2022 Yearbook

12 RULES & COMPETITIONS A s is the case for many years, golf was taken to new heights in 2022 in Iowa both on the local level and the national scene. We saw new faces lift coveted trophies and old faces rewrite the record books along the way to a thrilling competition season. The golf industry continues to grow at rapid speeds and we saw that firsthand this season as our entries soared, beginning with the IGA Four-Ball. For the first time in the history of the event, we reached full capacity (104 teams) with additional teams on a waitlist. This would become a common theme at many of our major tournaments as we fielded full tournaments at our IGA Match Play, Iowa Amateur, Herman Sani Tournament, and Women’s Match Play. Full fields of the most qualified players our state meant an exciting year with worthy champions crowned each week. The Iowa Mid-Amateur Championship delivered a nail-biting finish as we watched Nate McCoy defeat J.D Anderson by a single stroke at Spencer Golf & Country Club. This would follow up his win at The Classic just a week prior and would kickstart a historic season, one of which we’re not sure we’ll ever see again. Nate continued his banner season at the IGA Match Play where he secured the 11th seed and quickly worked his way through the bracket en route to the championship match. Capturing the title with a 1 up win over Willis Gaer, Nate now had three victories under his belt with three months left to go in the Player of the Year race. Returning to Veenker, Nate looked to capture his fourth Iowa Masters championship and he did just that. Then, with everyone watching, McCoy went to Crow Valley and captured his fifth and final victory of the season with a dominant seven-shot triumph at the Iowa Amateur Championship. To put things in perspective, only three Iowans have ever captured all four Major titles over the history of their career. Nate did it in a matter of months. Not to be outdone by his son, Mike McCoy had quite MIKE PURCELL, COMMITTEE CHAIR Range time at the Sani Tournament held at Echo Valley CC.