2021 IGA Yearbook

IOWA WOMEN’S AMATEUR DUBUQUE GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB, DUBUQUE JULY 26-28, 2021 A mes' Joy Chou does it again, but this time she left no doubt. Chou has now won the 96th and 97th Iowa Women's Amateur Championships. This years championship took place at Dubuque Golf and Country Club, where Chou's margin of victory was nine shots. In the final round, Chou carded a 72 and finished at 10-over-par for the three-round championship. "This win means a lot to me after the crazy year with COVID. It motivates me to want to be better (and) gain confidence in myself to move up to a higher level," said Chou. Dubuque Golf and Country Club played difficult, and for Chou it caught her a little off guard. "I always thought Iowa was flat with cornfields and everything, but during the practice round I thought I was in the wrong place," said Chou jokingly. "It was so hilly and tight, I had to try and keep it in play and safe." After hearing lots of background noise, Chou stayed focused. Going into the final round with a six shot lead, Chou did not think she had the tournament won just yet. "Even before I left for the tournament everyone was saying, 'defending champ, defending champ,' but from the time I signed up to my last putt, I was only thinking about how I am going to enjoy the golf course and try to beat myself," stated Chou. Eden Lohrbach, also of Ames, took hold of second place and had her best round during the final day. Lohrbach, a 15-year-old, played solid golf all week long and gave herself a shot at an Iowa Women's Amateur victory. Clear Lake's Emily Snelling finished in third place with rounds of 78-78-76. Snelling recorded back-to-back 38's during her final round. Brooke Newell, of Anita, earned fourth place and Christi Imsland, of Manchester, took fifth place, only one shot apart from each other. Waterloo's Kelly Nelson held on to her second-round lead and topped Dubuque's Rose Kubesheski by four shots in the Open Division. The course played hard this week, but Nelson was able to Chou Repeats As Women's Am Champ, Nelson Claims Open Division Back-to-back champion, Joy Chou of Ames