Art Bartlett worked 50 years as a Wapello County court reporter. Away from the office, he was an elite golfer. Bartlett was introduced to the Iowa Amateur in 1909, when he worked as a 19-year-old caddy at the Ottumwa Country Club. Five years later, on the same course, Bartlett won the first of his unprecedented seven Iowa Amateur titles.

Those victories came in a 16-year window that also saw him finish as the runner-up three times. Bartlett’s other victories came in 1915, 1917, 1918, 1924, 1928 and 1929.

Bert McGrane of the Des Moines Register described Bartlett this way: “Silent, purposeful, sometimes grim, always formidable, the lean Ottumwan shot his way into a place in golfing history that can hardly be challenged.”

Bartlett also won the Iowa Open in 1927 and 1928. After finishing a runner-up in the 1925 Trans-Mississippi Championship, Bartlett won that crown in 1928 at the Wakonda Club. One down to Bud Maytag of Newton heading to the 16th hole of their first-round match, Bartlett won the final three holes. His second-round opponent was defending champion Johnny Goodman, who would go on to win the 1933 U.S. Open and 1937 U.S. Amateur. Bartlett eliminated Goodman, 3 and 1. He eventually captured the title with a 3 and 2 triumph over Bryan Winter.

Those Iowa Amateur and Trans-Mississippi titles in 1928 came with a one-day break between them. McGrane called those back-to-back triumphs “one of the greatest performances in Iowa golf history.”

Bartlett added the Iowa Open to his Iowa Amateur and Trans-Mississippi titles in 1928, beating Bob McCrary of Des Moines in an 18-hole playoff by five shots. Those three victories came in the span of 38 days. Bartlett was enshrined in the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame in 1990.

Mr. Bartlett was 89 when he passed away on Nov. 13, 1974.

• 9 Iowa Major Titles
• 1914, 15, 17, 18, 24, 28, 29 Iowa Amateur Champion
• 1927, 1928 Iowa Open Champion
• 1928 Trans-Mississippi Champion