EAST LANSING (Michigan) – What started as a personal mission and an idea for Michigan State’s men’s golf head coach Casey Lubahn, has now become one of the biggest events in college golf. As important as any invitational.
MSU will host the second annual Folds Of Honor Collegiate from Monday to Wednesday at the famed American Dunes Golf Course, Grand Haven. The event features 18 schools including Florida State, Arizona, all three service academies as well as two HBCUs, and Grand Valley State, a Division II school.
The tournament is being held in conjunction with Golf Coaches Association of America to benefit Folds of Honor. This nonprofit organization provides scholarships for families of service members who have lost their lives in combat or were injured. Recently, they began to include families of first responders. The organization has given out more than 44,000 scholarships to date.
MSU golf coach Casey Lubahn with his father Dale in 2003 at USGA Qualifying. Dale was a Vietnam War Veteran, which gives Casey an extra sense of meaning in hosting this week’s Fields of Honor Collegiate Event at American Dunes Golf Course.
Photos: Jack Nicklaus’ American Dunes, which benefits Folds Of Honor
Lubahn stated, “The golf course was opened a little over a year ago and I had not been there.” “And then, when you arrive at the golf course, (they take away your clubs) you walk around this living memorial with all of the people that are honored there. I kept thinking about how college athletics has grown so quickly. There are many things to consider, some good and some bad. Some of these things may be about money or other issues. What can we as a community of college golfers do to expand our reach?”
Lubahn approached Folds of Honour founder Lt. Col. Dan Rooney about the tournament. Three days after MSU’s James Piot had won the U.S. Lubahn, an amateur, flew to Oklahoma in order to meet Rooney.
Lubahn stated that “it (quickly), went from being a minor thing to becoming the biggest thing for college golf”.
Jack Nicklaus is also a supporter of the organization, and he designed American Dunes. Nicklaus had been scheduled to meet the teams on Sunday. Lubahn said, “That’s just how strongly he believes this event.”
It’s a special event for Dale, Lubahn’s dad.
Casey told his father that it was “so emotional” when he had first spoken about the incident. There’s never a day when he doesn’t wear his veteran hat, or have a sticker of a veteran on his truck. Our veterans don’t often talk about it. It’s great to see a resurgence of pride in his service. He has certainly come full circle. As a child, I never heard him speak about his service. Now we often talk about it. This event is special for him. “He just talks about the event with pride and walks around beaming.”
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