The Iowa Golf Hall of Fame will add four members in 2025, bringing the total number in the Hall of Fame to 105. Those four include Nate Dunn, Whitey Barnard, Jeff Schmid and Tom Verrips. Read more about each inductee below.
Nate Dunn
Nate Dunn’s golf career is a tale of quality, not quantity.
He doesn’t play in as many Iowa Golf Association-sponsored events as many others, but he’s still found the kind of success that has earned him a spot in the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025.
“When he does play, you know he’s going to be on the leaderboard,” Iowa Golf Hall of Famer Gene Elliott said. “He raises his game when it counts.”
Dunn is one of 11 players to win the prestigious Iowa Amateur at least three times. He also won an Iowa Amateur Match-Play crown, an Iowa Junior Amateur and was the IGA Player of the Year in 2007.
“Those tournaments are how you gauge yourself against the best,” Elliott said. “Nate’s very deserving of the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame.”
Dunn joined Jon Brown and Jerry Smith as the only players to win an Iowa Amateur and Iowa Match-Play Championship in the same season (2014). He also won the Iowa Amateur in 2004 and 2016.
He’s qualified for eight United States Golf Association championships, including three U.S. Amateurs (2002, 2007, 2011). He qualified for match play at the 2005 U.S. Mid-Amateur, reaching the round of 32.
He teamed up with Justin Schulte to win the 2019 IGA Four-Ball at Bos Landen. Dunn also won the Lake Creek Amateur in 1997, the Riverboat Days Amateur in 2007 and 2019 and has captured the Amateur Division of the Cedar Rapids Open multiple times.
A 1994 graduate of West Delaware High School, Nate was named president and CEO of Farmers & Merchants Bank in 2018. He is the third member of his family to lead the regional financial institution.
Dunn’s first big victory came in the summer of 1993, when he won the Iowa Junior Amateur at Jester Park. He was a runner-up medalist to Ben Pettitt of Carroll at the State Class 3A high school championship in 1994.
Dunn played his college golf at Cal State-Stanislaus for legendary coach Jim Hanny. He played in three NCAA championships for the Warriors, was an honorable mention all-American in 1997 and a second-team selection in 1998, when he won the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate and was named the school’s Athlete of the Year. Dunn was enshrined in the Warrior Athletics Hall of Fame in 2011.
Dunn stayed in Florida and took a shot at professional golf, but regained his amateur status in 2002. He was 28 years old when he won his first Iowa Amateur title at Crow Valley Golf Club in Bettendorf in 2004, finishing a shot in front of the threesome of Brady Schnell, Jon Brown and Luke Miller.
After missing the entire 2013 season following back surgery to repair a herniated disc, Dunn played in just two events in 2014. He won the Iowa Amateur Match-Play Championship at Amana Colonies golf course, and added the Iowa Amateur at Finkbine in Iowa City.
Dunn got off to a dream start at Finkbine, starting his first round birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie and posting a 7-under 29 on the front nine. He went on to beat George Qian of Bettendorf on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff.
His third title came at Sunnyside Country Club in Waterloo in 2016, edging Broc Everett and Cody Holck by a shot.
That victory put Dunn in some exclusive company, joining Henry Ferguson, Bill Sheehan, Art Bartlett, Rudy Knepper, Bob McKee, Denmar Miller, John Jacobs, Bob Leahy, Mike McCoy and Gene Elliott as the only players to win Iowa’s most prized amateur title at least three times.
Whitey Barnard
Franklin “Whitey’ Barnard’s history with golf covers a lot of ground. And a lot of achievements. The latest comes as a member of the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025.
Barnard was a good player. He was captain of the Davenport High School golf team in 1939. One of his teammates was future U.S. Open champion Jack Fleck. Barnard played in the Iowa Amateur t0 times, reaching the quarterfinals in 1953.
He also spent eight years on the IGA’s Board of Directors, and was the association’s president in 1955. That same year, Fleck outdueled Ben Hogan in a playoff to win the U.S. Open at the Olympic Club.
Barnard was also a master at promoting the game of golf. He played an unmistakable role in the arrival, and later survival, of the PGA Tour in the Quad Cities. Barnard was the chairman of the first Quad-Cities Open, played as a PGA Tour satellite event in 1971. It became a full-fledged tour stop in 1972 and now carries on annually as the John Deere Classic.
“I tell you with confidence that no man was more influential in this event’s inception than Whitey Barnard,” said Craig DeVrieze, author of “Magic Happened: Celebrating 50 Years of the John Deere Classic.”
Barnard had envisioned the PGA Tour coming to the Quad Cities as far back as 1936, when he and Fleck worked as caddies at the Western Open held the Davenport Country Club. Barnard, 13 years old at the time, earned a total of $20 that week to caddy for Tommy Armour.
Barnard worked behind the scenes to bring the Western Open back to the Davenport Country Club in 1951, one of many things he would do to promote the game he loved. A travel agent by trade, he was a member of the Davenport Park Board when that group approved the building of the Emeis public course in 1962. As president of that board, Whitey hired Bob Fry as the golf professional in 1965.
Fry, a member of the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame, joined Barnard and others to chase the dream of bringing the tour to the Quad Cities. They were also instrumental in the building of Crow Valley Golf Club, which hosted the tour event for the first four years and remains one of Iowa’s greatest courses.
Barnard was the co-chairman of the Quad Cities event from 1972 to 1974, and even dug into his own pocket to keep the event above water.
“The fascinating history of the event includes numerous moments when its future was dire, even desperate,” DeVries wrote. “But with the support and commitment of Quad Citians who echoed the dedication to community first exemplified by Whitey Barnard and friends, it persevered, overcame and grew. Whitey remained a friend of the tournament for the remainder of his life.”
Barnard received the Bob Fry Award, presented annually in recognition for contributions to golf in the Quad Cities, in 1995.
Mr. Barnard was 79 when he passed away in 2000. But his legacy lives to this day.
“He was instrumental in just about every phase of golf in the Quad Cities,” Iowa Golf Hall of Fame member Jim Hasley said when Barnard passed away. “His fingerprints are on just about everything.”
Jeff Schmid
Jeff Schmid has seen the world through a golfing lens, putting together a resume that has earned him a spot in the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025.
Schmid started winning in the late 1980s as an all-Big Ten player and two-time captain at the University of Iowa. Now a teaching pro at Brown Deer in Coralville, he continues to win in a career nearly four decades long. Most recently, he was the 2024 Iowa Section PGA Senior Player of the Year.
“His playing record continues to culminate at a very high level,” said Iowa Golf Hall of Fame member Jeff Smith.
Schmid won six times as a collegian at Iowa. His best season came in 1988-89. Schmid won two individual titles, was sixth at the Big Ten Championships and was named all-Big Ten for a second straight season.
In the summer of 1990, after his college career had ended, the Cedar Rapids native captured the Iowa Amateur Match-Play title at the Carroll Country Club.
Schmid’s professional career included stops on the Asian Tour (1993-96), the South American Tour (1993-99) and the Canadian Tour (1996-97). He also played on the Hooters Tour, Dakotas Tour and Golden Bear Tour. He won three times on the Golden Bear Tour and took home a pair of North Dakota Open crowns. He also won the 2002 Arrowhead Pro-Am and the 2003 Hillcrest Invitational on the Dakotas Tour. He won the Dakotas Tour Order of Merit in both 1996 and 1997.
Schmid also returned to his home state and won the Waterloo Open back-to-back (1996-97) . He also took home the 2000 Iowa Open at the Irv Warren course in Waterloo.
He left the state and won a pair of Gateway Section Championships in 2013 and 2016.He moved back to Iowa City later in 2016 and spent two seasons as an assistant golf coach at Iowa.
He qualified for the 2019 PGA Championship at Bethpage Black. He’s also played three times on the PGA Tour (2000 Western Open, 2000 John Deere Classic, 2001 Greater Milwaukee Open).
A week after that 2019 PGA Championship, Schmid made his first appearance in the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship. He also qualified for that event in 2020, 2021 (canceled because of COVID), 2023 and 2024. Schmid tied for 63rd in 2023 and had strongest showing when he tied for 27th after rounds of 66-71-70-73 (3 under par) in 2024.
Schmid also turned in an impressive showing at the 2022 at the U.S. Senior Open, played at Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem, Pa. He tied for 33rd after rounds of 75-70-73-73.
In 2020, Schmid pulled off a rare double. He won both the Iowa Section PGA Match-Play and Senior Match-Play championships. During his career, he also won the Iowa Section PGA and Iowa Open Senior title in 2021; and two more Iowa Open Senior titles in 2022 and 2024.
“The thing that impresses me the most about Jeff is that he is still competing at a very high level,” said Iowa Golf Hall of Famer Ken Schall. “He made the cut at the U.S. Senior Open in 2022 and the Senior PGA in 2023 and 2024 against the world’s best senior players, all while maintaining his position as Teaching Professional at Brown Deer. At Iowa PGA events Jeff is always at the top of the leaderboard.”
Tom Verrips
When Doug Snook came to the Sheldon Country Club as the pro and superintendent in 1974, one of the first people he hired was Tom Verrips.
“It didn’t take me long to realize that this farm kid had skills,” Snook reflected.
Those skills were put to use for more than four decades. And now Verrips will be joining Snook in the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame.
After stops at Sheldon, Sunnyside Country Club in Waterloo (1975-1977) and Hampton Country Club (1977-1984), Verrips took the job at Otter Creek in Ankeny in 1984 and was there until he retired in 2014. His time at Otter Creek included a complete makeover of the facility in 2008 – a new 18-hole layout, clubhouse and driving range.
Verrips worked side-by-side on the Otter Creek rebuild with golf course architect Paul W. Miller.
“I have had the pleasure of working with Tom on multiple golf course improvement projects for the City of Ankeny,” Miller said. “During almost 25 years of working together I found Tom to be the consummate professional who contributed greatly to the game of golf in Iowa.”
Otter Creek was named the Iowa Golf Association’s 2016 18-hole course of the year.
“Tom’s dedication to the profession showed not only for the outstanding job he did at Otter Creek, transforming it into one of the top public courses, but also his involvement in the Iowa Golf Course Superintendents Association,” Snook said.
Verrips has served the Iowa Golf Course Superintendents Association in a variety of ways. He was named Iowa GCSA Superintendent of the Year in 2004, and received that organization’s Distinguished Service Award in 2003. The Iowa Turfgrass Institute presented Tom with their Meritorious Service Award in 2017.
Verrips also served two tours of duty on the Iowa GCSA board of directors, and was the president in 1998. He was a GCSAA chapter delegate for five years, was on the USGA Green Section Committee for five years and served the lowa Turfgrass Institute for 13 years including a stint as president in 2006.
“I had the honor to serve with Tom on some of these boards, and the biggest thing that stood out to me is he was never a “yes man,” said Rick Tegtmeier, retired director of grounds at the Des Moines Golf and Country Club and a member of the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame. “Tom always voted his mind and the integrity he stood for. He never wavered even if it was against the status quo. Tom’s leadership and contributions are well documented by the awards he has received over the years from various organizations.”
During his career, Verrips was always quick to help a fellow superintendent deal with any challenge that popped up.
“He was always the calming, reassuring voice that I needed,” said John Ausen, the retired superintendent at Hyperion Field Club in Johnston and another Iowa Golf Hall of Fame member.
Ausen added, “Small organizations such as the Iowa Golf Course Superintendents Association cannot be successful without the help of members like Tom Verrips. When you step on an Iowa golf course you probably won’t think of Tom. But at some point, Tom was involved in a decision that made the golf course better.”
The Iowa Golf Association is thrilled to welcome these four new members to the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame and will host a ceremony honoring those individuals this year on Friday, October 17, at Echo Valley Country Club (ceremony) and Golf House Iowa (reception). The IGA will post a schedule of events online and share with membership as we get closer to the ceremony.
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.
