2019 Yearbook.indd

| 7 as people got used to the “new normal”. Throughout the end of 2018 and into the spring of 2019, we conducted nearly 20 seminars on the new rules changes. We estimate having around 1,500 people in attendance total, which is a huge increase in both the number of seminars and the attendees from prior years. The new rules had people’s attention. Even though we would all rather play golf year-round, we were lucky here in Iowa that we got to watch others adjust to the new rules on television before we teed it up competitively. It made the transition easier for our players. In the end, it seems like the new rules have been a great success. Golfers adapted quickly and, although we don’t have ironclad data to back it up, it seemed like the new rules helped pace of play. In addition to the implementation of the new rules, one of the highlights of the year was Cedar Rapids Country Club hosting just the third ever USGA Championship - and first for women - in Iowa. 132 of the best senior women amateurs in the world descended upon the acclaimed Donald Ross-design to battle for the USGA SeniorWomen’s Amateur Championship. While theUSGAdoes the brunt of all thework, we are happy to say that the IGA was heavily involved as well. Katelynn Hogenson was essentially a USGA staff person, spending about three days in Cedar Rapids helping with the course setup, marking and infrastructure assembly. Then, when the championship got underway, she served multiple days as a rules official. Also serving as rules officials for various portions of the championship were Nate McCoy and IGA volunteers Bill Eby, and Denny Samuelson. Finally, many other volunteers from all over the state came to serve in various capacities to make the event a remarkable success. It was largely due to the success of this championship that the IGA later recognized Cedar Rapids Country Club as the 18-hole Course of the Year in 2019. We thank them for putting on a wonderful show for everyone involved. I also want to highlight a couple of items that fall under the IGA Foundation that we are very excited about. The first is the Youth on Course program, which saw good growth during just the second year here in Iowa. We went from 97 kids participating last year to 157 and saw our number of facilities grow from 15 to 28. We are still working on the final total for the number of rounds played, but we know that number should at least double. For those that don’t know, Youth on Course is a program that subsidizes rounds of golf for junior boys and girls. The kids are required to pay $5 (or less) to play a round of golf and then an additional fee is subsidized to the participating facility through the IGA Foundation. The idea is to try and remove financial barriers for youth to try the game we all know and love. Any facility that is interested in having this program in place should give us a call and we can explain how it all works. Finally, a two-year project came to fruition when the book GOLDEN HARVEST: Iowa’s Rich Golf History was published in mid-November. Rick Brown spent about 15 months researching and writing - then about 6 more months editing and rewriting - about the history of golf in our state. The result is a beautiful book just under 500 pages long that chronicles the game from its inception up to today. Top players, superintendents, courses and events are documented. There are some amazing stories within its contents. Rick did a terrific job. We are very proud of the finished product and encourage you to get a copy if you haven't already. You can see more about the book as well as purchase it through our website, iowagolf.org. With that, we put a bow on 2019 and turn the page to 2020. We have a lot going on, including the outset of the new World Handicap System - but that will be outlined in next year’s yearbook. For now, enjoy the game whenever and wherever you can. We look forward to seeing you soon!