittmann (2013) and Sparks (2017) earning the HL Newcomers/Freshman of the Year.
LaFave played an early, major role in the Titans’ recent run of success. The team has won six of the last 18 Horizon League championships and LaFave played on the first three of them while assisting on the staff with the 2010 title-winning squad. He also served as an assistant briefly during the 2004-05 season, one in which the Titans went on to win another league crown.
LaFave broke in quickly at Detroit Mercy, finishing fourth at the 1999 league championships as a freshman, earning All-Conference and MCC Newcomer of the Year recognition in the process. He was also second individually at the 2002 league championships, claiming a berth on the All-Tournament Team and helping the Titans to their second straight appearance in the NCAA Golf Regionals.
The latter conference tournament marked LaFave’s eighth Top 10 finish as a college player. He broke par in two of his three rounds at Green Bay Country Club en route to his runner-up finish, and his even-par total 216 over 54 holes was a career-best.
LaFave was highly-decorated off the course as well. He won the 2002 President’s Award as Detroit Mercy's most outstanding senior student-athlete.
He also received All-America Scholar recognition from the Golf Coaches Association of America in 2001 and again in 2002, making him the school's first two-time recipient of the award.
LaFave came to the University after a very successful junior golf career, which saw him finish in the Top 10 of the Ontario Junior Tournament of Champions on three occasions, and in American Junior Golf Association competition twice.
After graduation, LaFave competed on the Great Lakes Tour and several other mini-tours before embarking on a career as a golf coach and tournament director. He has been the Director of Tournament Operations and Marketing at Oxford Golf National Pro-Am Tournaments since 2006, which has seen him successfully plan and organize five national golf events a year in Las Vegas and Orlando.
Since 2011, he has served as a golf instructor at Prestwick Village Golf Club in Highland, working with junior players all the way up to collegiate and professionals. He also served as the swings coach to former Titan standout and 2011 Big Break Champion David Byrne, who competed on the Canadian and PGA Tour.
In the summer of 2017, he regained his amateur status and went back to playing competitively, capturing the 35th Wes Dixon Memorial Golf Tournament and the 54th Western Ontario Men's Golf Championship.
LaFave graduated from the University of Detroit Mercy in 2002 with a degree in Marketing.
