Female Leaders Tee Up Success in Iowa’s Golf Community

The Iowa Golf Association (IGA) and Iowa Section PGA (IPGA) each play integral parts in growing the game of golf in the state of Iowa. Many recognize the IGA as the organization that runs different amateur events while the IPGA focuses on the professional side of the game. While both are true, the IGA and IPGA overlap when it comes to not only professional tournaments but also junior events. The IGA hosts two professional events each year in the form of U.S. Open Local Qualifying and the Herman Sani Tournament. IGA junior events include the Iowa Junior Amateur, Iowa Girls’ Junior Amateur, and U.S. Junior Amateur qualifying. While they don’t work directly together on high school state tournaments, the IGA and IPGA collaborate greatly as the IGA handles the administration of the girls’ and the IPGA takes care of the boys’ side. The two organizations also come together annually for the Iowa Cup Matches which feature the top male amateur and PGA Sectional pros.

They too work together to promote women’s golf. Beginning in 2022, the Women’s Golf Summit was created to celebrate women in golf and promote the game outside of social settings. In its first year, the event was a huge success. This year marks the second edition of the biennial event and the first at Golf House Iowa.

Along the way, the organizations have grown with the influx of golfers and expanded their staff. Both organizations currently have two female staff members, with Katelynn Hogenson and Karli Kerrigan working for the IGA and Tess Goudy and Stephanie Mason working for the IPGA.

Tess Goudy, PGA has been a member of the PGA for nearly 25 years and along the way has collected many of the state’s top honors. After beginning her career as an assistant professional at both Kirksville Country Club and Geneva Golf & Country Club, she was hired by the Iowa PGA in 2001, by then Iowa PGA Executive Director Kirk Stanzel, PGA as the Communications Director. Goudy has transformed the junior golf structure in the state and has been credited for shaping the Iowa Junior Golf Tour into a model for other Junior Tours in the U.S.

Annually, the Iowa PGA Tour administers more than 100 Junior Tour, Pee Wee Tour, and IHSAA events. Along with coordinating junior tournaments, Goudy also administers the Junior Academy and oversees the PGA Jr. League and Drive, Chip, and Putt. Goudy’s responsibilities don’t end there. She heads up the Membership Development for the Iowa PGA which includes setting up educational opportunities for IPGA Members, Continuing Education, and Membership updates.

Goudy broke through in 2019 when she was named the Iowa PGA Professional of the Year. The Golf Professional of the Year Award is the highest honor paid to an Iowa PGA Golf Professional. Honorees are chosen based on leadership abilities that stand above the rest, contributions made to their facility’s success, and excelling as an overall golf professional at the Iowa PGA Section level.  Goudy was the first female to win this prestigious award in Iowa PGA history. Additional awards and accolades for Goudy include: Bill Stausbaugh Award (2002), and Youth Player Development (2008, 2011). Iowa PGA was honored earlier this year with the 2024 Herb Graffis Award. Named annually, it recognizes the PGA of America Section for extraordinary and exemplary contributions and achievements in the area of Player Development.

Stephanie Mason now holds the position that gave Goudy her start at the Iowa PGA – the Communication Coordinator. Stephanie is no stranger to the golf industry, having grown up in a golf family headed by her father, and IPGA Executive Director, Greg Mason, PGA. Stephanie got her initial start in golf by working at two courses owned by the Mason family during and beyond her high school years. She joined the staff in February 2020 and oversees all media-related duties ranging from press releases to graphic design, and website redesign.

Mason currently executes marketing plans and communication across all social media accounts including X (Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat. Outside of social media, Mason is responsible for publishing the digital magazine for the IPGA which is shared with more than 15,000 individuals. She is also responsible for press releases ranging from tournament previews and recaps to annual award winners and Player of the Year recipients. One of her biggest projects was the overhaul of the IPGA’s four websites. With websites ranging from junior golf to internal sites for PGA members, Mason was able to design user-friendly sites to match branding initiatives and optimize the user experience.

With all of that going on, Mason still finds time to help assist with tournament operations for events such as the Iowa Open, and Iowa PGA Professional Championships, as well as five local Drive, Chip, and Putt qualifiers.

While the IGA currently has two women on staff, they weren’t the first. Julie Buch was the office manager for both the I.W.G.A and IGA from 2003-2011. Though she was part-time, she played an important role as the accountant and bookkeeper for both organizations. While she rarely assisted in championship prep or execution, her responsibility in the office freed up various IGA and IWGA staff to conduct championships, course ratings, and various initiatives.

Noel Treibel, now Knock, was the first full-time IGA female staff member after the IGA-Iowa PGA office split in 2001.  She joined the team in 2010. Previously a PJ Boatwright Intern for the I.W.G.A. from 2008-2010, Treibel would go on to become the Manager of Member Services and Women’s Golf.

Her main responsibilities during her time at the IGA revolved around women’s golf and women’s course ratings. For women’s events, Noel was the official in charge of securing host sites, preparing the courses, and executing the overall championship. In 2012, her role shifted when she became the Director of Course Rating while also maintaining Women’s Golf. Former IGA Executive Director Bill Dickens credited Treibel for her outstanding work leading up to the 2013 I.W.G.A. and IGA merger saying “The consolidation of the IGA and I.W.G.A. would not have been possible without the outstanding work of Noel Knock”.

During her time at the IGA, Treibel oversaw the hiring of Katelynn as an IGA intern in 2011. The two made a great team and helped elevate women’s golf in the state of Iowa. Each has many stories to tell from their early days at the IGA, as evident in their 2021 Greenside Episode: On Target with Noel. It was only fitting that Hogenson took over for Treibel in 2013 when she left the golf industry. She now resides in Waukee with her husband Justin and their two daughters.

During high school, Katelynn Hogenson participated in softball, volleyball, basketball, and golf and earned 11 varsity letters. She was named the 2007 Muscatine Community Y Female Athlete of the Year and awarded the Masterson Cup Award that same year. In golf, Hogenson qualified for State three of her four years. She earned medalist honors twice and was runner-up once at the MAC tournament. During her senior year, she set the 9-hole course record at Stone Creek Golf Club in Williamsburg with a 3-under par, 33.

Hogenson continued her golf career at Iowa State University where she lettered and double majored in Business Management and Marketing. In 2009 Hogenson qualified for a Futures Tour event (now Epson Tour), and in 2010 qualified for the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship. In that same season, she finished top-5 in the Iowa Women’s Amateur Championship at Finkbine Golf Course and won the inaugural IGA Women’s Four-Ball with partner Katie Suckow at Mason City Country Club. The two still hold the low scoring record for the event with a two-round total of 130.

In 2011, Hogenson was hired as the 4-month IWGA P.J. Boatwright Intern working closely with the IWGA Board of Directors and Noel Knock. The following year, Hogenson took the 6-month IGA P.J. Boatwright Internship and was offered the position of Director of Operations and Women’s Golf by Bill Dickens later that year. Following a staff change in 2015, she took the role of Membership Services and Women’s Golf and in 2021 was named the Chief Operating Officer.

In addition to working with the IGA, Hogenson has assisted with several USGA initiatives. In 2018 she was one of seven individuals nationwide selected for the USGA Handicap Outreach Working Group tasked with the rollout of the 2020 World Handicap System. She remained on this committee through 2023. She currently holds a position on the USGA P.J. Boatwright Working Group, focused on encouraging young men and women to work in the golf industry.

Hogenson has achieved Expert Level certification in the Rules of Golf which has earned her an invitation to over 10 USGA Championships including the 2022 Curtis Cup held at Merion Golf Club. She was a referee during the 2017 Junior Solheim Cup held at Des Moines Golf and Country Club and was a forward observer for the Singles Matches of the Solheim Cup between Michelle Wie and Caroline Masson. Most recently, Hogenson was invited to the 2024 Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship, a 54-hole stroke play championship featuring the best women in the world held at Champions Retreat and Augusta National Golf Club.

“It’s amazing where this game has taken me, and who knew it would be without swinging a club,” Hogenson said.

Hogenson’s first USGA officiating role came at the 2015 USGA Women’s State Team at Dalhousie Golf Club in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. It also marked the first USGA event for then high school senior Karli Kerrigan. Just a few short years after that trip, Kerrigan would enter the world of golf administration through the P.J. Boatwright program at the IGA. Not long after, the two would join forces as colleagues, recognized as the driving forces behind the 100th Iowa Women’s Amateur.

When you ask Karli Kerrigan how her day is, you almost always get the same response: “Just another day in paradise.” For those lucky enough to know Karli, they know this is her sense of humor shining through. However, her response could be taken literally as she has an unmistakable passion for the IGA and her role as the Director of Competitions. Kerrigan can serve in this role so successfully because of her lifetime of experience with golf and her hard-working personality.

Having been around the game her whole life, she was an accomplished junior and collegiate player. She earned an individual state title for Centennial High School in Ankeny, an individual Heart of America Conference Championship title while at Grandview, two IGA Women’s Four-Ball titles, and an Iowa Junior Girls’ Amateur title in between. In 2016, Kerrigan was named a Sani Scholar, which is a high honor for any graduating senior in Iowa. Taking her passion for golf beyond college, she served as a P.J. Boatwright intern for the IGA in 2019 and 2020. After a short stint working at Glen Oaks Country Club, Kerrigan was hired at the IGA full-time in 2022 as the Director of Competitions where she has flourished.

Karli puts countless hours into planning IGA Championships and considers even the smallest details. Many players would be shocked by all the planning that is involved before anyone tees up a ball. The player’s overall experience at an IGA Championship is of utmost importance to Karli and she is constantly brainstorming new ideas for the future. The 100th Iowa Women’s Amateur is a perfect example of Karli’s ideas and plans for the future coming to fruition. The 100th playing of the Iowa Women’s Amateur will be special for numerous reasons, but most of them would not be possible without people like Karli or Katelynn working behind the scenes.

The IGA and I.W.G.A. have also featured nearly a dozen female interns since the initiation of the P.J. Boatwright program. Previous interns include:

• Sara Sexton – 2003
• Cindy Whitmore – 2007
• Noel Treibel – 2008-2010
• Kasie Pheanis – 2009
• Amanda Vogt – 2010
• Ashlen Matzdorf – 2011
• Katelynn Hogenson – 2011-2012
• Mayci Rule – 2012
• Kelsey Van Tassel – 2013-2015
• Katie Gustafson – 2014
• Meg Monson – 2016
• Brooke Miller – 2017
• Megan Rush – 2018
• Karli Kerrigan – 2019-2020
• Annika Patton – 2021
• Jackie Wojciechowski – 2022
• Paige Hoffman 2023-2024

Next Week on Women’s Wednesday…

Past champions who joined the impressive list of women to claim the elusive Iowa Women’s Amateur title.