University of Minnesota Athletics
Ski-U-Mah Preview: A Blue-Collar Golfer
9/23/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Read the September Issue of Ski-U-Mah Here
The following is an excerpt from "A Blue-Collar Golfer," a feature story about head men's golf coach John Carlson and his path from tiny Bagley, Minn., to his current job leading the Gopher men's golf program, a path that brought him in many different directions on his way to his destination.
Following college, Carlson began a professional career that saw him win 14 tournament titles on the Nationwide and NGA Tours. Then, on the Fourth of July during his best season, his wife, Caese, called him from Lake Minnetonka with some of their friends.
"I was in a casino in 110-degree weather down in Owasso, Okla," Carlson said. "I just decided at that point I was done. I was missing out on everything."
Carlson wanted to spend more time with his family and friends back in Minnesota, so he interviewed with Wayzata Country Club professional Dick Walters and became the assistant pro, remaining there until joining the Gophers' staff. Carlson ran tournaments and leagues at first, which would later help him orchestrate the Gopher Invitational. During the latter part of his time at Wayzata, he primarily gave lessons to members.
During that time, he also worked for Straight Down Clothing, drove a wine truck delivering to area liquor stores and worked at the Macy's cologne counter. Carlson continued to play in tournaments as well, winning his second straight Tapemark Charity Pro-Am in 2008.
After a few years at Wayzata, a fork appeared in the road, in the form of a job posting for the Gophers' associate head coach position. Carlson could see himself becoming a head pro, but at the same time was intrigued by coaching and the opportunity it presented for more time with family in the summer. Around that time, he played in a pro-am with Kurt Schuette, who was the coach at Pepperdine and later the director of golf at USC. The two stayed in touch following the event and Carlson asked Schuette for his advice about getting into coaching.
"He called me on the phone and he's like, 'That's a great opportunity. Go do that in Minnesota and don't look back,'" Carlson said.
