IOWA

Iowa Golf Association announces 2005 recipients of the Herman Sani Scholarship Awards

The Iowa Golf Association (IGA) is pleased to announce the 2005 recipients of the Herman Sani Scholarship Awards. Katelyn Thompson of Fort Dodge, Paul Soener of Des Moines and Nicholas Miller of Marion, will receive the prestigious four year, $2,000 per year scholarship.

The scholarships will be presented during the annual Herman Sani Invitational Golf Tournament held at Hyperion Field Club in Johnson, IA on August 12.

Katelyn Thompson is the daughter of Dave and Sue Thompson and will attend Wartburg College with plans to study Biochemistry.

Paul Soener is the son of Roger and Heather Soener and will attend Luther College to study Business.

Nicholas Miller is the son of Dean and Julie Miller and will also attend Luther College to study Pre-Med.

Herman Sani Scholarships have been awarded by the Iowa Golf Association since 1958. One hundred twenty-seven Iowa high school graduates have received Sani Scholarships to assist them with their college educations. The awards are named in honor of the long time IGA volunteer who served as the Association’s secretary until his death in 1957.

Each year the IGA awards from one to four scholarships to outstanding Iowa high school students. Contributions to the Herman Sani Scholarship Fund may be made by sending a check made out to the fund to the IGA office at 8515 Douglas Ave., Ste 25, Urbandale, IA 50322.

 

Iowa Golf Association 2004 Annual Awards Winners

The Iowa Golf Association is pleased to announce the winners of the 2004 IGA Annual Awards.  The awards are voted on by the IGA Board of Directors at its annual meeting.  The awards have been bestowed annually since 1981.  Nominations for award winners were accepted until November 1st, 2004.  Listed below are this years award winners:

9-Hole Course of the Year
Hillcrest Country Club • Adel, IA

18-Hole Co-Course of the Year
Glen Oaks Country Club • West Des Moines, IA
Manchester Golf Club • Manchester, IA

9-Hole Superintendent of the Year
Phil Van Roekel • Ankeny Golf & Country Club

18-Hole Superintendent of the Year
Chuck Mohr • Spencer Golf & Country Club

Club Manager of the Year
Three Carpenter • Wakonda Club

PGA Professional of the Year
Todd Fowler • Rock Island Arsenal Golf Club

 

Jon Brown Wins Player of the Year; John Peters is Senior Player of the Year

Remember the old Avis Car Rental ads where #2 always tries harder?  Well, that principle applies to the Iowa Golf Association’s 2004 Player of the Year and Senior Player of the Year competitions!  Both Jon Brown of Urbandale and John Peters of Muscatine finished second in 2003 and then moved up to #1 in 2004.

After finishing a very close second to Scott Hart in 2003, Brown is the 2004 Iowa Golf Association Player of the Year. A victory in the Iowa Masters and runner-up finishes in the Iowa Amateur and Iowa Match Play helped give Brown the title over Iowa Amateur Champion Nate Dunn of Cedar Rapids. University of Iowa golfer Luke Miller of Clive finished third in the standings.

In the Senior Player of the Year competition, Peters won his first title over second place finisher and “senior rookie” Joel Yunek of Mason City. Rob Christensen of Rhodes finished third.

In addition to his win at the Iowa Masters and second place finishes at the Iowa Amateur and Iowa Match Play this summer, Brown accumulated points with second place finishes in the Iowa Four-Ball and Ottumwa Amateur.  His season of impressive finishes put him ahead of Dunn by 153 points!

In addition to winning the Iowa Amateur title, Dunn finished second in the amateur division of the Cedar Rapids Open, finished second in the Carroll Amateur and earned top ten finishes in the Ottumwa Amateur and the Iowa Mid-Amateur.

Senior Player of the Year Peters had a dominating year winning three major titles, the Iowa Senior Amateur, the Iowa Senior Match Play and the Senior Division of the Iowa Mid-Amateur In addition he was low Senior amateur in the Cedar Rapids Open.  Peters topped off his outstanding year recently by finishing 2nd in the National Senior Challenge played in Indiana.

Yunek, who turned 50 this year, won the senior divisions of the Fort Dodge Amateur, Carroll Amateur and Lake Creek Amateur.  He also finished 4th at the Iowa Senior Amateur 

The Iowa Golf Association has determined an annual Player of the Year since 1981 and a Senior Player of the Year since 1985. The awards will be given out at a special luncheon on November 13th following the fall meeting of the IGA Board of Directors.

 

IOWA STATE'S VEENKER MEMORIAL GOLF COURSE RECOGNIZED BY 'GOLFWEEK' MAGAZINE

Iowa State University's Veenker Memorial Golf Course, Ames, has been ranked among "America's Best State Public Access Courses" by "Golfweek" magazine.

In its seventh annual rankings, "Golfweek" identified Veenker Memorial Golf Course as third-best public access course in Iowa. It was the only "classical" (or pre-1960s) course selected among Iowa's top picks. This is Veenker's first appearance on the list.

Other outstanding Iowa courses recognized by "Golfweek" include The Harvester, Rhodes (No. 1); Amana Colonies Golf Course, Amana (No. 2); Spencer Golf and Country Club, Spencer (No. 4); and Spirit Hollow Golf Course, Burlington (No. 5).

"America's Best" rating criteria included ease and intimacy of routing, integrity of original design, natural setting and overall land plan, interest of greens and surrounding contours, variety and memorability of par 3s, 4s and 5s; landscape and tree management and other considerations.

Veenker Memorial Golf Course is a premier championship golf facility owned and operated by Iowa State University. Established in 1938 by George Veenker, former Iowa State athletic director and football coach, the Perry Maxwell-designed course was built by the Works Progress Administration. Veenker Memorial Golf Course offers a full range of golfing activities for the enjoyment and benefit of Iowa State students, faculty, staff and the Ames community.

 

 

Iowa City Native Zach Johnson Wins BellSouth Classic


Zach Johnson (Photo courtesy of PGA Tour)

What does Iowa native Zach Johnson have in common with the likes of  Matt Gogel, Jerry Kelly, Jeff Sluman and Tom Watson? They are all Midwesterners who have won on the PGA Tour. Johnson joined the club during the first week of April with his win at the BellSouth in Atlanta.

Johnson, who was born in Iowa City, Iowa, went to high school in Cedar Rapids and then went on to play golf at Drake University in Des Moines. He has been known throughout the Midwest as a star of the future for several years, and after his win at the BellSouth, the rest of the world know has a glimpse of this outstanding young man.

After winning Nationwide Tour Player of the Year honors last year, big things were expected of Zach Johnson. Midway through his rookie year on the PGA TOUR, he hasn’t disappointed. Last week at the BellSouth Classic, Johnson took a three-stroke lead into the final round, saw it balloon to as many as five strokes and then hung on to win by one stroke for his initial TOUR victory. After earning more money on the Nationwide Tour than any player in history with his play a year ago, Johnson brought his game to the PGA TOUR this season, where he promptly missed the cut at the Sony Open in Hawaii. He’s made seven of his next eight cuts since, including increasingly better performances in his last three events. At The Honda Classic, Johnson tied for 13th. He tied for sixth at the Bay Hill Invitational and then enjoyed his breakthrough tournament near Atlanta at the Tournament Players Club at Sugarloaf.

“I’m just proud to win out here. My goal was to play against the best, and I beat some of the best players in the world today,” Johnson said. “It feels awesome. I just want to keep doing it, stay competitive. I’m just a competitor. I want to win.”

That win almost didn’t happen, though. After recording five birdies in his first 10 holes in Sunday’s final round, Johnson bogeyed the 11th and 12th holes. He got some momentum back with a birdie on 13 but then promptly bogeyed Nos. 14 and 15. He was able to hang on with three pars to finish the round that gave him the largest payday of his career, $810,000.

“It was a roller-coaster. I don’t even know what I shot,” Johnson said. His par-72 final-round score was his worst round of the week but enough for the victory and a two-year exemption on the TOUR. He also moved to 12th on the money list, with $1,145,031 in earnings.

How Johnson Did It

Zach Johnson collected his first PGA TOUR title by playing in much the same manner as he did last year in dominating the Nationwide Tour—he hit it long, hit greens and putted well. Here are a few items:

He averaged 304 yards off the tee.

Johnson led the field by hitting 55 Greens in Regulation.

He hit 16 approach shots inside of 10 feet.

He made 64 of 70 putts from 10 feet or less. Through three rounds,

Johnson had made 48 of 50.

 

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