Year: 2022

Look and see what facilities will be open

The following IGA Member clubs have communicated with us they either are or will be open soon:

  • A.H. Blank Golf Course (Des Moines) will be opening starting Tuesday, March 15.
  • Amana Colonies Golf Club will be opening Friday, March 25th. Cart path only. Shoulder season rates. Tee times available at amanagolf.com.
  • Bright-Grandview Golf Course (Des Moines) will be opening starting Tuesday, March 15.
  • Brown Deer Golf Club (Coralville) is hoping to open Saturday, March 19. March Special rate will be in effect and likely cart path only for the first few weeks. Call for tee times starting Thursday, March 17 – (319) 248-9300.
  • Cedar Creek Golf Course (Ottumwa) will be open for the Season WITH carts effective Tuesday March 15. Range will NOT open until the following week.
  • Dodge Riverside Golf Club (Council Bluffs) is open. Currently cart path only. Off season rates currently.
  • Duck Creek and Emeis (Davenport) will open this Sunday the 20th at 8:30 a.m., for walking only. It will probably be a few days before they are able to allow carts.
  • Finkbine Golf Course has set their tentative open date for Friday, March 25.
  • Fort Dodge Country Club is opening this Wednesday, March 16th. Open daily at 10 am. Range available with paid rounds. Spring rate – Greens Fee $44 Cart (per player/seat) $16.50 – Call (515) 955-8551.
  • Jester Park Golf Course (Granger) will be opening starting Tuesday, March 15.
  • Oakland Acres Golf Club (Grinnell) will be opening the course on Thursday, March 17. Early season pricing everyday (including weekends).
  • Palmer Hills Golf Course (Bettendorf) will open Thursday, March 17.
  • Pheasant Ridge and Walter’s Ridge – Par 3 (Cedar Falls) plans to open Saturday, March 18.
  • Prairie Links Golf Course (Waverly) will be opening Wednesday, March 16, at 11:00 a.m.
  • Rice Lake Golf & Country Club (Lake Mills) will open on Tuesday, April 4 for the season.
  • River Valley Golf Course (Adel) will open Sunday, March 20. Call (515) 993-4029 for rates.
  • Stone Creek Golf Club (Williamsburg) will open Friday, April 1st, and will be open from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., Mon.-Sun. the month of April.
  • Terrace Hills Golf Course (Altoona) is open for the season.
  • The Legacy Golf Club (Norwalk) will be open this week on Wednesday, March 16th through at least Thursday, March 24th.
  • The Preserve on Lake Rathbun (Moravia) will open Thursday, March 17, with carts. Shoulder Season rates will be in effect. Call (641) 724 1400 for tee times.
  • Tournament Club of Iowa (Polk City) s targeting March 25th as our opening date. Tee times can be made online only at tcofiowa.com.
  • Treynor Recreation Area will open Wednesday, March 16 officially.
  • Twin Pines Golf Course (Cedar Rapids) will open Tuesday, March 15. Hours 8 a.m. – dusk. Tee times are encouraged – Call (319) 286-5580. Carts in rough only.
  • Veenker Memorial Golf Course (Ames) is opening for play this Wednesday, March 16/ Reservations can be made via phone (515) 294-6727 or through the website veenkergolf.com.
  • Veterans Memorial Golf Club (Clear Lake) will be opening Thursday, March 17 for walking only to start.
  • Wandering Creek Golf Club (Marshalltown) is on Wednesday, March 16, for walking only until the grounds dry up enough for carts.
  • Washington Golf & Country Club will be looking to open on April 1, weather permitting.
  • Waveland Golf Course (Des Moines) will be opening starting Tuesday, March 15.
  • Westwood Golf Course (Newton) will open for play Wednesday morning, March 16, at 11 a.m. Tee times recommended. No cart restrictions. $26 for 18 holes including cart – Call (641) 792-3087.
  • Woodland Hills Golf Course (Des Moines) will be opening March 15, with rates of $39 for 18 with cart and $37 when booked online this is 7 days a week while we are in spring rates.

Click here for more information on all of our member courses.

Be sure to check back for updates to this list!

Feel free to email [email protected] with
updates to your course/facility opening this year!

Mike McCoy, Zach Johnson to share special 2023

Written by Rick Brown, Iowa Golf Hall of Fame member

I don’t know how many rounds of golf I’ve watched Zach Johnson (right) and Mike McCoy (left) play during their distinguished careers. I do know it’s well into three figures.

And I don’t know how many stories I wrote about them during my time as the golf writer at the Des Moines Register. Again, it’s well into triple digits.

I chased them on golf courses for years, chronicling their success in Iowa, the United States, even Ireland. I covered them in a wide range of events, from the Sani to the Masters in Augusta.

They have been and always will be two of my favorites, for reasons that go beyond the fact that they were outstanding golfers and gave me plenty to write about. They are gentlemen golfers, humble and first class in every way. They never refused my interview request, and were always gracious with their time. They were, as the saying goes, Iowa Nice.

And as their list of accomplishments grew, they never forgot their golfing roots here in Iowa. They’ve always brought a bright spotlight to this state with their play. And the lights will shine even brighter in 2023.

Johnson will serve as captain of the United States Ryder Cup team in Rome. And McCoy will serve as captain of the Walker Cup team at St. Andrews.

“Can you believe that Iowans will captain the Ryder Cup and Walker Cup in the same year?” said Chad Pitts, executive director of the Iowa Golf Association.

This is a proud moment for Iowa, as well as the state’s underrated but robust golf community. Johnson’s 12 PGA victories include the 2007 Masters at Augusta and 2015 Open Championship at St. Andrews. He’s played on five Ryder Cup teams and had a winning record (8-7-2).

“He’ll do anything to help the team win, first of all,” said Davis Love III, the U.S. captain in 2012 and 2016. “He’s a great teammate. And he always plays well, too. Guys look up to him and respect him.”

Tom Lehman was Johnson’s first Ryder Cup captain, in 2006 at the K Club in Kildare, Ireland.

“It’s been fun to watch him play and cheer him on and be happy for all the things he’s accomplished,” Lehman said. “He’s come such a long way and done so much. If he was a really nasty person it would be pretty easy to not care so much. But because he’s such a great human being and such a wonderful guy, you feel like every success that comes to him, he deserves it.”

McCoy’s pinnacle achievement was winning the 2013 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship at Birmingham Country Club in Birmingham, Ala. That victory got him into the 2014 Masters.

A year later, McCoy’s distinguished national career was recognized when he was named to the 2015 Walker Cup team. Closer to home, Mike won the Iowa Amateur six times and has been the Iowa Golf Association’s Player of the Year 11 times.

McCoy will become the second native Iowan to serve as Walker Cup captain. Dr. Edgar Updegraff, who grew up in Boone, captained the 1975 team. That competition was also at St. Andrews. McCoy does know a little bit about St. Andrews. He played there in the 2018 Senior British Open.

Johnson and McCoy are two guys who cut their golfing teeth in the state at an early age, and then took a big bite out of the competition.

McCoy was 10 years old when he became a caddy at the Wakonda Club in Des Moines.

Caddies got to play on Monday. The pro at Wakonda at the time, Jack Webb, took McCoy under his wing. Bill Rose, another pro at Wakonda, later became McCoy’s instructor and helped him elevate his game.

Johnson was also introduced to golf at the age of 10, joining pro Larry Galdson’s junior program at Elmcrest Country Club in Cedar Rapids. Zach’s instructor during his high-level career, Mike Bender, is another Iowan. Webb, Rose, Gladson and Bender are all in the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame alongside McCoy and Johnson.

Johnson and McCoy’s success stories are anchored by hard work, and a bulldog mentality. Johnson was never the No. 1 on the golf team at Drake. When his college career ended, he had to decide whether to pursue professional golf or fall back on his business and marketing career.

He decided to give golf a try, since he’d experienced improvement every year and now had an opportunity to devote himself to the game on a full-time basis.

“Everything that came with being a professional golfer, I was willing and able to do it,” Johnson said.

Golf, not business and marketing, became his calling card and opened the door to a career that is taking him to the Ryder Cup in a third capacity. First as a player, then a vice-captain, and now captain.

Success wasn’t a given for McCoy on the golf course, either. Growing up on the south side of Des Moines, he’d carry his golf bag to the city bus stop, then catch a ride to the A.H. Blank course to play. He fought through some tough times early in his career. But as he improved, his zest for competition grew as well.

“You can always improve on something, and I did love the competition,” McCoy said. “I loved surprising myself. And I would beat players that were older than me and better than me. That kept me going right into college (at Wichita State). That’s when things started breaking free for me, and I could see myself becoming a good player.”

I had the good fortune to cover McCoy and Johnson at the 2014 Masters. It was a pinch-me moment, watching two of Iowa’s greatest players ever at one the game’s great shrines. It all came into focus on the Tuesday of tournament week, when Johnson and McCoy played the front nine together in a practice round..

I can still remember interviewing McCoy in a room outside Augusta National’s locker room after the second round and thinking to myself, “We’re not in Iowa anymore.”

Nine years later, Johnson and McCoy will share the title of captain at two of the sport’s elite events. Just two guys from Iowa.

Elliott honored with resolutions at Iowa State Capitol

Iowa’s Gene Elliott (shown above) was recognized by both the Iowa House of Representatives (House Resolution 109Watch here) and Iowa State Senate (Senate Resolution 104) Thursday morning. The resolutions honored Elliott for his recent success at the U.S. Senior Amateur and R&A Senior Amateur Championship in 2021, as well as other achievements on and off the course.

Elliott became only the second player to claim both the R&A Senior Amateur Championship and the U.S. Senior Amateur Championships in the same season, joining Paul Simson of Raleigh, NC, who accomplished the feat in 2010. Only one other Iowan has claimed the U.S. Senior Amateur title, that being Boone native Dr. Ed Updegraff in 1981. He is also one of only three players to win the U.S. R&A (United Kingdom) and Canadian senior amateur championships.

Elliott’s extraordinary year propelled him to the number one position as the globe’s top-ranked senior amateur player, according to the World Amateur Golf Rankings and AmateurGolf.com.

Iowa’s Mike McCoy named 2023 Walker Cup Captain

Mike McCoy during the flag raising ceremony at the 2015 Walker Cup at Royal Lytham & St. Annes G.C. in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire on Friday, Sept. 11, 2015. (Copyright USGA/John Mummert)

Iowa’s Mike McCoy will lead the 2023 U.S. Walker Cup Team as Captain the USGA announced this morning. McCoy, who participated in the Walker Cup in 2015 as a player following his win at the 2013 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, will captain the Walker Cup Team at the Old Course at St. Andrews, St. Andrews, Scotland, Sept. 2-3, 2023.

The Walker Cup Match is a 10-man amateur team competition between the USA and Great Britain and Ireland. The birthplace of golf, the Old Course at St. Andrews, has hosted eight previous Walker Cups, more than any other venue.

The news comes on the heels of another Iowan, Zach Johnson, being named as Captain of the U.S. Ryder Cup Team in 2023. As previously reported, PGA of America President Jim Richerson recently announced that Johnson will serve as Captain for the 44th Ryder Cup, which will be played September 25-October 1, 2023, at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome, Italy.

“Quite a deal, huh,” McCoy said. “It’s very exciting. I had to pinch myself when I got the call. I knew I was under consideration, but you never know. There are a lot of worthy candidates (for Captain). I am just honored for this opportunity and very fortunate.”

McCoy joins Dr. Ed Updegraff, originally from Boone, as the second Iowan to captain the Walker Cup Team. Dr. Updegraff was the 1975 Walker Cup Captain and was selected to the team as a player three times. The 1975 Walker Cup was also hosted at the Old Course at St. Andrews, when the USA defeated GB&I, 15½-8½, led by future U.S. Open champions Jerry Pate and Curtis Strange. .

“It’s a fairytale stuff when you start to think about it,” McCoy said of being a Walker Cup Captain from Iowa. “I am looking forward to getting to know these young players we will take over there. I just want it to be a great experience for them. That’s a big part of the job – make sure it’s a memorable time. It’s an honor to play for your country and that’s the message I am going to try and convey.”

An 11-time Iowa Golf Association Player of the Year, McCoy was a collegiate golfer at Wichita State University and has competed in 65 USGA championships, including 20 U.S. Amateurs.

“We’ll put together the best team we can and competes hard over there,” McCoy Said. “We’ll try to keep the Walker Cup in the U.S.”

Kerrigan joins IGA as Director of Competitions

The Iowa Golf Association would like to announce that Karli Kerrigan, of Ankeny, has joined the staff as Director of Competitions. Kerrigan will be in charge of the administration of IGA Championships, USGA Qualifiers, and support for the Rules of Golf and Golf Genius Software, a tournament software utilized by IGA Member Clubs.

Kerrigan replaces Ben Larson who recently accepted a role with the Epson Tour as a Manager of Rules & Competitions. The Epson Tour, previously known as the LPGA Futures Tour, and known for sponsorship reasons between 2006 and 2010 as the Duramed Futures Tour and between 2012 and 2021 as the Symetra Tour, is the official developmental golf tour of the LPGA Tour. Tour membership is open to professional women golfers and to qualified amateurs. The Epson Tour administers 21 regular season events and also Stage 1 and 2 of Final Qualifying School.

Kerrigan, who you might remember served as a P.J. Boatwright intern in 2019 and 2020, has most recently been a full time graduate student at Grand View University studying Organizational Leadership and working as a Graduate Assistant for the Grand View’s Sports Information Director. Kerrigan also worked at Glen Oaks Country Club this past summer in an effort to stay involved in the game of golf along with playing whenever she could.

“I’m thrilled to be back at the IGA and working with everyone there,” Kerrigan said. “I’m excited to play a small role in expanding the game of golf in Iowa and be surrounded by driven, like-minded individuals along the way. The IGA has played a large role in helping me get more involved in golf whether it be as a player or an intern and I’m looking forward to all that will come from this new opportunity.”
Kerrigan will start as a part-time IGA employee while she finishes her Masters degree at Grand View.  She will transition to full-time in early May.

Iowa Golf Hall of Fame ceremony set for May 13th at Wakonda Club

The Class of 2022 Iowa Golf Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will
take place at the Wakonda Club in Des Moines on Friday, May 13th

The Iowa Golf Hall of Fame will induct three members at this year’s ceremony. The Class of 2022 inductees includes Barb (Bubany) Berkmeyer, Mark Egly, and Charles Pribble. The Iowa Golf Hall of Fame will now have 92 total members that have helped shape Iowa Golf. The new inductees will be recognized with a plaque in the Iowa Golf Association’s office and their accomplishments will be highlighted on our website.

Click here to read more about Barb, Mark, Charles and their accomplishments

The basic schedule for the ceremony will include a social hour with food starting at 6:00 p.m. The induction should begin around 7:00 p.m. and finish approximately at 8:30 p.m.

Immediate family members of the inductees are guests of the Iowa Golf Association and they do not need to pay for a ticket to attend the event. This includes parents, spouses, children and grandchildren.

The cost for a ticket to the event will be $60/person and can be purchased online.

The deadline to sign up for the public is May 3rd. You can click here to sign up to attend, or you can call the Iowa Golf Association office at 515-207-1062.

Congratulations to each inductee and welcome to the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame!

SIGN UP TO ATTEND THE CEREMONY

‘Up and Down’ the Iowa Golf Scene – Nervig Reflects on Decades of Service to The Iowa Masters

John Nervig stands in front of the venerable Iowa Masters scoreboard, where each player’s hole-by-hole scores are displayed. This summer, Nervig will be part of his 70th Iowa Masters, as a competitor, tournament director and honorary official.

A Masterful Performance

When Ames native John Nervig first teed it up in the Iowa Masters golf tournament, Harry S. Truman was completing his second term in the Oval Office, a polio epidemic was gripping the United States and gasoline averaged $.20 cents per gallon.

This summer, the 85th edition of the Iowa Masters will be contested at Veenker Memorial Golf Course in Ames. Remarkably, Nervig has been part of the action for 70 of those events, first as a player, followed by a tournament director/co-director and now as an honorary official.

The 86-year-old Nervig first played the Masters in 1952. Starting in 1958, he reeled off 50 consecutive years of playing in the tournament, a record that stands alone today. He has the distinction of participating in 52 overall Iowa Masters events, a record he shares with long-time friend and former Iowa State Cyclone basketball and broadcasting legend Gary Thompson.

“There’s something special about the Iowa Masters golf tournament,” said Nervig. “It’s a combination of a challenging golf course, great tradition, well-run tournament featuring volunteers and staff who love the game and players who love to compete and renew the great friendships developed over the years.”

John Nervig poses with his hometown friend and long-time Iowa Masters tournament co-director, the late George Turner.

Established in 1938, long-time Iowa State Sports Information Director Harry Burrell capably managed the Iowa Masters for 40 years. In 1988, Burrell turned the reins over to Nervig and his fellow Ames native and good friend George Turner. Together, they co-directed the tournament for more than 30 years until Turner’s passing in 2019. They formed an extraordinary tournament staff, including clubhouse manager Tess Balsley, club professional Greg Dingel, former greenskeeper John Newton and the late Jerry Martinson, volunteer chair who also served as co-director for many years. A veteran committee included the likes of Mike Casey, Mike Purcell, Sean Flanders, Grant Walker and the late Jim Curell. On the tournament’s 75th anniversary, and in recognition of decades of service, Turner and Nervig received honorary life memberships to Veenker.

One of Nervig’s proudest achievements in his seven decades of involvement in the Iowa golf scene is being named the 2011 recipient of the George Turner Distinguished Service Award by the Iowa Golf Association.

“It was a fantastic honor to receive this award named after my great friend,” Nervig said. “All of the friends I have made through my years of volunteering have more than paid me back for the hours I have given.”

He also served several years as a member of the IGA Board, including President from 1985-87. In addition to playing many rounds with the iconic Turner, they also formed an intramural basketball team in the early 1950’s that scrimmaged the Iowa State freshmen squad during those days when first-year players were ineligible for varsity competition.

Nervig notes several changes over the years, both in the course layout and the tournament format.

“Veterans recall the tiny clubhouse and holes one and eighteen set apart from the rest of the course,” he noted. “Then the 13th Street road project came through that caused some hole redesign.”

Also gone are the five-hour plus rounds, aided by more volunteers, spotters, and a reduction of the field from 224 players to 156 players.

Although he played golf as a youngster, making many trips around Ames’s 9-hole Homewood layout, it took a significant health issue to reroute Nervig’s primary interest. He was a founding member of the Ames Merchants fast-pitch softball team and was a solid hitting and fielding third baseman. As a young man, Nervig was stricken with a case of Colitis, serious enough to cause a three-week hospital stay in Iowa City and two major re-sectioning surgeries. The subsequent Crohn’s Disease caused some life changes, including giving up softball. He turned his full attention to golf.

“I really didn’t think I’d live to see 30 years of age,” Nervig said. “But the silver lining in all this was the fabulous connections made through the game of golf.”

Nervig was a highly competitive golfer, winning three Ames City Championships and charting a pair of top 10 finishes at the Masters, including a 54-hole total of two-over par 218 in 1972. He also claimed at least 20 titles during the now bygone era of small town one-day golf tournaments, capturing titles in places like Nevada, Jewell, Story City and Ackley, where he once fired an 18-hole score of 59. Nervig was among the favorites in those venues, except when Eldora’s Ivan Miller was in the field. Billed as “The King of the Minnows” for winning more than 100 of such events, Miller was recently inducted into the Iowa Golf Association Hall of Fame.

“When Ivan was in town, we all knew we were playing for second,” Nervig recalled.

Nervig retired in the year 2000 following a 42-year career with the Iowa Department of Transportation in Ames. He and his wife, Patti, raised three sons.

He offers this parting advice.

“The game of golf is a lot like the game of life. You have far more good days than bad days and just give it your best effort.”


“Up and Down” the Iowa Golf Scene

A regular feature column written by IGA Foundation board member Mark Gambaiana, Up and Down the Iowa Golf Scene is designed to take the reader beyond the headlines and scoreboards to share stories of those who help make Iowa golf so rich and rewarding. Profiles will spotlight those who advance the game through volunteerism, service, extraordinary achievement, competition, human interest and the many other dimensions of golf in Iowa.

IGA volunteer, course rater Jim Grinaldi passes away

James (Jim) Michael Grinaldi, age 69, originally from North Canton, OH and current resident of West Des Moines, passed away in the late evening of January 23, 2022. He was born on April 17, 1952. Jim was a graduate of Oakwood High School in North Canton, OH and received a B.A. in Business from Wilmington College, also in Ohio.

Jim had many interests, but few were he as passionate about as golf. Jim began golfing in high school, but his love for the sport grew throughout his years as a single father and even more so when he found his partner in golf and life, Cathi. He was a member of the Des Moines Golf and Country Club and proudly volunteered for the Iowa Golf Association Golf Course Rating Team. Jim held special appreciation for many other games, including bridge, bocce and billiards, but would play just about anything if he valued the company. He enjoyed traveling, tasting different foods, listening to music, hearing the perspective of others and just experiencing life. Jim cherished his family and was happiest when they could all be together.

A Celebration of Life will be held in Jim’s honor at the West Des Moines Golf and Country Club on Sunday, April 2, 2022. Click the link below for further information.

http://iowagolf.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Celebration-letter..pdf

Lake Creek Amateur returns as Additional Point Event in 2022

As you may or may not know, the 2022 edition of the Lake Creek Amateur hosted by BVU Golf Course at Lake Creek in Storm Lake is slated to resume its place as an Additional Point Event on the IGA’s schedule. BVU Golf Course at Lake Creek was honored recently with the 2021 IGA 18-Hole Course of the Year award.

This year’s event will be held May 28-29, featuring 36-holes of stroke play in Open, Senior and Super Senior Divisions. The Open Division will be flighted following the opening round of play.

First held in 1973, the Lake Creek Amateur list of champions is impressive – as Lon Nielsen, Julius Boros, Mike McCoy, Jason Knutzon, Jon Brown, J.D. Anderson and Gene Elliott, to name a few, have won the event. Last held in 2013 as an IGA Additional Point Event, the Lake Creek Amateur has worked hard to regain its footing as a tournament for the state’s best to compete. Following a 7-year hiatus, the Lake Creek Amateur has seen an average field of 85 golfers in the last two years.

“BVU Golf Course at Lake Creek is thrilled to officially be back on the IGA Point Event Schedule for the 2022 Season,” Joe Powell, Director of Golf at BVU Golf Course at Lake Creek said. “This is something we have worked towards the last two seasons since bringing back the event in 2020 during the height of the COVID pandemic. Between partnering with the university back in 2019, to receiving 18-Hole Course of the Year in 2021, to celebrating our 50th anniversary in 2022, all of the positive momentum surrounding BVU Golf Course at Lake Creek points towards the 2022 Lake Creek Amateur.”

Registration information will be posted soon on the IGA website under the Tournaments tab at the top of the page and then by clicking on Additional Point Events.

Iowa Golf Hall of Fame Class of 2022 announced

The Iowa Golf Hall of Fame will add three members in 2022, bringing the total number in the Hall of Fame to 92. Those three include Barbara (Bubany) Berkmeyer, Mark Egly and Charles Pribble.

The Iowa Golf Hall of Fame “Class of 2022” is set to be enshrined on Friday, May 13, at Wakonda Club in Des Moines. The Iowa Golf Hall of Fame will add three members in 2022, bringing the total number in the Hall of Fame to 92.

Click here to register to attend – $60/person


Barbara (Bubany) Berkmeyer

Barbara (Bubany) Berkmeyer’s success on the golf course goes back over six decades.

Born in Fort Madison, Berkmeyer began swinging the club at age four, under the watchful eye of her father, Frank. There was no doubt she was destined to become an accomplished player.

After moving in 1952 to Ottumwa, Berkmeyer continued to hone her golf skills by playing across the state. At age 10, Berkmeyer participated in the 1954 Southeast Iowa Women’s Championship, an event that attracted the best female golfers from Iowa, Missouri, Kansas and Illinois. Within a few years she was a consistent top-five finisher at the event, winning the overall title in 1965, with runner-up finishes in 1964 and 1966. Her career as an amateur golfer was off and running.

Following stops in Davenport and ultimately in St. Louis, MO, Berkmeyer, who was already an accomplished player in her home-state of Iowa, began to make a name for herself in Missouri. Soon after arriving, Berkmeyer captured the 1962 St. Louis Women’s District Golf Association Junior Girls’ Championship, which helped earn her the first women’s athletic scholarship in the history of the University of Missouri, regardless of sport.

At the age of 21, Berkmeyer, won the first of her five (1965, 1970, 1974, 1975 and 1984) Missouri Women’s Golf Association State Championships. Many more tournament wins followed, while always crediting her Iowa golf pedigree to her success.

“The swing my dad taught me back at Fort Madison Country Club has served me well,” Berkmeyer once said. “I learned how to play the game and compete growing up in Iowa. That experience was invaluable.”

Berkmeyer has competed in a total of 11 USGA Championships over her playing career, including five Women’s Amateurs, two Mid-Amateurs and four Senior Women’s Amateurs. She finished runner-up in the 2002 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur and made it to the Round of 16 in 1999 and 2000. She was the runner-up of the 2002 Canadian Ladies National Senior Championship and she has won the Missouri Senior Women’s Amateur title 13 times.

As a full-time middle school teacher for 25 years, Berkmeyer has been inducted into the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame, Missouri Sports Hall of Fame and the University of Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.

“Her respect, kindness, courage and talent are second to none,” Jim Holtgrieve, two-time Walker Cup Captain said. “Barbara is an absolute perfect role model for the future of women’s golf.”


Mark Egly

Mark Egly has been teaching and, more importantly, introducing golfers to the game for over 40 years.

It would be very difficult to put a number on the golfers that Egly has helped and influenced in his teaching. Egly has been named Iowa PGA Teacher of the year seven times, including 2021. He has received countless awards from Golf Range Magazine and Golf Digest for his teaching accomplishments.

Egly is also an accomplished player in his own right, having won the 1988 Iowa PGA Match Play Championship, 1990 Iowa Open Championship, and numerous Iowa PGA events when he was coming up as a player. After suffering from an injury in a car accident, Mark has since changed to help golf games of others throughout his teaching career.

“I have known Mark for over 30 years, and rarely have I seen anyone with his passion for teaching the game,” Iowa Golf Hall of Fame member Ken Schall said. “I travelled with Mark often in our younger years playing in mini tour events and state opens. He was always a force to be reckoned with. What I am most impressed with is his positive influence with junior golfers. Mark has donated his practice facility and his time to the First Tee of Central Iowa for many years now.”

Egly’s teaching resume can be stacked up against anyone – as he was the lead instructor at Des Moines Golf & Country Club in 1979, Willow Creek Golf Course from 1980-84 and Des Moines Driving Range from 1994 to present day, taking ownership in 2002.

“Mark has taught thousands of golf lessons and has become renowned with helping high school golfers and many times at little or no charge,” Iowa Golf Hall of Fame member Jeff Smith said. “Over the past 20 years Mark has been recognized for nearly 40 awards.”

Egly’s lessons don’t just end with the fundamentals of golf.

“More importantly, the legacy that Mark leads leaves an impression on the lives of others and encourages them to do the same,” former student Victoria Grasso said. ”Mark is one of the reasons why I have chosen to pursue a career in coaching women’s college golf, as I desire to help make a difference in the lives of others just as Mark has done for every person that he has taught.”

It has been said that no one has given away more free range balls than Mark Egly. It’s safe to say not many have helped grow the game more than him either.


Charles Pribble

Charles (Charlie) Pribble was ahead of his time – plain and simple.

With stops as Head Golf Superintendent at Quincy (IL) Country Club, Sunnyside Country Club and Airport National Golf Course, Pribble always had time to help his fellow superintendent, regardless of their location.

“He mentored numerous young men who also became first class superintendents,” Iowa Golf Hall of Fame member Steve Tyler said. “Being very innovative, I believe Charlie was the first to ever grind the back of a greens mower bed knife off to get to a .10 inch cutting height. Toro, Jacobsen and others then saw the need for this and began to manufacture them for general use. He also took a poorly-constructed Sunnyside CC and made it into one of the best in Iowa.”

Pribble was also an irrigation expert, being one of the first to understand the hydraulics of irrigation and system design. He designed many systems and advised on numerous irrigation projects for other superintendents.

“I will always believe that my career was shaped very strongly by the hours I spent talking with Charlie in those first days as a Superintendent,” former Iowa Turfgrass Institute Executive Director Jeff Wendel said. “Charlie spared his time without expectation or payment.”

Pribble, who was the IGCSA President in 1979, Superintendent of the Year in 1984, was awarded the Distinguished Service Award in 2007 and Meritorious Service Award in 2008, was truly a one of a kind superintendent. 

“No matter how unorthodox or out of the box his methods might have been, he got the job done with the money and budget he had to work with,” Iowa Golf Hall of Fame member Rick Tegtmeier said.

Iowa PGA Executive Director Greg Mason may of said it best in regards to Pribble.

“Pribble’s accomplishments cannot just be placed on a piece of paper,” Mason said. “Talk with the people that have served with him in association work or like me as a friend and colleague in the game of golf, work and life. We all saw it first-hand. Whether he was yelling at you or laughing at you, you always knew he was pulling for you to succeed. There is no telling how many people ‘Pribbs’ has touched in his profession in terms of wisdom and guidance on items related to their facilities.”


The Iowa Golf Hall of Fame is administered by the Iowa Golf Association on behalf of all golf organizations in and around the state, such as the Iowa Section PGA and the Iowa Golf Course Superintendents Association.

The nomination and induction process consists of two committees, the Nominating Committee and the Voting Committee. The Nominating Committee determines the eligibility of nominees submitted by the general public as well as identifies individuals to nominate. They finalize the ballot. The Voting Committee has the task of researching and studying those on the ballot and casting votes for induction. The Voting Committee consists entirely of individuals who are current members of the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame.

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