On Friday, October 26, the IGA Board of Directors named recipients of the 2018 Annual Awards in six categories. We are pleased to announce this year’s honorees.

9-Hole Superintendent – Chris Steffen, Tipton Golf & Country Club
Chris Steffen, of Tipton Golf & Country Club, has been named the 2018 IGA 9-Hole Superintendent of the Year.

Steffen, who became Superintendent at Tipton G&CC in 2006, grew up on the course. Without question it, along with the community, has always held a special place in his heart. Steffen has always put much attention to detail and thought into subtle ways he could improve the course.

Faced with a challenging year weather-wise in 2018, Steffen is credited by membership of keeping the course and its playing surface in great shape. In addition to his daily duties as superintendent, Steffen, for the past five years, has helped organize and run a junior golf program at the club. This program has been a huge success, growing every year. In 2018, a total of 66 junior golfers took part in the program.

“Chris wants golf to grow at Tipton Golf & Country Club,” one nomination read. “He wanted to do his part in getting kids interested in the game. In addition to that, he is single-handedly responsible for raising $150,000 (over the past three years) for the new clubhouse fund. None of this would be happening without Chris’ passion for his community and his club.”

18-Hole Superintendent – Dean Sparks, Davenport Country Club
Dean Sparks, of Davenport Country Club, is the 2018 IGA 18-Hole Superintendent of the Year.

Sparks, who began his duties at Davenport CC in March of 2014, recently oversaw and executed a renovation of the golf course, which included the removal of over 500 trees. His ability to communicate and educate members throughout the process was noted many times in his letters of recommendation. It was noted that his communication to the membership has been and will continue to be of significance as they move forward.

From the beginning of the renovations at DCC, Sparks indicated it would be a process of focusing first on issues with larger playability and visual impact, then addressing the smaller but often labor-intensive details the membership expected. Once the larger challenges were met, the detail work would become part of the ongoing routine.

Sparks’ ability to manage the transition from the course renovation to on-going operations has been applauded. One member commented that it was during that process that Sparks has shown his management and professional skills beyond those of a project manager. Another DCC member commented that “Sparks was able to achieve the massive course renovation in an unheard of time frame. It was completed on budget due to his ability to organize and delegate the duties efficiently”.

“Many skeptics have been converted to believers since the (2015) full course renovation due to Dean’s ability to educate the membership, me included,” Tim Smith, DCC Greens and Ground Chairman said.

9-Hole Course of the Year – Tara Hills Country Club (Van Horne)
The IGA 9-Hole Course of the Year in 2018 is Tara Hills Country Club in Van Horne.

Tara Hills Country Club, located in eastern Iowa, is nestled into 60 acres of what used to be farmland. The course annually draws praise and rave reviews for its quality and consistency, especially its green surfaces. In addition to its condition, Tara Hills CC conducts a strong and successful ‘Golf Academy’ for junior golfers in the area. In 2018, over 60 juniors took part in the program. Tara Hills CC was also supported and was involved in the Youth on Course efforts with the IGA, offering a discounted rate to junior golfers during specified times.

Tara Hills CC also has a dedicated tree planting program, whereby they nurture seedlings or transplant to replace and increase the tree population each year. The club, which is highly reliant on volunteer effort from its membership, took on projects recently to replace windows and a major kitchen remodel at the clubhouse. ‘Bat Boxes’ were also installed recently at the club to help assist with bug control on the course and to ensure a pleasant experience for those visiting and playing the course.

18-Hole Course of the Year – Beaver Hills Country Club (Cedar Falls)
Beaver Hills Country Club, in Cedar Falls, has been selected as the IGA 18-Hole Course of the Year.

Beaver Hills Country Club, which recently has hosted the 2017 Iowa Mid-Amateur Championship and the 2018 U.S. Amateur Sectional Qualifier, continues to draw words of praise by golfers from around the state for its condition as well as its overall atmosphere.

The club, which was founded in 1965, is set in a secluded spot where seemingly untouched wilderness is home to a fair, yet challenging, golf course. The Beaver Creek meanders throughout the picturesque course providing a home for many types of wildlife. Bentgrass fairways, tee boxes and greens are meticulously manicured, providing a beautiful setting for prairie flowers, butterflies and area wildlife.

Beaver Hills CC’s staff, including Club Manager Chad Hoffman, PGA Professional Brad Clark and Superintendent Josh Peterson, are all highly regarded professionals at their respective craft. Beaver Hills CC and its members (which totals nearly 400 individual IGA members) are always welcoming with open arms when the IGA brings events to town, and the course is a big draw to all players from around the state.

PGA Pro of the Year – John Shawver, Grinnell College Golf Course
John Shawver, of Grinnell College Golf Course, is the 2018 IGA’s PGA Professional of the Year.

With nearly 30 years of experience in the industry, Shawver has gained insight into grounds maintenance, pro shop sales and general operations of a golf course. And even more important, Shawver understands how all these areas connect and work together to form a successful facility.

Patrons who interact with Shawver will receive his undivided attention, good conversation and appreciation of your time. The staff and patrons of GCGC expressed in the nomination that his kindness is overlooked in the equation that makes up a great team member. His work and attention has led to wonderful growth at Grinnell College Golf Course. In 2018 alone, youth golf participation has more than doubled from 2017, the number of rounds are up almost 50% and officials at the club believe membership will increase next year from pupils that Shawver has introduced to the game.

Officials at GCGC credit Shawver with recruiting both traditional golfers and those who have never played the game to their course. Shawver cares greatly about playing and working on your game, but making sure you are having lots of fun at the same time. Shawver believes that it doesn’t matter what your swing plane looks like or what your spin rate is, if you aren’t having fun playing the game.

“That is how John goes about growing interest and participation in this game we call golf,” Shane Hart, GCGC Club Manager said. “This it why it makes him one of the greatest ambassadors (for golf in Iowa).

Club Manager of the Year – Russ Appel, Briggs Woods Golf Course (Webster City)
Russ Appel, of Briggs Woods Golf Course in Webster City, is the 2018 IGA Club Manager of the Year.

Since the spring of 1990 Russ Appel has been a familiar face at Webster City’s Briggs Woods Golf Course. More recently, Appel has been heavily involved with a multi-million dollar construction project at the club for a new conference center which is slated to be completed in early 2019. With Appel’s guidance the club has seen little disruption to its day-to-day activities at the golf course.

Appel, who also serves as superintendent at the 18-hole municipal facility, helped spearhead fundraising efforts for the project – with 100% of the work being paid from either donations or grants, including support from local government. The project, which began on a smaller scale, grew into a ‘community’ endeavor and will now include an 11,200 sq. ft. building with a full service kitchen, movable walls, high tech A/V system, large bathrooms and many other amenities that will serve 300-400 people.

With the construction of the new conference center, plus his duties as both superintendent and club manager, it’s hard to imagine just how busy Russ was during the 2018 season. But that hard work shows through to the golfers at Briggs Woods and the citizens of Webster City, as they will both be treated with a wonderful new facility next year.

But adding extra work, such as the conference center, does not come as a surprise to those who have been around Briggs Woods as long as Russ has. During his tenure at the course, Appel has oversaw the addition of the back nine holes, addition of several new tee boxes, construction of a new clubhouse and the addition of stay and play packages. It’s almost as if the man has no idea how to rest!

Iowa Golf Hall of Fame member Louis (Lou) King Jr., (right) who elevated the Amana Refrigeration brand worldwide, helped create one of the most significant events in Iowa sports history and founded a model golf rehabilitative programs for veterans, died Saturday evening at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City following a brief illness. He was 93.

In 1946-47, King enrolled at the University of Iowa, where he became starting quarterback for the Hawkeyes. After graduation, King declined a $500 offer to sign with the NFL Buffalo Bills for a $7,500 salary.

“I decided to make more money as a door-to-door salesman. I loved it,” he once said. After spending 10 years working for Pillsbury, he arrived at Amana Refrigeration in 1958.

King, who was inducted into the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame in 1993, advanced through sales, marketing and advertising at Amana, and was a member of its board and executive committee.

As Senior Vice President of Marketing at Amana Refrigeration, King helped create the Amana VIP Pro-Am Golf Tournament. In its time the event was one of the most popular Pro-Am tournaments in the country and was played at Finkbine Golf Course in Iowa City from 1968 to 1990.

King served as Executive Director of the PGA of America from 1982 through 1987.

In 2007 King, who is a WWII veteran, founded the Golf for Injured Veterans Everywhere (GIVE) Foundation. GIVE works with members of the Iowa Section PGA to provide a four-phase golf program for those who use the Iowa City VA Hospital. King served as the first president of the GIVE Foundation.

Click here to read more from the Cedar Rapids Gazette

Click here to read more Bob Denney, PGA Historian, about King

Phil Joselyn (pictured above), 80, of Fort Dodge, passed away on Thursday, October 4. Joselyn was proud supporter of the Iowa Golf Association and active participant for many years in its championships. His positive attitude and ever-present smile will be missed at our events.

Phil Joselyn

Joselyn, who won the 1960 Fort Dodge Amateur, served as President of the IGA from April 1989 through April 1991. Joselyn also served as honorary captain of the IGA’s Iowa Cup team in 2013. Joselyn served the USGA for 20 years on the Sectional Affairs committee from 1990-2004, then Regional Affairs committee from 2004-2010.

Fort Dodge Senior High’s annual boys golf invitational at the Fort Dodge Country Club is named after Joselyn, who won the individual state crown in 1955.

A memorial service will be announced at a later date. Laufersweiler Funeral Home in Fort Dodge is handling the arrangements.

Phil Joselyn – Celebration of Life
Click above for details

The Iowa Golf Association and the entire golf community in and around the state wish to express our sincere condolences to the family and friends of Celia Barquin Arozamena. She was an outstanding amateur golfer with a terrific career ahead of her.

In addition to Celia’s family and friends, we cannot help but think about everyone in the Iowa State men’s & women’s golf programs, the ISU athletics department, and the members and staff at Coldwater Golf Links. To have this type of unspeakable, senseless tragedy happen on a golf course, where we all have spent so much time, makes it that much worse. Please keep all those affected by this tragedy in your thoughts and prayers.

Late yesterday, it was made public that the family has established an official memorial fund. It is named the “Remembering Celia Memorial Fund” and those monies will be directed to Celia’s family to be used to honor her memory. We realize many of you did not know Celia personally, however, as a golfer, you are probably still feeling some connection. We thought to send out information on ways to express your sympathy and thoughts was appropriate.

If you wish to contribute monetarily, checks should be made payable to the “Remembering Celia Memorial Fund” and directed to:
First National Bank
c/o Remembering Celia Memorial Fund
405 Fifth Street
Ames, IA 50010.

IGA staff has spoken with ISU representatives and have learned that while the family would appreciate any donations to the above fund, reading memorials or memories about Celia is really what would mean the most to them. Even if you did not know her personally (which is most of us), we are all golfers and share the connection of the love & passion for the game that she certainly had, so even a note expressing sympathy from a fellow golfer would be more than appropriate and much appreciated.

In this regard, the cards or letters can be sent in her memory to:
Remembering Celia
P.O. Box 46
Ames IA 50010

Finally, consider the next time you play a round of golf, just take a moment to think about Celia and how much she loved and cherished the game. We are certain her, her friends and her family would appreciate that.

Best in golf,

-IGA Board of Directors & Staff

Narrated by Iowa Golf Hall of Fame member Zach Johnson, fellow Iowan Ian Johnston (pictured above) is being featured on CBS Sports. The feature tells an inspiring story about Johnston’s crusade against the opioid crisis that directly impacted him and his family.

Click here to view the video from CBS Sports.

After South Africa’s Ian Snyman became the first international player to claim the Northwest Amateur Tournament crown a year ago, Jackson Kalz (right) continued the trend during a water logged, 96th edition of the tournament, finishing at 12-under par to take the title by three strokes.

The 18-year-old Adelaide, Australia native entered Sunday’s championship flight in a tie for the lead with 50-year-old Jon Brown, of Adel, at 7-under par after both players shot identical first and second rounds of 69 and 68.

Click here to read more courtesy of the Spencer Daily Reporter.

Click here for a recap of scoring

Have you noticed your home course’s turf suffering a bit more in 2018 than in previous years?  If you haven’t, you are one of the lucky ones.  Dr. Adam Thoms of Iowa State explains why this has been an especially difficult year for our playing surfaces in Iowa.

SPECIAL REPORT FROM DR. ADAM THOMS, Ph.D. Iowa State University

What a year for turfgrass in Iowa.

Has the turfgrass on your local golf course been on your mind this summer? We have had one of the hardest growing seasons for turfgrass so far this season. As the Turfgrass Extension Specialist for Iowa, I have had more calls and emails about turfgrass this year than in my previous time combined.

This spring we had one of the coldest April’s on record. In parts of the state we had snow cover for the majority of the month. The low temperature’s also slowed the creeping bentgrass from breaking winter dormancy. The delayed start for the creeping bentgrass allowed annual bluegrass to get an early competitive advantage in growth. Less than 30 days after the last snow melt we had 90 degree temperatures with high humidity. Typically in the spring turfgrass will spend a lot of energy both growing above ground tissue and below ground roots. Due to the low April temperatures the roots did not develop as well as they have should have, making the early high temperatures extra hard on the golf course.

Moisture was also very prevalent in May and early June for parts of the state. The regular soaking of the golf courses also kept the roots more shallow than traditionally we like to see them. During a dry spring a superintendent can push the roots deeper by watering deeply and infrequently, however when it rains regularly the roots do not need to go deep into the soil in search of water. Many courses saw large rains, which added to the monthly totals but had much of the rain run off rather than infiltrate into the soil. Those golf courses that saw flooding also saw 90 degree temperatures, which caused a loss of oxygen in the rootzone killing the turfgrass and leaving a layer of silt in the soil. The excessive amount of water in May and June also has created perfect conditions for crabgrass, and in many cases it has caused preemergent herbicides for crabgrass to fail. Due to wet conditions some superintendents have also missed fertility applications, leaving weak turf until those applications could be made.

July so far has been very dry for much of the state, with many of the days above average. With the shallow turfgrass roots drought showed up very quickly. The annual bluegrass (Poa annua) also had more shallow roots than normal, and the low moisture and high temperature stress of early July caused much damage to these plants as well. High humidity was also present for much of June and July, this added disease pressure for extended periods adding to the already stressed turfgrass, which we typically only see for a few days at a time.

This also shows the importance of having sound resources for golf course superintendent’s to utilize during growing seasons like this one. Iowa State University Extension is a great resource, which provides a Turfgrass Specialist to help with diagnosing and troubleshooting problems. Another very helpful resource is the Iowa Golf Course Superintendents Association, this network of superintendents can provide resources and support to help during stressful growing seasons and continuing education for the superintendents. The good news is that cooler temperatures were here for a few days, and fall is on its way with recovery for most cool-season turfgrasses. Finally, keep in mind that damage is done, and it will take some time and better growing conditions to recover.

Sincerely,

Adam Thoms, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Commercial Turfgrass
Iowa State University

The Cedar Valley Jaycees’ Greater Waterloo Open Golf Classic is Iowa’s largest and oldest professional golf tournament. Established in 1933, the Waterloo Open (as it is commonly known) is organized and run by a volunteer committee of Cedar Valley Jaycees members, with assistance from the Waterloo Leisure Services department and the PGA Professionals at the three Waterloo public golf courses. Every year, the Waterloo Open hosts nearly 400 amateur and professional golfers from all across the world.

Click here to follow the action all weekend