College of Coastal Georgia

Nicole (Wildes) Johns enters her 16th season at the helm of the women's golf program. Johns started as an assistant for both the men’s and women’s teams prior to the 2010-11 season and was then elevated to the women’s golf head coach position before the 2013-14 season.

Since taking over, Johns has helped the Mariners to 14 Tournament wins, five NAIA Tournament appearances (2014, '16, '19, '21, '25) and two NAIA Individual National Championship appearances (Sarah Gilliard: 2015, Madelyn Taylor 2024). 

Johns has coached up six NAIA All-Americans, two SSAC Conference Player of the Year, and 18 All-Conference (SSAC & SUN) players. Johns was recognized for the job she did in her first season as the head coach, winning the SSAC Coach of the Year in 2014 after her team won the 2014 SSAC Conference Championship.

The Mariners have excelled off the course as well under Johns. She has coached 28 Conference All-Academic players and 14 WGCA All-American Scholars. Her 2016-17 and 2018-19 teams were also recognized as NAIA Scholar-Teams for there combined GPA.

During the 2024-25 season, Johns led her team back to the NAIA National Tournament for the first time since 2021, while also coaching Carlin Paulk to a top 30 finish at the national tournament. 

The 2023-24 season saw Johns coach freshman standout Madelyn Taylor who won two tournaments in her first collegiate season while posting a third place finish in the Sun Conference Tournament. For her efforts, Taylor was invited as an individual to participate in the 2024 NAIA National Tournament held at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois.

In the 2022-23 season, Johns' squad had three top-three finishes and had two golfers, Kristen Crooms and Carlin Paulk, rank in the top 150 in terms of NAIA Women's Golfers.

In her first season as the coach, the Mariners won four tournaments including the SSAC Conference Championship and finished as the runners-up in three other tournaments on their way to a sixth place finish at the NAIA National Tournament where they had two players, Sarah Gilliard and Christian Liggin, finish in the top 10.

Before joining Coastal Georgia, Johns played on the LPGA Futures Tour in 2008-09. This came off the heals of her dominant collegiate career at Berry College where she was a four-time NAIA All-American and the 2004 NAIA Individual Champion after posting a then-record 293 score through four rounds. Johns remains the only golfer in Berry's history (men's or women's) to win an individual championship.

Johns was inducted into the Berry College Hall of Fame and is well known in the Georgia golf community.

Personal
- Married to Clay Johns, and the couple has a daughter named Sidney and a son, Noah.
- Currently a golf instructor at The King and Prince Beach and Golf Resort