Marquette, MI – January 27th, 2026 – Ben Johnson was kind enough to join us this week on The Big Local Sports Show. Johnson grew up in Marquette and fell in love with golf at a very young age, first picking up the game around 2–3 years old. By age 10, he was already traveling and competing in tournaments.
He continued his golf journey at the next level by committing to Northern Michigan University, where he played four seasons with the Wildcats. In August of 2023, Johnson returned to NMU as an assistant coach, and just over a year later, in September of 2024, he was named head coach of the program.
We picked his brain on the recruiting process, how the team navigates the offseason while dealing with Upper Peninsula weather, and what the roster and tournament schedule look like. Johnson also serves as the general manager of the Northern Michigan Golf Course, and we discussed how he earned that role and what his responsibilities include. Tyler and I learned a ton about the game of golf and you can too by clicking the link.
Looking ahead to next week, Billy Hill is set to join us on The Big Local Sports Show. Hill is the new Negaunee boys basketball coach and a former Miner standout. He played for Negaunee High School and was a member of the 2000 Class C state championship team before moving on to Northern Michigan University. During his collegiate career, Hill scored over 1,500 points, earned All-GLIAC Second Team honors twice, and set the NMU school record with 225 three-pointers made.
The Big Local Sports Show will be live from Slabz Bar and Grill next Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. If you can’t make it in person, you can listen on Fox Sports Marquette 105.1 and 99.9, catch the replay at 6:00 p.m. on 97.5 GTO, or watch the show streamed live on the mediaBrew Communications Facebook page.
