Author: iowagolf

Salyers, Curran qualify for U.S. Junior Amateur at Spirit Hollow GC

June 12, 20190 commentsUSGA, USGA Qualifiers

Spirit Hollow Golf Course was a firm test for players in today’s U.S. Junior Amateur Sectional Qualifier. Mix in rain and wind off and on most of the day, the course simply played tough.

Drew Salyers (above left), of Howard, OH, posted an even round 72, that included four birdies on the day to help offset four bogeys, to earn medalist honors. His bogeys came in a four hole stretch on (#6-9). Salyers turned in 39 and was able to shoot 33 (-3) on the back nine.

“I was playing pretty good to start the day,” Salyers said. “Then I got a little off the rails little bit, but started putted well on the back nine. I kept doing what I was doing and got it done. The qualifiers in Ohio didn’t know out for me due to scheduling conflicts. This course looked good to me.”

Sean Curran (above right), of New Lenox, IL, had a fine day as well, shooting 74 (+2) to claim the second and final qualifying spot. Curran who was under par after the opening nine holes (35), however made three bogeys coming in, but his 74 was still good enough.

Overall a total of 14 players were able to break 80 on a tough, challenging day.

Matthew Briggs, of Burlington, and Zach Place, of Roselle, IL, both shot 75 (+3) to finished a shot behind Curran. Briggs won the playoff for first alternate on the third playoff hole with a birdie. Place will be second alternate.

Click here for a recap of scoring

 

McCoy wins by 9 at Carroll Am, Panek captures Senior Division

June 10, 20190 commentsNews

Nate McCoy (above), of Ankeny, left little doubt when the dust had settled at the 2019 Carroll Amateur. McCoy, who regained his amateur status last fall, pulled away late in the third round from runner-up Scot Cook, of Van Meter, and the field to win by nine at Carroll Country Club.

“The course was in great shape,” McCoy commented. “The rough was thick, greens were fast and the course was firm. I enjoyed the personal challenge of trying to play each hole. The biggest factor to navigate was the wind. As the day went on (on Sunday) the greens got firmer and firmer which made it very difficult to get it close to the hole.”

McCoy, who posted rounds of 68-70-72 (-3), led from start to finish with the help of 11 birdies and an eagle. Cook, who mounted a valiant effort in pursuit of McCoy, finished with rounds of 70-72-77 (+6) to earn runner-up honors three shots clear of Carroll’s Kyler Ludwig.

“Scot drove it well,” McCoy said “He put a lot of pressure on me coming in. It was a joy to play and I hope to come back next year.”

Johnston’s Jeff Panek captured the Senior Division by one shot over Ron Peterson, of Urbandale. Panek, a newly minted senior player, fired rounds of 70-75 (+3) that included a total of seven birdies.

Click here for a full recap of scoring

Grimes victorious in Grinnell at Forever 39

June 4, 2019Comments Off on Grimes victorious in Grinnell at Forever 39Forever 39 Match Play

The 56th playing of the Women’s Forever 39 concluded today at Grinnell College Golf Course. Kelly Grimes (above) of Indianola went 3-0 en route to her second Women’s Forever 39 Match Play title.

The opening round of matches had their fair share of upsets with both the #1 and #2 seeds losing in the championship flight. Stroke play medalist, Kathy Fortune (Rockwell City) was defeated by #8 seed Jennifer Corkrean (Ankeny) 2 up and Schwartzkopf (Stuart) was defeated 2 & 1 by #7 Sue Harmon. The biggest excited of the day was in the match of #5 Rose Kubesheski (Dubuque) and #4 Robin Webb (Clive). It took 13 holes before Kubesheski was finally able to break through and win the match on the par 5, 4th hole.

During the second round of matches, Jennifer Corkrean continued her run for the title and defeated Rose Kubesheski 1 up. In the other semifinal match, Kelly Grimes overpowered Sue Harmon, 5 &4, to advance to the finals.

(L to R) Julie Hartman, Jan Sewright, Margene Grady & Kelly Grimes

Corkrean and Grimes each continued their steady play into the finals with neither having a lead greater than 1 up. Corkrean provided some excitement when she birdied the par 3, 9th hole to square the match and send it into extra holes. Grimes was able to hold off the charge and win their 10th hole to claim the 56th Women’s Forever 39 Match Play title. 

Kelly Grimes was not the only winner as Margene Grady (Cedar Falls), Jan Sewright (Ankeny), and Julie Hartman (Greenfield) each won their respective flights. Margene Grady defeated Nicki Clayton (Ankeny) in 10 holes, Jan Sewright defeated Carolyn La Rue (Oskaloosa) 1 up, and Julie Hartman defeated Mary Nelson 3 & 1.

For full results click here.

Industry Around the Globe Unites in Support of Women’s Golf Day

June 4, 20190 commentsNews

Today, June 4th 2019, will be the largest ever single-day celebration of women’s golf with venues from every corner of the globe joining forces to promote the sport. With a growing profile and impressive roll call of supporters, it’s hard to imagine that a little over four years ago Women’s Golf Day was simply a pipe dream for founder Elisa Gaudet. Her commitment has galvanised the industry, bringing together a phenomenal number of industry influencers from around the world.

Over the past three years, WGD events have been held at over 900 venues in 52 countries and have delivered golf experiences to more than 50,000 women and girls.

This year what is remarkable is the growth of the campaign in countries who have been involved since year one. In Nigeria thanks to development work with the Nigerian Golf Federation a record 14 venues are already signed up to run their 4 hour experiences and in the Czech Republic there is an incredible 35 participating venues all preparing to welcome women and girls through their doors.

As the campaign has grown from strength to strength, its impact has become apparent beyond Women’s Golf Day itself as Elisa explains, “What we are beginning to see is a deep rooted change from the golf club level through to national organisations. I set out on this journey because I wanted more women to try the sport that has brought so much joy to my life. I am really proud to have inspired others to run their own campaigns because we have a singular aim, which is of paramount importance to the future of golf.”

8 new countries signed up in 2018, including Hong Kong which makes an impressive return in 2018 with more venues signing up. Vietnam and Lithuania are amongst the newcomers for 2019, demonstrating the global reach of the campaign. Mike Hendrix, Vice President GolfNow Business Solutions, who have been ardent supporters of WGD year on year isn’t surprised by the continued growth as he explains, “Our Business Services team has been speaking with hundreds of golf courses in North America about hosting their own event on June 4th and the response has been great. We’ve seen golfers through social media asking if their local course will be hosting an event and we’ve seen golf instructors step up and create and support events. Our golf course partners love this initiative and we salute Elisa’s passion and drive”

This year’s WGD campaign is extremely personal for Elisa who has partnered with Play for P.I.N.K.®, a nonprofit organization that donates 100% of its proceeds to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation®. She concludes, “This is a fantastic charity which is very close to my heart. We hope that this new partnership will help raise awareness and much needed funds for breast cancer research through the power of golf.”

To learn more about Women’s Golf Day click here

‘Golf’s Longest Day’ to include several from, with ties to Iowa

June 3, 20190 commentsUSGA, USGA Qualifiers

Known by many as ‘Golf’s Longest Day’, several player from or with connection to the state of Iowa will compete at Sectional Qualifying for the U.S. Open. Those entered will compete over 36 holes to qualify for the 119th U.S. Open Championship, Pebble Beach Golf Links, Pebble Beach, Calif., June 13-16.

Century Country Club & Old Oaks Country Club
Purchase, N.Y.
– Mike McCoy, Norwalk

Brookside Golf & Country Club and Scioto Country Club
Columbus, Ohio
– Charles Jahn, Sperry
– Sean McCarty, Solon
– Brian Bullington, Former University of Iowa player

Springfield Country Club
Springfield, Ohio
– Frank Lindwall, Cedar Rapids
– Carson Schaake, Former University of Iowa player

Note – Former Iowa State University golfer Denzel Ieremia participated in the Sectional Qualifier at Bent Tree Country Club and Northwood Club on May 20, but was unable to advance.

Elliott takes home fourth IGA Senior Match Play title, Kahler wins Super Senior Division

June 1, 20190 commentsChampionships, IGA Senior Match Play

Gene Elliott (above), Iowa Golf Hall of Fame member of West Des Moines, captured his fourth IGA Senior Match Play crown on Saturday. He defeated Terry Cook of West Des Moines 3 & 2 in the championship match.

Elliott took command early in the final match by winning holes 2 thru 5 and then hole 7 to 5 up. After Cook won the 8th hole, Elliott won the 10th to go back to 5 up, which was plenty to withstand the run Cook made near the end by winning two out of three holes (12 & 14). Ties at 15 and 16 secured the championship for Elliott.

Elliott advanced to the finals by defeated #1 seed Tony Newkirk of Pleasant Hill in the semifinals. Elliott came out on top by a margin of 5 & 4. Cook defeated Iowa Golf Hall of Fame member Jon Brown of Adel in his semifinal match. A birdie on the first extra hole propelled him into the championship match.

Steve Kahler (left) of Marion is the Super Senior bracket champion. Kahler outsted Mark Hogenson of Cedar Rapids in the championship match 2 & 1.

Kahler took control early winning the first two holes. He would make the turn 3 up in the match and would remain 3 up thru 12. Hogenson then made his move, winning 14 and 15 to get within a hole. Kahler slowed the momentum by halving the 16th hole, then won the 17th to take the match.

Matt Weresh (bottom right) of Clive earned the President’s Bracket title by defeating Brian Persson of Elk Run Heights by a 4 & 3 margin. Marty Goetz of Marion defeated Doug Bryant 6 & 5 to win the Vice President’s bracket.

Click here for a full recap of the event

24th IGA Four-Ball rained out at Bos Landen, rescheduled for Sept. 6-7

May 24, 20190 commentsChampionships, IGA Four-Ball

After consulting with the Bos Landen Golf Club superintendent and viewing the damage to the golf course we have decided to cancel the 24th IGA Four-Ball Championship for the next two days. The course received an additional 2 inches of rain since last night and has taken on nearly 7 inches since the middle of the week. There is more rain expected which looks to add to that total.

IGA Four-Ball Rescheduled
We wanted wanted to inform players that the rescheduled date for the IGA Four-Ball Championship is going to be September 6-7. The championship will still be held at Bos Landen Golf Club.

If you know for sure that those dates will NOT work out please let us know and we will make sure to get you a refund. If you aren’t quite sure yet we recommend you hold off on withdrawing until you know for sure.

If you are definitely planning on playing we will hold your entry fee and keep you in the field. Please feel free to give us a call this week at 515-207-1062 to inform us of any change. Thank you for your understanding and we hope this date works out for many of you.

Danke wins 2019 Tri-State Masters

May 20, 20190 commentsChampionships, News

Stocking caps and jackets were the order of the day on a cold and windy Sunday at Green Valley Golf Club.

The weather, however, didn’t seem to affect Tyler Danke (pictured right), who stormed from behind to win the 15th Tri-State Masters by one shot.

With temperatures in the 40s and a strong wind that made it feel even colder than it was, Danke turned in the only sub-par round of the day with a 2-under 70. That was good enough for a one-stroke win over defending champion Adam Fields.

Read more here from Justin Rust, Sioux City Journal

Click here for full results

Tri-State Masters and Southeast Iowa Amateur

May 17, 20190 commentsChampionships

Two IGA Additional Sanctioned Point Events are taking place this weekend.

The Tri-State Masters – played over three courses in the Sioux City area – gets underway on Friday, May 17th and finishes on Sunday, May 19th.  You can follow the find scores and tee times by clicking this link.

The Southeast Iowa Amateur at The Preserve on Rathbun Lake is contested over Saturday and Sunday, May 18th and 19th.  Follow the action here.

 

 

Bull stays patient, wins 34th Iowa Mid-Amateur at Briarwood Golf Club

May 11, 20190 commentsChampionships, Iowa Mid-Am

Dennis Bull (pictured above), of Norwalk, had the mindset to stay patient and see where the chips fell at the end of the day. Thankfully for Bull the chips fell in his favor with the help of solid golf in the final round of the 32nd Iowa Mid-Amateur Championship at Briarwood Golf Club in Ankeny. The victory marks Bull’s first ‘solo’ IGA title, as he paired up with Dusty Drenth to win the IGA Four-Ball last year.

Starting the day Bull was one shot behind opening round leader John Burgett (pictured right), of Waukee. Burgett’s lead grew to three strokes early on in the round, but as mentioned Bull stayed patient.

“This is going to be a long day I thought,” Bull said after the round. “I made a sloppy bogey on #1. John made a nice, long putt on #2, so right away I was in a hole. I didn’t birdie #3 or #4. I was playing ok, just wasn’t scoring. But then I birdied 5 and it was back and forth after that.

Fast forward to the 14th hole, where two fine shots left Burgett an eagle putt he would convert and take sole position of the lead by three strokes.

“John made eagle on #14, which was fantastic and then I fail to make birdie, so (once again) I am three (strokes) down, Bull said. “I didn’t think I was out of to after he made eagle. I had good looks on #16-18 for birdie, just didn’t make any of them and he made a couple bogeys coming in.”

Bull’s final round included a pair of birdies to offset his two bogeys, which was good enough by one stroke over Burgett and three over West Des Moines’ Ryan Bishop. Bull, who shot 145 (+1) for the championship, admitted with the cooler, windier weather in the final round, birdies wouldn’t be flying by any means.

“My mindset was trying to stay patient today,” Bull said. “I drove the ball so-so early on, but didn’t make many mistakes. Scores were a little higher due to the weather. There was a little bit of wind and it was cold. But it’s nice to win one of these, I have been trying for a while.”

In the Senior Division, West Des Moines’ Bob Brooks defeated Brian Verduyn, of Polk City, after both players finished with a two-round score of 143 (-1). Jim Butler, of Fort Madison, claimed the Super Senior Division title by a six shots over Dave Sergeant, of Fort Dodge. Butler also posted 143 (-1) over the two-day event.

Click here for full results

From left – Jim Butler (Super Senior Division Champion), Dennis Bull (Mid-Amateur Champion) and Bob Brooks (Senior Division Champion). Bull is shown above holding the Michael McCoy Mid-Amateur trophy.

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