The Class of 2022 Iowa Golf Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will
take place at the Wakonda Club in Des Moines on Friday, May 13th

The Iowa Golf Hall of Fame will induct three members at this year’s ceremony. The Class of 2022 inductees includes Barb (Bubany) Berkmeyer, Mark Egly, and Charles Pribble. The Iowa Golf Hall of Fame will now have 92 total members that have helped shape Iowa Golf. The new inductees will be recognized with a plaque in the Iowa Golf Association’s office and their accomplishments will be highlighted on our website.

Click here to read more about Barb, Mark, Charles and their accomplishments

The basic schedule for the ceremony will include a social hour with food starting at 6:00 p.m. The induction should begin around 7:00 p.m. and finish approximately at 8:30 p.m.

Immediate family members of the inductees are guests of the Iowa Golf Association and they do not need to pay for a ticket to attend the event. This includes parents, spouses, children and grandchildren.

The cost for a ticket to the event will be $60/person and can be purchased online.

The deadline to sign up for the public is May 3rd. You can click here to sign up to attend, or you can call the Iowa Golf Association office at 515-207-1062.

Congratulations to each inductee and welcome to the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame!

SIGN UP TO ATTEND THE CEREMONY

John Nervig stands in front of the venerable Iowa Masters scoreboard, where each player’s hole-by-hole scores are displayed. This summer, Nervig will be part of his 70th Iowa Masters, as a competitor, tournament director and honorary official.

A Masterful Performance

When Ames native John Nervig first teed it up in the Iowa Masters golf tournament, Harry S. Truman was completing his second term in the Oval Office, a polio epidemic was gripping the United States and gasoline averaged $.20 cents per gallon.

This summer, the 85^th edition of the Iowa Masters will be contested at Veenker Memorial Golf Course in Ames. Remarkably, Nervig has been part of the action for 70 of those events, first as a player, followed by a tournament director/co-director and now as an honorary official.

The 86-year-old Nervig first played the Masters in 1952. Starting in 1958, he reeled off 50 consecutive years of playing in the tournament, a record that stands alone today. He has the distinction of participating in 52 overall Iowa Masters events, a record he shares with long-time friend and former Iowa State Cyclone basketball and broadcasting legend Gary Thompson.

“There’s something special about the Iowa Masters golf tournament,” said Nervig. “It’s a combination of a challenging golf course, great tradition, well-run tournament featuring volunteers and staff who love the game and players who love to compete and renew the great friendships developed over the years.”

John Nervig poses with his hometown friend and long-time Iowa Masters tournament co-director, the late George Turner.

Established in 1938, long-time Iowa State Sports Information Director Harry Burrell capably managed the Iowa Masters for 40 years. In 1988, Burrell turned the reins over to Nervig and his fellow Ames native and good friend George Turner. Together, they co-directed the tournament for more than 30 years until Turner’s passing in 2019. They formed an extraordinary tournament staff, including clubhouse manager Tess Balsley, club professional Greg Dingel, former greenskeeper John Newton and the late Jerry Martinson, volunteer chair who also served as co-director for many years. A veteran committee included the likes of Mike Casey, Mike Purcell, Sean Flanders, Grant Walker and the late Jim Curell. On the tournament’s 75^th anniversary, and in recognition of decades of service, Turner and Nervig received honorary life memberships to Veenker.

One of Nervig’s proudest achievements in his seven decades of involvement in the Iowa golf scene is being named the 2011 recipient of the George Turner Distinguished Service Award by the Iowa Golf Association.

“It was a fantastic honor to receive this award named after my great friend,” Nervig said. “All of the friends I have made through my years of volunteering have more than paid me back for the hours I have given.”

He also served several years as a member of the IGA Board, including President from 1985-87. In addition to playing many rounds with the iconic Turner, they also formed an intramural basketball team in the early 1950’s that scrimmaged the Iowa State freshmen squad during those days when first-year players were ineligible for varsity competition.

Nervig notes several changes over the years, both in the course layout and the tournament format.

“Veterans recall the tiny clubhouse and holes one and eighteen set apart from the rest of the course,” he noted. “Then the 13^th Street road project came through that caused some hole redesign.”

Also gone are the five-hour plus rounds, aided by more volunteers, spotters, and a reduction of the field from 224 players to 156 players.

Although he played golf as a youngster, making many trips around Ames’s 9-hole Homewood layout, it took a significant health issue to reroute Nervig’s primary interest. He was a founding member of the Ames Merchants fast-pitch softball team and was a solid hitting and fielding third baseman. As a young man, Nervig was stricken with a case of Colitis, serious enough to cause a three-week hospital stay in Iowa City and two major re-sectioning surgeries. The subsequent Crohn’s Disease caused some life changes, including giving up softball. He turned his full attention to golf.

“I really didn’t think I’d live to see 30 years of age,” Nervig said. “But the silver lining in all this was the fabulous connections made through the game of golf.”

Nervig was a highly competitive golfer, winning three Ames City Championships and charting a pair of top 10 finishes at the Masters, including a 54-hole total of two-over par 218 in 1972. He also claimed at least 20 titles during the now bygone era of small town one-day golf tournaments, capturing titles in places like Nevada, Jewell, Story City and Ackley, where he once fired an 18-hole score of 59. Nervig was among the favorites in those venues, except when Eldora’s Ivan Miller was in the field. Billed as “The King of the Minnows” for winning more than 100 of such events, Miller was recently inducted into the Iowa Golf Association Hall of Fame.

“When Ivan was in town, we all knew we were playing for second,” Nervig recalled.

Nervig retired in the year 2000 following a 42-year career with the Iowa Department of Transportation in Ames. He and his wife, Patti, raised three sons.

He offers this parting advice.

“The game of golf is a lot like the game of life. You have far more good days than bad days and just give it your best effort.”

“Up and Down” the Iowa Golf Scene

A regular feature column written by IGA Foundation board member Mark Gambaiana, Up and Down the Iowa Golf Scene is designed to take the reader beyond the headlines and scoreboards to share stories of those who help make Iowa golf so rich and rewarding. Profiles will spotlight those who advance the game through volunteerism, service, extraordinary achievement, competition, human interest and the many other dimensions of golf in Iowa.

James (Jim) Michael Grinaldi, age 69, originally from North Canton, OH and current resident of West Des Moines, passed away in the late evening of January 23, 2022. He was born on April 17, 1952. Jim was a graduate of Oakwood High School in North Canton, OH and received a B.A. in Business from Wilmington College, also in Ohio.

Jim had many interests, but few were he as passionate about as golf. Jim began golfing in high school, but his love for the sport grew throughout his years as a single father and even more so when he found his partner in golf and life, Cathi. He was a member of the Des Moines Golf and Country Club and proudly volunteered for the Iowa Golf Association Golf Course Rating Team. Jim held special appreciation for many other games, including bridge, bocce and billiards, but would play just about anything if he valued the company. He enjoyed traveling, tasting different foods, listening to music, hearing the perspective of others and just experiencing life. Jim cherished his family and was happiest when they could all be together.

A Celebration of Life will be held in Jim’s honor at the West Des Moines Golf and Country Club on Sunday, April 2, 2022. Click the link below for further information.

http://iowagolf.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Celebration-letter..pdf

The Iowa Golf Hall of Fame will add three members in 2022, bringing the total number in the Hall of Fame to 92. Those three include Barbara (Bubany) Berkmeyer, Mark Egly and Charles Pribble.

The Iowa Golf Hall of Fame “Class of 2022” is set to be enshrined on Friday, May 13, at Wakonda Club in Des Moines. The Iowa Golf Hall of Fame will add three members in 2022, bringing the total number in the Hall of Fame to 92.

Click here to register to attend – $60/person

Barbara (Bubany) Berkmeyer

Barbara (Bubany) Berkmeyer’s success on the golf course goes back over six decades.

Born in Fort Madison, Berkmeyer began swinging the club at age four, under the watchful eye of her father, Frank. There was no doubt she was destined to become an accomplished player.

After moving in 1952 to Ottumwa, Berkmeyer continued to hone her golf skills by playing across the state. At age 10, Berkmeyer participated in the 1954 Southeast Iowa Women’s Championship, an event that attracted the best female golfers from Iowa, Missouri, Kansas and Illinois. Within a few years she was a consistent top-five finisher at the event, winning the overall title in 1965, with runner-up finishes in 1964 and 1966. Her career as an amateur golfer was off and running.

Following stops in Davenport and ultimately in St. Louis, MO, Berkmeyer, who was already an accomplished player in her home-state of Iowa, began to make a name for herself in Missouri. Soon after arriving, Berkmeyer captured the 1962 St. Louis Women’s District Golf Association Junior Girls’ Championship, which helped earn her the first women’s athletic scholarship in the history of the University of Missouri, regardless of sport.

At the age of 21, Berkmeyer, won the first of her five (1965, 1970, 1974, 1975 and 1984) Missouri Women’s Golf Association State Championships. Many more tournament wins followed, while always crediting her Iowa golf pedigree to her success.

“The swing my dad taught me back at Fort Madison Country Club has served me well,” Berkmeyer once said. “I learned how to play the game and compete growing up in Iowa. That experience was invaluable.”

Berkmeyer has competed in a total of 11 USGA Championships over her playing career, including five Women’s Amateurs, two Mid-Amateurs and four Senior Women’s Amateurs. She finished runner-up in the 2002 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur and made it to the Round of 16 in 1999 and 2000. She was the runner-up of the 2002 Canadian Ladies National Senior Championship and she has won the Missouri Senior Women’s Amateur title 13 times.

As a full-time middle school teacher for 25 years, Berkmeyer has been inducted into the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame, Missouri Sports Hall of Fame and the University of Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.

“Her respect, kindness, courage and talent are second to none,” Jim Holtgrieve, two-time Walker Cup Captain said. “Barbara is an absolute perfect role model for the future of women’s golf.”

Mark Egly

Mark Egly has been teaching and, more importantly, introducing golfers to the game for over 40 years.

It would be very difficult to put a number on the golfers that Egly has helped and influenced in his teaching. Egly has been named Iowa PGA Teacher of the year seven times, including 2021. He has received countless awards from Golf Range Magazine and Golf Digest for his teaching accomplishments.

Egly is also an accomplished player in his own right, having won the 1988 Iowa PGA Match Play Championship, 1990 Iowa Open Championship, and numerous Iowa PGA events when he was coming up as a player. After suffering from an injury in a car accident, Mark has since changed to help golf games of others throughout his teaching career.

“I have known Mark for over 30 years, and rarely have I seen anyone with his passion for teaching the game,” Iowa Golf Hall of Fame member Ken Schall said. “I travelled with Mark often in our younger years playing in mini tour events and state opens. He was always a force to be reckoned with. What I am most impressed with is his positive influence with junior golfers. Mark has donated his practice facility and his time to the First Tee of Central Iowa for many years now.”

Egly’s teaching resume can be stacked up against anyone – as he was the lead instructor at Des Moines Golf & Country Club in 1979, Willow Creek Golf Course from 1980-84 and Des Moines Driving Range from 1994 to present day, taking ownership in 2002.

“Mark has taught thousands of golf lessons and has become renowned with helping high school golfers and many times at little or no charge,” Iowa Golf Hall of Fame member Jeff Smith said. “Over the past 20 years Mark has been recognized for nearly 40 awards.”

Egly’s lessons don’t just end with the fundamentals of golf.

“More importantly, the legacy that Mark leads leaves an impression on the lives of others and encourages them to do the same,” former student Victoria Grasso said. ”Mark is one of the reasons why I have chosen to pursue a career in coaching women’s college golf, as I desire to help make a difference in the lives of others just as Mark has done for every person that he has taught.”

It has been said that no one has given away more free range balls than Mark Egly. It’s safe to say not many have helped grow the game more than him either.

Charles Pribble

Charles (Charlie) Pribble was ahead of his time – plain and simple.

With stops as Head Golf Superintendent at Quincy (IL) Country Club, Sunnyside Country Club and Airport National Golf Course, Pribble always had time to help his fellow superintendent, regardless of their location.

“He mentored numerous young men who also became first class superintendents,” Iowa Golf Hall of Fame member Steve Tyler said. “Being very innovative, I believe Charlie was the first to ever grind the back of a greens mower bed knife off to get to a .10 inch cutting height. Toro, Jacobsen and others then saw the need for this and began to manufacture them for general use. He also took a poorly-constructed Sunnyside CC and made it into one of the best in Iowa.”

Pribble was also an irrigation expert, being one of the first to understand the hydraulics of irrigation and system design. He designed many systems and advised on numerous irrigation projects for other superintendents.

“I will always believe that my career was shaped very strongly by the hours I spent talking with Charlie in those first days as a Superintendent,” former Iowa Turfgrass Institute Executive Director Jeff Wendel said. “Charlie spared his time without expectation or payment.”

Pribble, who was the IGCSA President in 1979, Superintendent of the Year in 1984, was awarded the Distinguished Service Award in 2007 and Meritorious Service Award in 2008, was truly a one of a kind superintendent. 

“No matter how unorthodox or out of the box his methods might have been, he got the job done with the money and budget he had to work with,” Iowa Golf Hall of Fame member Rick Tegtmeier said.

Iowa PGA Executive Director Greg Mason may of said it best in regards to Pribble.

“Pribble’s accomplishments cannot just be placed on a piece of paper,” Mason said. “Talk with the people that have served with him in association work or like me as a friend and colleague in the game of golf, work and life. We all saw it first-hand. Whether he was yelling at you or laughing at you, you always knew he was pulling for you to succeed. There is no telling how many people ‘Pribbs’ has touched in his profession in terms of wisdom and guidance on items related to their facilities.”

The Iowa Golf Hall of Fame is administered by the Iowa Golf Association on behalf of all golf organizations in and around the state, such as the Iowa Section PGA and the Iowa Golf Course Superintendents Association.

The nomination and induction process consists of two committees, the Nominating Committee and the Voting Committee. The Nominating Committee determines the eligibility of nominees submitted by the general public as well as identifies individuals to nominate. They finalize the ballot. The Voting Committee has the task of researching and studying those on the ballot and casting votes for induction. The Voting Committee consists entirely of individuals who are current members of the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame.

Michelle Klein (right), of Jesup, is this year’s IGA Sean Flanders Volunteer of the Year Award recipient.

Klein continues to give up countless hours of her free time to help benefit many IGA endeavors including serving on the IGA’s Board of Directors, Communications Committee Women’s Rules & Competitions Sub-Committee, Herman Sani Scholarship Selection Committee and Ann Griffel Scholarship Selection Committee.

Klein has also assumed the role the last few years as a Junior Girls’ 4-State Co-Captain and serves as a mentor to many young junior golfers.

“Michelle is always there when you need help with something,” Clint Brown, Director of Marketing and Communications said. “I have known Michelle for many years and her enthusiasm for the game of golf in Iowa is second to none. She donates so much time to various committees, not to mention the IGA Board of Directors, I can’t imagine how many hours of her time she has given up for the betterment of the association and the future of golf here in the state. She is one of the best.”

It should be noted that, while not specific to 2021, Klein’s efforts were incredible in the face of trouble – as she helped secure a location for the 2020 IGA Women’s Club Team when Elmcrest CC was hit by the ‘Derecho’.

Klein will be recognized during a ceremony at Glen Oaks Country Club in West Des Moines on Friday, Dec. 17.

Click here to download a video of Klein being surprised by the announcement at at recent IGA Board Meeting.

Michelle Klein (right) pictured with Four-Ball partner Kelly Nelson. Klein will be recognized during a ceremony at Glen Oaks Country Club in West Des Moines on Friday, Dec. 17.

Scott Fjelstul (right), Luther College men’s golf coach, has been named this year’s George Turner Distinguished Service Award recipient for his years of service to the game of golf. He will be recognized during a ceremony at Glen Oaks Country Club in West Des Moines on Dec. 17.

Fjelstul, a 1983 graduate of Luther College, has been the head coach for the Norse for over 34 years, has led the Norse to five of Luther’s 11 conference titles (1997, 1999, 2008, 2016, 2017) and has had five teams qualify for the National Tournament (1996 [T13], 1997 [12th], 2008 [21st], 2016 [T33], 2017 [T29]).

His teams have finished first or second in the Iowa Conference 17 of the past 27 years and has been named Iowa Conference (now American Rivers Conference) Coach of the Year a record 10 times (1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2016, 2017) and was named the NCAA Division III District 5 Coach of the Year in 1996.

Collectively, 50 student-athletes have earned 80 all-conference honors, including six conference Most Valuable Players, six All Americans and 31 Golf Coaches Association of American Academic All-Americans during his tenure.

“Coach Scott Fjelstul has been the face of Luther Men’s Golf for nearly 35 years,” Andrew Peter, a former player for Fjelstul said. “His professionalism, work ethic and passion for the game are qualities that have made him an ideal leader and mentor at Luther College and in the college golf community. Speaking from my personal experience, Scott and his players welcomed me with open arms when I enrolled at Luther as a transfer student-athlete in 2012, and I will be forever grateful for the relationships built and memories shared during my two years playing for him. Coach went to great lengths to ensure that our experience as student-athletes was entirely positive, and he served an important role in helping me and my teammates mature to become quality young men.”

Dan Hammes, Commissioner American Rivers Conference, also had high praise for Fjelstul.

“As with the game of golf, Scott Fjelstul is an individual of honor and integrity, demonstrated through his 34-plus years of successfully leading student-athletes on and off the golf course,” Hammes said. “Scott’s impact and dedication to his student-athletes, Luther College, the conference, and the game of golf have been remarkable. When you consider the time he has devoted and the totality of people he has impacted, Scott has established and continues to build an incredible legacy.”

The Iowa Golf Association named its distinguished service award after Turner in 2003. His name value runs beyond state borders. Turner qualified for and played in the 1981, 1984 and 1993 U.S. Senior Open and the 1988, 1990 and 1991 U.S. Senior Amateur. Off the course, George has been an Iowa Golf Association volunteer for decades, helping run numerous events. George and John Nervig took over operations of the Iowa Masters from the late Harry Burrell 20 years ago. It’s not an official Iowa Golf Association event unless George Turner was somewhere on the course! (Courtesy of Rick Brown)