Davidson College's men's golf program has won four Atlantic 10 Conference championships in six years, and the man coaching the mental side of that run once walked dormitory hallways begging classmates to join a team that couldn't field five players.
L.D. Simmons, a 1981 Davidson graduate, returned to campus as the program's assistant coach and mental performance coach in the fall of 2020. Working alongside head coach Tim Straub, Simmons helped the Wildcats claim A-10 titles in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2025, according to a Davidson College profile published Tuesday, Aug. 11.
"We weren't very good, but I wouldn't trade my experience for anything," Simmons said of his playing days in the late 1970s, when the program was scraping to fill a roster.
The contrast is stark.
During Simmons' senior year, he recruited players door-to-door in the dorms. He still earned All-Conference honors in 1978 and won the Elon University Invitational individual championship in 1981 before pursuing a career as a litigation attorney.
Family roots on campus
Simmons married Marci, the sister of his freshman roommate Ed Imbrogno, who was also on the golf team. All three Simmons children became Davidson Wildcats: Grace Lee '15, Andy '17 and Will '20. Andy and Will both played on the golf team. Will even shared a faculty advisor with his father, professor Clark Ross, who had L.D. as his very first advisee at Davidson decades earlier.
Mental game, measurable results
Simmons began mental performance coaching in the spring of 2020, starting with junior players before joining the Davidson staff that fall. His private practice now includes college players, mid-amateurs, senior amateurs and professionals, but he made a deliberate decision to focus on golf.
Straub credited Simmons for the program's rise.
"Throughout my time as coach, he has worked tirelessly to help with fundraising and alumni engagement," Straub said in the college's profile. "Recently, he has been instrumental in helping to develop our scholar-athletes, and it is no coincidence that our team has won many tournaments and A-10 titles."
Three current Wildcats, Davis Sayman, Jackson Bode and Nate Faulkner, were named 2025-26 NCAA Division I Cobalt Golf All-America Scholars. Under Straub, 14 Davidson golfers have earned that honor multiple times.
Fall season ahead
The Wildcats finished seventh at the 2026 A-10 Championship in April at Evermore Resort Golf Club in Orlando, meaning the program will look to reload. Incoming freshman Griffin Cheatwood, a Charlotte Latin product who finished tied for sixth at the North Carolina Amateur Championship, joins a roster that also features Faulkner, who shot a 6-under 64 to advance to final qualifying for the 2026 U.S. Amateur.
Davidson opens its fall 2026 schedule at the Bryan National Collegiate on Saturday, Sept. 12, followed by the River Run Collegiate on Monday, Sept. 21, and the McDonald Cup at Yale Golf Club on Saturday, Sept. 26.
