Jennie (Arseneault) Jackson relaxes on the golf course with her daughters Ava and Maya. Arseneault stays in touch with the game by serving as an instructor and has helped coach seven central Iowa prep students to earn Division I golf scholarships.

Set goals, work hard to achieve them, and enjoy the ride

Fifteen years ago, Jennie (Arseneault) Jackson’s golf stock was soaring.

During a magical summer of 2006, the then 18-year-old made a strong run at the U.S. Women’s Amateur, reaching the quarterfinals by defeating future LPGA player Tiffany Joh and five-time Solheim Cup participant Carlota Ciganda in the process. Two weeks earlier, she participated in the 61st U.S. Women’s Open Championship won by Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam, joining a select group of amateur players who qualified.

Also that summer, Arseneault captured her third consecutive Iowa Women’s Amateur Championship at Des Moines Golf and Country Club by firing a 54-total of 210.

That fall, she headed back to the University of Virginia for her sophomore season. The sky seemed to be the limit for this former prep phenom who had prepared for this moment by attending two of the world’s top golf boarding academies as a teenager and building a national reputation with strong performances in several American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) tournaments.

At the age of 15, she burst onto the junior golf radar by firing a 67 in the first round of the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship in Fort Worth, TX. In 2005, she was named to the 12-member United States squad for the PING Junior Solheim Cup led by Morgan Pressel and contested at Bridgewater Club in Indiana, where the US team defeated Europe 16-8. She was named a second-team Rolex Junior All-American that year.

After a highly-decorated junior golf career, Jennie (Arseneault) Jackson went on to star at the University of Virginia.

Now as a collegian, Arseneault’s golf achievements kept mounting. She won the prestigious Women’s Western Golf Association Amateur Championship, was the qualifying medalist at the North and South Amateur Championship and finished tied for 34th at the NCAA Women’s Championship, all in 2008. She was a two-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference performer and honorable mention All-American.

Arseneault was on the doorstep of a budding professional golf career. But a back injury that first struck in 2007 and caused her to miss much of that season began to flare again and forced her to re-evaluate what had been a life-long ambition.

“From as far back as I can remember, my ambition was to play professional golf,” Arseneault said during a recent interview in her hometown of Grinnell.

“If I couldn’t make it on the LPGA Tour, then the next best was becoming a golf coach,” she said.

Upon graduation from the University of Virginia, Arseneault found herself at a crossroad. Her recurring back issues were becoming more frequent, and professional developmental playing opportunities for women were limited to the Futures Tour, where making ends meet without sponsorships or other financial backing would prove challenging.

She gave Plan B a try and became an assistant golf coach at the University of Oklahoma and Tulane University. After a few years, Arseneault grew weary of the travel and the compound effect of living and breathing golf for so long.

The Larry and Jennie (Arseneault) Jackson family pose for a photo outside their Grinnell home.

“Golf was my whole life for so many years,” she said. “I was spending at least six hours a day in my prime, playing, practicing, and working out to become to best player I possibly could be. I began to wonder what life would look like after golf.”

Enter Larry Jackson, a Dallas native and elite athlete in his own right. Jackson, a banking executive, scored 1,539 points during a four-year basketball career at Liberty University to rank among the school’s career scoring leaders. The couple would marry, raise a family, and relocate back to Grinnell. Today Arseneault enjoys her role as Mom to four daughters, Deja, who played Division I basketball at the University of Pennsylvania, Naomi, a third-year student and basketball player at Washington University in St. Louis, and Ava, 9 and Maya, 7 at home in Grinnell.

“I’m a mom first right now,” said Jennie, who works in the Office of Development and Alumni Relations at Grinnell College.

In her role as Alumni and Donor Relations Coordinator, she builds engagement and partnership opportunities with alumni athletes and works with the Grinnell College Athletics Hall of Fame.

Her competitive fires burned early, being raised in a family deeply rooted in athletics. Her father, David, was named basketball coach at Grinnell College in 1989, relocating the family from New Hampshire. David Arseneault’s Pioneer teams would attract national attention with its high-octane offense, shattering numerous NCAA Division III scoring records. Her brother, David, Jr., is now the head coach at Grinnell, and once held the national record for assists in a game at 34.

Arseneault was introduced to the game at age five and learned to play by completing hundreds of rounds at the 9-hole Grinnell College Golf Course. By junior high, she was shooting even par, and it became apparent that something special in the making. After her first year of high school, the family made a big decision. She was off to the International Junior Golf Academy in Hilton Head, SC, a high-performance golf boarding school that combines golf training with college preparatory academics.

There, she met instructor Hugh Royer III, a well-seasoned golf professional who played ten seasons on the PGA and Korn Ferry tours and won four times on the Korn Ferry Tour. Arseneault credits Royer for advancing her game to national heights. After two years in South Carolina, she received a scholarship to the world-renowned IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL for her prep senior season. Established in 1978, IMG is touted as the world’s largest and most advanced multi-sport training and educational facility that boasts Venus and Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Cam Newton, and Jimmy Butler as alumni. In golf, sisters Jessica and Nelly Korda and Paula Creamer are program alumna.

Arseneault stays in touch with the game by serving as an instructor and has helped coach seven central Iowa prep students to earn Division I golf scholarships. She has also volunteered with the Grinnell College women’s golf team. The Jacksons are members of Wakonda Club in Des Moines, and she plays occasionally.

Jennie has the following advice to junior golfers.

“Set goals, work hard to achieve them, and enjoy the ride,” she advised “But keep the big picture in mind as to what life looks like after golf. What are your long-term goals and how can athletics help you get there?”

“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.

Click the links below to read previous Up and Down features
– IGA Rules Official Sean Flanders
– R&A, USGA Champion Gene Elliott
– Nervig Reflects on Decades of Service to The Iowa Masters

The following IGA Member clubs have communicated with us they either are or will be open soon:

• A.H. Blank Golf Course (Des Moines) will be opening starting Tuesday, March 15.
• Amana Colonies Golf Club will be opening Friday, March 25th. Cart path only. Shoulder season rates. Tee times available at amanagolf.com.
• Bright-Grandview Golf Course (Des Moines) will be opening starting Tuesday, March 15.
• Brown Deer Golf Club (Coralville) is hoping to open Saturday, March 19. March Special rate will be in effect and likely cart path only for the first few weeks. Call for tee times starting Thursday, March 17 – (319) 248-9300.
• Cedar Creek Golf Course (Ottumwa) will be open for the Season WITH carts effective Tuesday March 15. Range will NOT open until the following week.
• Dodge Riverside Golf Club (Council Bluffs) is open. Currently cart path only. Off season rates currently.
• Duck Creek and Emeis (Davenport) will open this Sunday the 20th at 8:30 a.m., for walking only. It will probably be a few days before they are able to allow carts.
• Finkbine Golf Course has set their tentative open date for Friday, March 25.
• Fort Dodge Country Club is opening this Wednesday, March 16th. Open daily at 10 am. Range available with paid rounds. Spring rate – Greens Fee $44 Cart (per player/seat) $16.50 – Call (515) 955-8551.
• Jester Park Golf Course (Granger) will be opening starting Tuesday, March 15.
• Oakland Acres Golf Club (Grinnell) will be opening the course on Thursday, March 17. Early season pricing everyday (including weekends).
• Palmer Hills Golf Course (Bettendorf) will open Thursday, March 17.
• Pheasant Ridge and Walter’s Ridge – Par 3 (Cedar Falls) plans to open Saturday, March 18.
• Prairie Links Golf Course (Waverly) will be opening Wednesday, March 16, at 11:00 a.m.
• Rice Lake Golf & Country Club (Lake Mills) will open on Tuesday, April 4 for the season.
• River Valley Golf Course (Adel) will open Sunday, March 20. Call (515) 993-4029 for rates.
• Stone Creek Golf Club (Williamsburg) will open Friday, April 1st, and will be open from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., Mon.-Sun. the month of April.
• Terrace Hills Golf Course (Altoona) is open for the season.
• The Legacy Golf Club (Norwalk) will be open this week on Wednesday, March 16th through at least Thursday, March 24th.
• The Preserve on Lake Rathbun (Moravia) will open Thursday, March 17, with carts. Shoulder Season rates will be in effect. Call (641) 724 1400 for tee times.
• Tournament Club of Iowa (Polk City) s targeting March 25th as our opening date. Tee times can be made online only at tcofiowa.com.
• Treynor Recreation Area will open Wednesday, March 16 officially.
• Twin Pines Golf Course (Cedar Rapids) will open Tuesday, March 15. Hours 8 a.m. – dusk. Tee times are encouraged – Call (319) 286-5580. Carts in rough only.
• Veenker Memorial Golf Course (Ames) is opening for play this Wednesday, March 16/ Reservations can be made via phone (515) 294-6727 or through the website veenkergolf.com.
• Veterans Memorial Golf Club (Clear Lake) will be opening Thursday, March 17 for walking only to start.
• Wandering Creek Golf Club (Marshalltown) is on Wednesday, March 16, for walking only until the grounds dry up enough for carts.
• Washington Golf & Country Club will be looking to open on April 1, weather permitting.
• Waveland Golf Course (Des Moines) will be opening starting Tuesday, March 15.
• Westwood Golf Course (Newton) will open for play Wednesday morning, March 16, at 11 a.m. Tee times recommended. No cart restrictions. $26 for 18 holes including cart – Call (641) 792-3087.
• Woodland Hills Golf Course (Des Moines) will be opening March 15, with rates of $39 for 18 with cart and $37 when booked online this is 7 days a week while we are in spring rates.

Click here for more information on all of our member courses.

Be sure to check back for updates to this list!

Feel free to email [email protected] with
updates to your course/facility opening this year!

Written by Rick Brown, Iowa Golf Hall of Fame member

I don’t know how many rounds of golf I’ve watched Zach Johnson (right) and Mike McCoy (left) play during their distinguished careers. I do know it’s well into three figures.

And I don’t know how many stories I wrote about them during my time as the golf writer at the Des Moines Register. Again, it’s well into triple digits.

I chased them on golf courses for years, chronicling their success in Iowa, the United States, even Ireland. I covered them in a wide range of events, from the Sani to the Masters in Augusta.

They have been and always will be two of my favorites, for reasons that go beyond the fact that they were outstanding golfers and gave me plenty to write about. They are gentlemen golfers, humble and first class in every way. They never refused my interview request, and were always gracious with their time. They were, as the saying goes, Iowa Nice.

And as their list of accomplishments grew, they never forgot their golfing roots here in Iowa. They’ve always brought a bright spotlight to this state with their play. And the lights will shine even brighter in 2023.

Johnson will serve as captain of the United States Ryder Cup team in Rome. And McCoy will serve as captain of the Walker Cup team at St. Andrews.

“Can you believe that Iowans will captain the Ryder Cup and Walker Cup in the same year?” said Chad Pitts, executive director of the Iowa Golf Association.

This is a proud moment for Iowa, as well as the state’s underrated but robust golf community. Johnson’s 12 PGA victories include the 2007 Masters at Augusta and 2015 Open Championship at St. Andrews. He’s played on five Ryder Cup teams and had a winning record (8-7-2).

“He’ll do anything to help the team win, first of all,” said Davis Love III, the U.S. captain in 2012 and 2016. “He’s a great teammate. And he always plays well, too. Guys look up to him and respect him.”

Tom Lehman was Johnson’s first Ryder Cup captain, in 2006 at the K Club in Kildare, Ireland.

“It’s been fun to watch him play and cheer him on and be happy for all the things he’s accomplished,” Lehman said. “He’s come such a long way and done so much. If he was a really nasty person it would be pretty easy to not care so much. But because he’s such a great human being and such a wonderful guy, you feel like every success that comes to him, he deserves it.”

McCoy’s pinnacle achievement was winning the 2013 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship at Birmingham Country Club in Birmingham, Ala. That victory got him into the 2014 Masters.

A year later, McCoy’s distinguished national career was recognized when he was named to the 2015 Walker Cup team. Closer to home, Mike won the Iowa Amateur six times and has been the Iowa Golf Association’s Player of the Year 11 times.

McCoy will become the second native Iowan to serve as Walker Cup captain. Dr. Edgar Updegraff, who grew up in Boone, captained the 1975 team. That competition was also at St. Andrews. McCoy does know a little bit about St. Andrews. He played there in the 2018 Senior British Open.

Johnson and McCoy are two guys who cut their golfing teeth in the state at an early age, and then took a big bite out of the competition.

McCoy was 10 years old when he became a caddy at the Wakonda Club in Des Moines.

Caddies got to play on Monday. The pro at Wakonda at the time, Jack Webb, took McCoy under his wing. Bill Rose, another pro at Wakonda, later became McCoy’s instructor and helped him elevate his game.

Johnson was also introduced to golf at the age of 10, joining pro Larry Galdson’s junior program at Elmcrest Country Club in Cedar Rapids. Zach’s instructor during his high-level career, Mike Bender, is another Iowan. Webb, Rose, Gladson and Bender are all in the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame alongside McCoy and Johnson.

Johnson and McCoy’s success stories are anchored by hard work, and a bulldog mentality. Johnson was never the No. 1 on the golf team at Drake. When his college career ended, he had to decide whether to pursue professional golf or fall back on his business and marketing career.

He decided to give golf a try, since he’d experienced improvement every year and now had an opportunity to devote himself to the game on a full-time basis.

“Everything that came with being a professional golfer, I was willing and able to do it,” Johnson said.

Golf, not business and marketing, became his calling card and opened the door to a career that is taking him to the Ryder Cup in a third capacity. First as a player, then a vice-captain, and now captain.

Success wasn’t a given for McCoy on the golf course, either. Growing up on the south side of Des Moines, he’d carry his golf bag to the city bus stop, then catch a ride to the A.H. Blank course to play. He fought through some tough times early in his career. But as he improved, his zest for competition grew as well.

“You can always improve on something, and I did love the competition,” McCoy said. “I loved surprising myself. And I would beat players that were older than me and better than me. That kept me going right into college (at Wichita State). That’s when things started breaking free for me, and I could see myself becoming a good player.”

I had the good fortune to cover McCoy and Johnson at the 2014 Masters. It was a pinch-me moment, watching two of Iowa’s greatest players ever at one the game’s great shrines. It all came into focus on the Tuesday of tournament week, when Johnson and McCoy played the front nine together in a practice round..

I can still remember interviewing McCoy in a room outside Augusta National’s locker room after the second round and thinking to myself, “We’re not in Iowa anymore.”

Nine years later, Johnson and McCoy will share the title of captain at two of the sport’s elite events. Just two guys from Iowa.

Iowa’s Gene Elliott (shown above) was recognized by both the Iowa House of Representatives (House Resolution 109 – Watch here) and Iowa State Senate (Senate Resolution 104) Thursday morning. The resolutions honored Elliott for his recent success at the U.S. Senior Amateur and R&A Senior Amateur Championship in 2021, as well as other achievements on and off the course.

Elliott became only the second player to claim both the R&A Senior Amateur Championship and the U.S. Senior Amateur Championships in the same season, joining Paul Simson of Raleigh, NC, who accomplished the feat in 2010. Only one other Iowan has claimed the U.S. Senior Amateur title, that being Boone native Dr. Ed Updegraff in 1981. He is also one of only three players to win the U.S. R&A (United Kingdom) and Canadian senior amateur championships.

Elliott’s extraordinary year propelled him to the number one position as the globe’s top-ranked senior amateur player, according to the World Amateur Golf Rankings and AmateurGolf.com.

The Iowa Golf Association would like to announce that Karli Kerrigan, of Ankeny, has joined the staff as Director of Competitions. Kerrigan will be in charge of the administration of IGA Championships, USGA Qualifiers, and support for the Rules of Golf and Golf Genius Software, a tournament software utilized by IGA Member Clubs.

Kerrigan replaces Ben Larson who recently accepted a role with the Epson Tour as a Manager of Rules & Competitions. The Epson Tour, previously known as the LPGA Futures Tour, and known for sponsorship reasons between 2006 and 2010 as the Duramed Futures Tour and between 2012 and 2021 as the Symetra Tour, is the official developmental golf tour of the LPGA Tour. Tour membership is open to professional women golfers and to qualified amateurs. The Epson Tour administers 21 regular season events and also Stage 1 and 2 of Final Qualifying School.

Kerrigan, who you might remember served as a P.J. Boatwright intern in 2019 and 2020, has most recently been a full time graduate student at Grand View University studying Organizational Leadership and working as a Graduate Assistant for the Grand View’s Sports Information Director. Kerrigan also worked at Glen Oaks Country Club this past summer in an effort to stay involved in the game of golf along with playing whenever she could.

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.