Greg Ladehoff of Clinton steadily improved as he climbed golf’s ladder, a less-than-guaranteed journey that took him all the way to the PGA Tour.

Following a successful junior career at Clinton High School and as the 1979 Iowa Junior champion, Ladehoff accepted a scholarship to Ohio State University. There, he was one of the few golfers ever to earn All Big-Ten honors four years in a row (1981-84). Ladehoff then decided to try a career playing professionally. He made it through Q-School for the first time in 1985, and also in 1987, 1988 and 1990. Greg played the PGA Tour regularly for eight years (1985-92), making 154 starts. His best career finish was a tie for third with Nick Faldo in the 1986 USF&G Classic as a rookie.

“My attitude is that I want to play good enough get in position where I have a chance to screw up,” Ladehoff said in 1988. “If you never get in that position, you never have a chance.”

After leaving the tour, Ladehoff still played at a high level. He won the Iowa PGA Section Championship in 1994 at Finkbine in Iowa City. But Greg would retire from competitive golf after numerous injuries, and he joined his father in a well-known and respected duck decoy business in the Clinton area.

“Ladehoff attacked golf courses over his career, the way he approaches everyday business life of which he is equally successful,” Gary Dolphin said of Ladehoff. “He did it with purpose and a great sense of humor. Whether shooting a course record 68 in the Ohio Amateur at Inverness in Toledo, a 66 that chased down Tommy Armour III in Tallahassee or his present day worldwide success building a duck decoy business, Ladehoff marches and lives with the times.”

Those who knew Ladehoff know there was more to the man than just golf.

“I hope that 100 years from now, when a visitor to the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame is pondering the great Greg Ladehoff, they can see him as I do,” Mark L. Burden said. “A terrific player and competitor, of course, but to see Greg solely through the prism of golf would obscure his towering commitment to family, to friends, to his passion for business and to his love for the Hawkeye State. Golf afforded Greg tremendous opportunities and to his credit, he pursued the game to the pinnacle.”

Playing Achievements
-1979 Iowa Junior Amateur Champion
-Led Clinton High School to two IHSAA State Championships (1979-1980)
-1981-1984 First Team All-Big Ten for Ohio State
-1982 Second Team All-American for Ohio State
-1983 Honorable Mention All-American for Ohio State
-1984 Third Team All-American for Ohio State
-Two collegiate individual wins for Ohio State
-154 starts on the PGA Tour and 47 starts on the Ben Hogan Tour
-Six top 10’s and two runner-Up finishes on the Ben Hogan Tour
-PGA Tour: 65 made cuts, five top 10’s, and one third-place finish at the 1986 USF&G Classic in New Orleans.
-1994 Iowa PGA Section Champion