John Carlson enters his sixth season as head coach of the Huskie men’s golf program.
The Huskies finished third at the 2024 Mid-American Conference Championship, NIU's fourth straight top-three finish at the league meet. Three Huskies earned MAC Golfer of the Week honors in Ben Sluzas, Felix Krammer and Zach Place. Sluzas earned his second consecutive All-MAC selection with a spot on the second team. Krammer was also an All-MAC Second Team honoree. On Oct. 15, 2023 NIU set a new 18-hole scoring record with a 14-under par 274 in the first round of the Quail Valley Collegiate Invitational.
Under his guidance, NIU won it’s first Mid-American Conference men’s golf championship since 1985 in 2023 when it bested Ball State by four strokes at Canebrake Club in Athens, Ala. The Huskies were sixth after the first round, then posted the best round by an NIU team at the MAC Championship with a nine-under par 279 to move into first place going into the final round. NIU held off a charge from Ball State and Kent State to win the team title. Carlson was named the Kermit Blosser MAC Coach of the Year after the tournament.
The Huskies had four top-three finishes in the spring of 2023. NIU had a pair of golfers earn First Team All-MAC honors for the first time in a single season in program history in senior Tommy Dunsire and sophomore Ben Sluzas. NIU had a total of five MAC Golfer of the Week awards in the season. Sluzas was named Golfer of the Week a league-high three times with Dunsire and Ian Bruchhauser earning the honor once.
The Huskies also set a pair of NIU scoring records in the 2022-23 season. Dunsire set a new NIU 18-hole scoring record with a 64 in the second round of the Quail Valley Collegiate Invitational on Oct. 16. On April 14, NIU set a team 18-hole scoring record with a 13-under par 275 in the second round of the Hawkeye Invitational. The Huskies tied that mark on May 15 in the first round of the NCAA Regional at Salem, S.C.
In 2022 Carlson's Huskies tied for first place at the Xavier Invitational, marking the first time in over 10 years that NIU was at the top of the leaderboard in a team event. Reece Nilsen won the tournament as an individual and was named MAC Golfer of the Week. That was one of five top-five showings for NIU that season. The Huskies finished fourth at the Rich Harvest Farms Intercollegiate with a team score of nine-under par 855, tying the fifth-lowest 54-hole team score for NIU since 1980. NIU capped the year by hosting the MAC Championship at White Eagle Golf Club in Naperville and tying Bowling Green for third place.
He led the Huskies to a second-place finish at the 2021 MAC Championship, NIU's best finish at the conference tournament in over 30 years. Led by First Team All-MAC and MAC All-Tournament Team selection Jordan Less, NIU finished second to Kent State.
In his first season NIU had a pair of top-five finishes as a team in his first season in 2019, including a second-place showing at the Musketeers Classic Oct. 21-22.
Carlson came to DeKalb with nine years of coaching experience at the University of Minnesota. He had been the Director of Men’s Golf for the Golden Gophers the past two seasons. In that role, he oversaw all aspects of the program including scheduling, academic progress of student-athletes and team performance. In 2019 the Golden Gophers had five top-five team finishes as Angus Flanagan won the Big Ten individual championship.
Prior to becoming the Director of Men’s Golf, Carlson was the head coach at Minnesota from 2010 to 2017. He led the Golden Gophers to the 2014 Big Ten Championship, making Minnesota the only program other that Illinois to win the conference title since 2009. Carlson was named Big Ten Coach of the Year that season. Overall, Carlson led Minnesota to five top-six finishes at the Big Ten Championship including three top-three finishes. Minnesota made six NCAA Regional appearances with Carlson at the helm.
Carlson was an Assistant Golf Professional at Wayzata Golf Club in Wayzata, Minn. for three years before becoming the head coach at Minnesota. He played as a touring professional from 2003 to 2007, playing two years on the Nationwide Tour. Carlson won 12 tournaments as a pro.
A 2001 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Carlson was a four-year letterwinner for the Badgers. He won three collegiate events as a collegian and earned Academic All-Big Ten honors all four years.
