Nate Dunn to Defend Iowa Amateur Title Against Tough Field
Follow live scoring from the 115th Iowa Amateur
ANKENY, IOWA – Nate Dunn will be defending his Iowa Amateur title on home turf this year in a field of prestigious players. In addition to his win last year, he won the Iowa Amateur Championship in 2004 and 2014. Dunn was the Player of the Year in 2007 and won the IGA Match Play Championship in 2015.
The Iowa Golf Association is excited to come back to Cedar Rapids Country Club for the 115th Iowa Amateur Championship July 24 through July 26. Cedar Rapids Country Club hosted the Iowa Amateur in 1984, 1955 and 1929. Pairings for the first round of the 115th Iowa Amateur Championship were released on Tuesday and can be found at https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/899233.
This year’s field is full of decorated players who are seeking to add an Iowa Amateur to their list of Championship titles. The field was extended from 144 players to 156 players to accommodate the surplus of entrants.
The current field includes 51 players who have received exemption status due to their outstanding performances in past championships. On that list you will see names like Mike McCoy, Gene Elliott, Jon Olson, J.D. Anderson, Nate Dunn, Tripp Kinney, Andrew Wood and Jon Brown.
Tripp Kinney is going into his second year at Iowa State University and plays for the Cyclone Men’s Golf team. Kinney won the IGA Match Play Championship in June. Andrew Wood won the Iowa Junior Amateur in June as well. He just graduated from Linn-Mar High School and has committed to play on the University of Northern Iowa Men’s Golf team in the fall.
J.D. Anderson won the Iowa Mid-Amateur Championship last May. He also has an Iowa Four-Ball Championship title as well as multiple wins in sanctioned point events over the years. He is currently third in the 2017 Player of the Year point standings.
McCoy and Elliott teamed up to win the IGA Four-Ball in late May. McCoy has won five Iowa Amateur titles in addition to being Player of the Year an impressive eleven times. Elliott has won three Iowa Amateur Championships and four Player of the Year titles. Elliott has won Player of the Year for the last two years running and is currently second in this year’s standings, buoyed by a recent win at the Iowa Masters. Both McCoy and Elliott are Iowa Golf Hall of Fame members and are major competitors within and outside the state.
Brown is currently leading this year’s Player of the Year point standings by twenty points. He won Player of the Year titles in 2006 and 2004 and won the Iowa Amateur in 2006. He recently finished second to Elliott at the Iowa Masters.
Jon Olson won the Iowa Amateur Championship in 2012 and was the IGA Player of the Year in 2014. He also won the IGA Match-Play Championship in 2011 and has won the Iowa Mid-Amateur Championship three times (2011, 2014, 2015).
Play gets underway Monday at 7:30 a.m. All players will play two rounds and then the low 60 & ties will make the cut to the final round on Wednesday. You can follow live scoring here.