Mike McCoy won the 1996 Iowa Amateur at Finkbine Golf Course, six years after his son, Nate (above), was born. Mike rallied with a final-round 67 that included an eagle on the par-5 15th hole.

The 2023 Walker Cup captain rekindled those memories on Tuesday, this time as a caddy. Because it was his son, Nate, who accepted the 122nd Iowa Amateur trophy for the second time in his career after a closing 66 at Finkbine. A round that included an eagle on the 15th hole.

“This is the whole reason you compete,” said Nate, who also eagled the par-4 12th earlier in the final round. “You want to test yourself against the best.”

McCoy’s 54-hole score of 204, 12 under par, was three shots better than 2012 champion Jon Olson, Cale Leonard (right) and Maxwell Tjoa. Leonard started the day seven shots back, and his 66 matched McCoy for the lowest round of the day.

“I just wanted to go make birdies,” he said. “The course was still kind of soft from yesterday, and I knew it was going to be gettable. There was no pressure on me to try and hold the lead or anything. I was just trying to catch up.”

The victory also saved Nate a long drive north. He was scheduled to play in a U.S. Amateur qualifier Wednesday morning at Dacotah Ridge Golf Club in Morton, Minn., west of the Twin Cities. But this is the first year the sponsoring United States Golf Association has granted a U.S. Amateur exemption to all state amateur champions.

So Nate will be teeing it up at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn., starting August 12.

“I was dreading that drive,” he said of the trip he gladly skipped. “Such a relief. Now I get to go home to my family with the trophy.”

Tuesday’s victory also made McCoy the front runner for a fourth consecutive Iowa Golf Association Iowa Amateur of the Year Award. Nate and his dad are the only players to win it three straight times.

The McCoys also became the first father-son tandem to both win multiple Iowa Amateur titles. Nate also won at Crow Valley in Bettendorf in 2022. Mike won six times (1992, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2010, 2015).

Nate had to play catch-up after a 71 on Sunday, five shots behind first-round leader J.D. Anderson. McCoy’s second-round 67 moved him into a tie for fourth, four shots behind leader Jake Weissenburger , two back of Dusty Drenth and one back of Anderson.

“I figured I’d need a 7-under round to have a chance,” McCoy said, who ran off four straight birdies starting at No. 5, only to have a bogey at No. 9 slow his charge.

Drenth (left), playing in the day’s final pairing, made a serious move to the top of the leaderboard. He also shot a front-nine 33 and added a birdie at the 11th to jump to 12 under par. McCoy, a pairing in front of Drenth, went to the par-4 12th hole, a 392-yard dogleg left, at 9 under par.

Everything changed with one swing of McCoy’s pitching wedge. He holed it from 113 yards out for eagle. It was an uphill shot, so no one immediately knew it went it. But Mike had an inkling.

“He thought it was in right away,” Nate said. “I was thinking, “Well, I hope it’s not over. We walked up there and I saw my pitch mark, but not the ball. My heart jumped a little bit. I thought it was probably over.”

But Olson, one of his playing partners, looked in the hole and smiled.

“He came over and gave me a fist pump,” Nate said. “That was pretty cool.”

Soon after McCoy hit the green at the par-3 13th hole, and Drenth hit his approach to the 12th green some 40 feet below the hole, sirens sounded and play was suspended because of an approaching storm.

When the championship resumed, 1 hour and 57 minutes later, Drenth lost his momentum.

He 3-putted the 12th for bogey. Uncertain about the speed of the greens after the rain, he left his birdie attempt short and power-lipped his par attempt.

Then at the 13th, his tee shot hit a cart path and found the water, and he made double bogey.

He hit a good shot into the 14th but settled for par. Then he stood and watched from a distance as McCoy eagled the 486-yard par-5 15th.

“And now I’m four down,” said Drenth, who tied for fifth with Chad McCarty after a closing 72. “It wasn’t my time. That’s what I’m going to tell myself. I played great all tournament.”

In 1996, Mike McCoy eagled the 15th when he made a downhill 20-foot eagle putt to get the lead for the first time.

Nate’s drive on that hole found the right rough, but he hit a 6-iron that reached the green, seemed to stop for a moment and then caught the slope that dissects the putting surface and stopped 5 feet above the hole. He made the dicey eagle putt and was on his way to victory.

After a scrambling par from a fairway bunker on the 16th and a bogey at the par-3 17th, Nate hit a perfect drive on the closing dogleg left par-4 hole. When he hit an 8-iron the 8 feet left of the cup, Olson was the first to congratulate him with another fist pump and a pat on the back.

And Mike thought back to 1996.

“This time, I didn’t have to hit a shot,” Mike said. “Nate was playing so well, I didn’t feel too much pressure. It’s pretty neat for him to win here.”

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After an hour rain delay this morning in Iowa City at Finkbine Golf Course, Clive’s Jake Weissenburger (above) kept the putter hot during round two of the 122nd Iowa Amateur.

Weissenburger carded another impressive 67 (-5) and is leading by two. He played the course almost mistake free even with the wet conditions.

“The course had a little softer greens, fairways, and the greens were rolling well considering the overnight rain,” Weissenburger said.

His focus was to play today’s round one shot at a time which helped him to card six birdies.

“I kept the mistakes to a minimum, other than the bad bogey on nine, I played really well and kept it to a shot at a time,” Weissenburger added.

Sitting two shots back in solo second is Dusty Drenth from Davenport. Drenth put together a sparkling bogey-free 66 (-6). He credited his round today to solid play.

“Honestly my game was solid. I made a few mistakes, drove the ball really well, and putted solid. My lag putting along with making the needed putts was there,” Drenth said.

With the heavy early morning rains, officials determined to play lift, clean, and place in the fairways. Drenth knew he could take advantage of that.

“I had to play aggressive today and make sure to hit the fairway so I could clean my ball,” Drenth added.

Going into the final round Drenth knows he has to make some birdies.

“Jake has played really solid today and yesterday and you know he is going to be making birdies tomorrow. So I will continue to play aggressive and make birdies,” Drenth said.

Sitting in solo third is first round leader J.D. Anderson from Johnston. Anderson was unable to capture the spark he had on day one, but still managed another under par round, with a 71 (-1). He sits three shots shy of the lead at -7 for 36 holes.

Going into the final round Anderson knows he has to make up some ground.

“I am going to have to be aggressive, nobody is going to back up and this course has a lot of birdie opportunities,” Anderson said.

Play for the final round will begin starting at 7:30 on #1 and #10 tee.

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Finkbine Golf Course, located in Iowa City, is the host of the 122nd Iowa Amateur and the opening round of play was one for the book…and low scores

J.D. Anderson (above), of Johnston, fired a very impressive 66 (-6) and leads the field. Anderson credited his round to hitting fairways and making putts. 

“I drove the ball really well today and hit fairways, which helped me hit greens,” Anderson said.

Anderson had a bogey free round today and tallied up six birdies.

“I made a couple of 10-15 footers for birdie,” Anderson said. “You have to know where the right spot is to hit the ball on the greens. A 30 footer on the right spot is better than a 10 footer on the wrong spot.”

All carding 67s (-5) is a fierce group of four guys all wanting a piece of the lead. Among the four guys is LeClaire’s own Jack Dumas, West Des Moines’ Tanner Dinnebier, Clive resident Jake Weissenburger, and Bennett Berger from Lake Mills.

Jake Weissenburger has had a summer to remember already. The recent winner of the Des Moines Men’s City tournament contested at Waveland Golf Course, Weissenburger credited today’s round to his putter.

“I putted really well today, made a lot of putts and just kept giving myself looks,” Weissenburger said.

Weissenburger racked up a total of eight birdies on the day, five of which were on the back nine. Headed into tomorrow’s round Weissenburger wants to continue the same game he played today.

“I am going to try not to change anything with the putter and avoid the spots I put myself into that led to bogeys,” Weissenburger also added.

Lake Mills very own Bennett Berger kept his cool which led to five birdies and an eagle on the card today.

“I had some pretty poor shots in there, but I just kept my cool and got it back into position which led to getting it up and down on a couple,” Berger said.

Berger started on the back nine, but capitalized on a couple bad shots on the front nine which led to great things.

“I hit a bad chip on number two and made about an 18-footer for birdie up the hill,” he said. “I felt like that was the putt that kept the round going.”

Round two will continue Monday morning, with tee times starting at 7:30 off holes #1 and #10.

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