Above – J.D. Anderson after chipping on to the 18th green at the Buena Vista University Golf Course at Lake Creek during the final round of the 2021 Lake Creek Amateur. Anderson, a two-time Iowa Player of the Year, returns to Storm Lake on Saturday and Sunday, part of a strong 90-player field to tee it up this weekend.

Holiday weekend tournament helps determine IGA Player of the Year

Ninety golfers tee it up this weekend as the Buena Vista University Golf Course at Lake Creek hosts the 2022 Lake Creek Amateur, an official points event for the Iowa Golf Association (IGA).

In November, the IGA named BVU Lake Creek its 18-Hole Golf Course of the Year, an honor that, in part, was due to the work local officials and volunteers had done in resurrecting the Lake Creek Amateur three years ago after a seven-year hiatus.

“We’re very excited to see this weekend’s competition play out as we have a tremendous field of competitors vying for the title,” says BVU Lake Creek Director of Golf Operations Joe Powell, who doubles as Head Coach for the men’s and women’s golf teams at BVU. “Players such as Nate McCoy, the reigning Iowa Player of the Year, will be here, as will past champion J.D. Anderson, another Iowa Player of the Year. A solid corps of the state’s best will be tested by our thick rough, the course’s forced carries, consistent BVU Lake Creek winds, and the intricacies of our signature greens, manicured and brought up to speed in a cool spring season by Superintendent Bob Leinbaugh and his staff.”

Nate McCoy is coming off a one-shot victory over Anderson last weekend in the 37th Iowa Mid-Am Championship hosted at Spencer Golf and Country Club. Anderson, the Iowa Player of the Year in 2017 and 2018, claimed runner-up honors at the Lake Creek Amateur one year ago, falling just short in his bid to become a three-time winner of the event.

McCoy, who serves as Director of Handicapping and Course Rating with the Iowa Golf Association, is familiar with the BVU Lake Creek layout, having competed in previous competitions. His father, Mike McCoy, won the Lake Creek Amateur on four occasions.

Past champ Al Pottebaum also joins the field, a collection dotted with the likes of contenders Jon Olson, the 2014 IGA Iowa Player of the Year, as well as Freddy Bullock, Drew D’ercole, and Storm Laker Aaron Clausen, who returned to amateur competition in 2021 and won the BVU Lake Creek Club Championship in August.

“This is the third year since the return of the Lake Creek Amateur and we’re delighted to have it on the IGA points schedule,” says Chad Pitts, IGA CEO/Executive Director. “BVU Lake Creek is a great test of golf and an early-season event that gives the winner and those who play well some added momentum as our Amateur of the Year competition heads into the summer months. The tournament is also a great chance for folks around Storm Lake to show off a golf course that’s been an integral part of their community for 50 years.”

BVU Lake Creek celebrates the 50th anniversary of its founding with a weekend of special events on June 17-18.

“We are so proud to be back in the conversation in helping to determine Iowa’s Amateur of the Year,” says BVU Lake Creek President Mike Wilson. “Working with wonderful partners like Buena Vista University and the Iowa Golf Association allows our staff, volunteers, and members the chance to welcome guests and visitors not only this weekend, but throughout the entire golf season.”

Visitors to the course just west of Storm Lake will see a clubhouse that’s undergone several renovations in the past several months, updates befitting the IGA’s 18-Hole Course of the Year honor. Competitors in the 2022 Lake Creek Amateur will experience those positive changes while doing their best to tame an 18-hole layout that has challenged and rewarded Iowa’s best golfers in this tournament since 1973.

Past Lake Creek Amateur champions, scores
2021 – Brenden Bassing, Sioux Falls (143…36 holes)
2020 – Jack Evans, Brainerd, Minn. (144…36 holes)
2013 – Matt Weeks, Spirit Lake (213)
2012 – Gene Elliott, West Des Moines (207)
2011 – Kirby Pettitt, Carroll (206)
2010 – Justin Schulte, West Des Moines (207)
2009 – J.D. Anderson, West Des Moines (209)
2008 – Jon Brown, Urbandale (205)
2007 – Kyle Ritchie, Corning (211)
2006 – J.D. Anderson, West Des Moines (204)
2005 – Mike McCoy, West Des Moines (209)
2004 – Scott Quandt, Mt. Carmel (204)
2003 – Ron Peterson, Urbandale (141)
2002 – Ron Peterson, Urbandale (210)
2001 – Kevin Johnson, Urbandale (215)
2000 – Steve Smith, Johnston (207)
1999 – Jim Curell, Boone (205)
1998 – Jason Knutzon, Ames (207)
1997 – Nate Dunn, Manchester (67)
1996 – Ben Pettitt, Carroll (206)
1995 – Mike McCoy, Des Moines (172)
1994 – Mike McCoy, Des Moines (206)
1993 – Jon Brown, Urbandale (209)
1992 – Mike McCoy, Des Moines (206)
1991 – Jay Horton, Ames (207)
1990 – Al Pottebaum, LeMars (208)
1989 – Mike Dunphy, Perry (207)
1988 – Todd Sapp, Lincoln (220)
1987 – Bill Manske, Algona (218)
1986 – Steve Winkel, Algona (215)
1985 – Ned Zachar, Ames (210)
1984 – Greg Tebbutt, Bettendorf (213)
1983 – Dean Kain, Algona (283)
1982 – Gary Claypool, Marion (278)
1981 – Jim Curell, Boone (242)
1980 – Dean Kain, Algona (288)
1979 – Jim Curell, Boone (287)
1978 – Bill Manske, Algona (277)
1977 – Chuck Null, Cedar Rapids
1976 – Julius Boros, Iowa City (139)
1975 – Lon Nielsen, Belle Plaine

1974 – Roger Null, Cedar Rapids
1973 – Larry Castagnoli, Fort Dodge