John Carlson enters his second season as head coach of the University of Minnesota's men's golf program. He served as associate head coach during the 2010-11 season. Under his guidance, the Gophers improved their ranking nationally, collected six top-five finishes, 10 top-10 finishes and qualified two players, Donald Constable and Erik Van Rooyen - two-time NCAA qualifier - for the NCAA Regional.
Carlson, a native of Bagley, Minn., came to Gold Country after a three-year stint as an assistant golf professional at Wayzata Country Club in Wayzata, Minn. .
Prior to that, Carlson spent five years playing professional on the Nationwide and NGA Tours, winning 14 career titles. He also won back-to-back Tapemark Charity Pro-Am titles while at Wayzata CC.
A four-year letterwinner at the University of Wisconsin, Carlson won three collegiate events as a Badger and earned Academic All-Big Ten as a senior.