Iowa golf icon Jill Blackwood passed away on Sunday, February 3rd from complications due to cancer.  She was 71 years old. Blackwood was recently elected to the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame class of 2019.

Jill will be remembered for giving way more back to the game of golf than she ever took.  

She was a ‘champion’ for golf for over three decades.  She promoted the game to all golfers, but particularly to women and juniors.  She volunteered time and money to the Iowa Women’s Golf Association, Iowa Golf Association and junior programs in and around her hometown of Burlington, Iowa.  In 2014, the IGA honored Jill with the George Turner Distinguished Service Award, which is given to individuals who have contributed back to the game through volunteer efforts during their lifetimes.

She was instrumental in the revitalization of the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame in 2006, leading to the first class inducted in nine years at that time.  She spent time as President of the IWGA and served on it’s board of directors for 23 years.

In many ways, she was one of the foundational pillars the volunteer-led IWGA stood on for decades.

Blackwood was also a terrific player.  She won the Burlington Golf Club Women’s Club Championship 18 times.  She participated in four USGA Championships and partnered with her husband, Tom, to win two Iowa Wife-Husband Championships (1982 & 2006).  

Jill will be honored and welcomed into the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame in the coming weeks and months.  The planned induction ceremony at her home golf club in Fort Myers, Florida (The Club at Renaissance) on February 24 will still be held (if you wish to attend the ceremony in Florida, please contact the IGA at [email protected]).  She will also be honored during the traditional induction ceremony held in Iowa on April 4th. (Click here to see more info and sign up to attend the Iowa ceremony)

All golfers in Iowa mourn her passing.  There are very few that were as passionate about this great game as Jill.  She will be missed, but she will forever be remembered as an Iowa Golf Hall of Fame member and one of the most iconic and influential women to ever play the game in Iowa.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE INFO ABOUT JILL’S ELECTION INTO THE HALL OF FAME

CLICK HERE TO READ A FEATURE ON JILL BY MATT LEVINS, THE HAWKEYE NEWSPAPER (BURLINGTON)