After finishing in the top 5 of the POTY standings three of the past four years, Indianola’s Leanne Smith had a breakthrough season in 2020. She piled up two victories and a pair of top ten finishes on her way to earning her first IGA Women’s Player of the Year title.

Smith opened the year with a victory at the 9th IGA Women’s Match Play Championship, defeating Sydney Eaton 4 & 3 to capture the title. Later in the summer she teamed up with Erin Schaffer to capture the crown at the IGA Mid-Am Series Event #3, which featured a four-ball (Two-Gal Best Ball) format. Additionally, she posted a runner-up finish in the 59th IGA Women’s Club Team Championship and a top ten finish in the 96th Iowa Women’s Amateur Championship.

2018 Iowa Women’s Player of the Year Sydney Eaton, of Mason City, finished runner-up in the 2020 standings after rattling off three top five finishes. Joy Chou, of Ames, came in third place following her victory at the 96th Iowa Women’s Amateur Championship.

Ankeny’s Karli Kerrigan (4th), and Dubuque’s Rosalie Kubesheski (5th) rounded out the top five in the Player of the Year standings.

Click here to view a full recap of Women’s Player of the Year standings.

Rose Kubesheski, of Dubuque, further etched her name into the history books in 2020 by earning her fifth IGA Senior Women’s Player of the Year Title.

Kubesheski’s season was highlighted by her victory at the 55th Iowa Senior Women’s Amateur Championship, capturing the title for her seventh time. She also earned victories in the 10th IGA Women’s Four-Ball Championship (with Margene Grady – pictured), IGA Mid-Am Series Event #1, and IGA Mid-Am Series Event #2. She posted top five finishes at the 96th Iowa Women’s Amateur Championship, 59th IGA Women’s Club Team Championship, and the IGA Mid-Am Series Event #3.

Finishing runner-up for the second consecutive year was Rockwell City’s Kathy Fortune. Fortune captured a victory at the 96th Iowa Women’s Amateur Championship and posted five top five finishes in 2020.

Completing the top five was Kelly Grimes (3rd), Janece Schwartzkopf (4th), and Margene Grady (5th).

Click here to view a full recap of Senior Women’s Player of the Year standings

Ottumwa’s Cale Leonard (right), now competing in his junior season for the Ottumwa High Bulldogs, established himself as one of the best up-and-coming players in the state by capturing his first IGA Boys’ Junior Player of the Year title in 2020.

Leonard’s season was highlighted by a nine-shot victory at the Junior Tour Mid-Summer Classic. He earned top five finishes in the Iowa Junior Amateur Championship, Southeast Iowa Amateur, 45th Iowa Boys Jr. PGA Championship, and the TPC Deere Run Junior Open. Additionally, Leonard advanced to the Round of 16 at the 32nd IGA Match Play Championship.

Nathan Spear, of Burlington, finished within 100 points of Leonard to earn runner-up honors. Spear earned a victory at the AJGA Preview at Meadowbrook and collected four other top five finishes in point events over the summer.

Brock Barnhart, of Robins, finished in third place, with LeClaire’s Jack Dumas (4th) and Waverly’s Hogan Hansen (5th) rounding out the top five.

Click here for a full recap of the 2020 Junior Boys’ Standings.

Newton’s Rylee Heryford (pictured) found her stride this summer, earning a trio of victories en route to earning the 2020 Iowa Girls’ Player of the Year title.

Heryford collected victories at the Iowa Junior Girls’ Amateur Championship, the Iowa Junior Open, and the Junior Tour Mid-Summer Classic. She finished runner-up in the 45th Iowa Jr. PGA Championship, and carded top ten finishes in the 10th IGA Women’s Four-Ball Championship (with Saffire Sayre), Midwest Junior Championship, and the AJGA Preview at Meadowbrook.

Heryford narrowly escaped chase from two-time defending Iowa Junior Girls’ Player of the Year Paige Hoffman (pictured on left), of West Des Moines. Hoffman secured victories at the 10th IGA Women’s Four-Ball Championship (with Kylie Carey) and the Iowa PGA Junior Fall Classic. Hoffman finished in second place within 20 points of Heryford.

Saffire Sayre, of West Des Moines, finished in third place, while Ames’ Britta Snyder (4th) and Waukee’s Kylie Carey (5th) completed the top five.

Click here to a full recap of the 2020 Junior Girls’ Standings.

The Waveland Golf Association (pictured above with Ian Pak and family) had an idea – a really good idea. They wanted to help someone who needed it. Unfortunately with the postponement and ultimately cancellation of the 2020 Principal Charity Classic, the WGA had to take a detour with their plans.

“This winter we got to thinking – this will be our 20th year we have volunteered at the Principal Charity Classic,” WGA board member Greg Bentley said. “Last year (at the PCC) they gave away a bike to a youngster in need at the volunteer party and we thought it would be cool if ‘we’ did that. We collect funds as part of our dues and also allow people to donate additional money. The Board voted to give away the bike at the 2020 PCC volunteer party this year and hopefully this will inspire other organizations to do something similar.”

Bentley and the WGA enlisted the help of Variety – the Children’s Charity here in Des Moines to help find a child who would benefit from the bike.

“We got in touch with Variety and they were more than happy to help us,” Bentley said. “We had seen Variety donating a bike in the past at the PCC, so we reached out to them to help us with our project. We didn’t want to try to do this on our own – they are better at this type of thing than we are. They were able to find Ian Pak for us and then everything fell apart. The tournament got postponed and then eventually cancelled. Once it was cancelled, we decided it wasn’t fair to Ian that he can’t have the bike, but there is no tournament for him to receive it at. So we decided to give him the bike at Waveland.”

Ian Pak (pictured right with Rocky Sposato, General Manager / COO – A.H. Blank & Waveland Golf Course), of Waukee, is a 5-year old boy with a diagnosis of cerebral palsy, which affects his mobility. When walking, Ian requires either a hand to assist him or uses his reverse wheeled walker or bilateral quad canes to get around home and school. Ian has recently started taking 3-5 independent steps forward since using the specialized bike in physical therapy. The bike that was given to him will allow Ian to ride with the greatest degree of safety and independence. It will allow him to interact with family and friends in a recreational environment while improving his overall fitness and strength in a safe manner.

The timing of the giveaway couldn’t have been better according to Bentley.

“This was a great time to do it – and well worth it,” Bentley said. His mom (Jessica) was telling us that his school was going to let kids like Ian bring their bike to school for the physical education class. Until recently, Ian didn’t have a bike, so he would not have been able to participate. Knowing he now has his bike and can participate really made us feel good.”

Bentley also encouraged other golf associations to get involved with a project of their own similar to the WGA’s bike give away. He stressed that the best start is contact Variety – the Children’s Charity.

“Contact them if you are interested,” he said. “It wasn’t difficult at all – they have all the resources you need.”

UPDATE — BOTH EVENTS CANCELED 

The IGA has announced a pair of 54-hole events this fall. While not exclusive to college golfers, we hope these will provide an additional playing opportunity for those that have lost their fall season due to the COVID pandemic. Both events will be held on (Sunday-Monday) October 18-19 at Coldwater Golf Links, Ames, and Crow Valley Golf Club, Davenport and both will be run similarly to college tournaments with 36-holes on the first day and 18-holes on the second day.

These two events are aimed at varsity Men’s and Women’s college golfers from the 2019-20 school year, those who are scheduled to be on a varsity roster in the 2020-21 school year, college age individual amateur golfers, and a limited number of non-college age amateurs. Prospective Student Athletes (PSA’s) are NOT eligible to compete in this event.

A total of 78 players will be allowed at each location. Assuming a field of 78, 52 spots will be open to male competitors and 26 spots will be open to female competitors. If one gender does not reach the maximum number of players, the field could be filled with the other gender to reach the maximum size of 78.

Entry fee for both events will be $150 per player (fees include golf, practice range balls and lunch for players on Sunday). Participants will be responsible for their own entry fee and any expenses they incur during the event. Collegiate varsity participants will not be allowed to represent their school in any way during the event, per NCAA guidelines.

For more information and to register today:

Coldwater Golf Links – https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/2643009

Crow Valley Golf Club – https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/2651997