St. Olaf College Men's Golf

Noah Parker '20 is in his third season as the head coach of the St. Olaf men's golf program in 2025-26. He served as interim head coach in 2023-24 before being named the permanent head coach in May 2024. Under Parker's leadership, St. Olaf has posted its top-two scoring averages (307.7 in 2023-24 and 308.8 in 2024-25) since 2020-11 in each of the last two seasons. The Oles finished seventh at the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Championships in 2024-25, a one-spot improvement from the year before, as junior Isaac Schmidt was named an Honorable Mention All-MIAC honoree. In Parker's first season, St. Olaf had two College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honorees and seven Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Academic All-Conference honorees. Parker was a member of the St. Olaf men's golf and men's hockey programs during his time as a student-athlete on the Hill, playing four years of golf and three years of hockey for the Oles. During his four-year career with the men’s golf program, Parker earned automatic all-conference honors by tying for eighth at the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Championships in 2017 and added top-30 finishes in each of the next two seasons. Over 39 rounds as a collegian, Parker averaged 78.0 strokes per round with a low round of 71.   Parker was also a two-time Honorable Mention All-MIAC honoree as a goalie for the St. Olaf men’s hockey program. He holds the highest save percentage (.921) in recorded program history, while ranking seventh in saves (1,064), eighth in games played by a goaltender (33), tied for eighth in games started by a goaltender (29), and ninth in goals-against average (3.08) and goaltender minutes (1,773:06).   Parker graduated from St. Olaf in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in economics.

Peterson, entering his 12th season in 2016-17, was a 1979 graduate of St. Olaf, where he was a three-time golf letterwinner and team MVP. He was the MIAC conference runner up in 1977, 1978 and 1979 as he captained the Oles to a conference championship. He won the NAIA District 13 Championship and was a national qualifier.   Under Peterson, the Oles have been ranked as high as 17th in the nation. In his tenure, Peterson has coached three Academic All-Americans, Chris Conklin, Billy Utter, and Ryan Lubinsky. Chris Conklin was also a MIAC runner-up in 2010. Peterson coached 2011 MIAC co-champion Justin Volling as well. Also in his time, Peterson has led several players to a MIAC All-Conference selection including, Chris Conklin, Ryan Lubinsky, Billy Utter, and Justin Volling.   Peterson played professionally from 1986-1990 on the Space Coast and North Florida PGA Winter Tours as well as the Carolina and Dakota Mini-Tours. He had four victories in PGA section competition in Minnesota and Northeastern New York. Peterson has been head coach at Greylock High School (Mass.), Belle Plaine H.S. (Minn.) and an assistant with Williams College (Mass.) and Univ. of Minnesota women's team.   Peterson currently lives in Northfield with his wife Robyn and son Anders where he is a private investor and PGA professional.

Cooper Lukenda '22 is in his third season as an assistant coach for the St. Olaf men's golf program in 2025-26. St. Olaf has posted its top-two scoring averages (307.7 in 2023-24 and 308.8 in 2024-25) since 2020-11 in each of the last two seasons. The Oles finished seventh at the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Championships in 2024-25, a one-spot improvement from the year before, as junior Isaac Schmidt was named an Honorable Mention All-MIAC honoree. Lukenda played three years of golf and hockey for St. Olaf before graduating in 2022 with a bachelor's degree in economics. He was a two-time Academic All-MIAC honoree in golf and finished a career-best tied for 18th at the MIAC Championships as a senior. His scoring average of 80.3 ranked second on the team during his senior season.