Special for the IGA - by Rick Brown, Des Moines Register

 

The Iowa Golf Association is pleased to announce that four new members have been elected to the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame. A selection committee has voted in Betsy Bro, Jim English, Jock Olson and George Turner.

They will be enshrined at a ceremony May 6 at Glen Oaks Country Club in West Des Moines. The four new additions bring membership in the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame to 35.

 

BETSY BRO

Betsy Bro dominated women’s golf in Iowa for a decade. She won the Women’s State Amateur five times between 1983 and 1991, and the Des Moines City title seven times between 1988 and 1994. 

Her success preceded her stay in Iowa, and continued after she left. Bro, the daughter of famed amateur Neil Croonquist, won the Minnesota State Amateur in 1980. She also played in the 1977 U.S. Open, as well as three U.S. Amateurs, and was a quarterfinalist in the North and South at Pinehurst.

After leaving Iowa, Bro won four Arizona State Amateur titles — the stroke-play championship in 1997 and the match-play championship in 1996, 1997 and 2000. She was also a semifinalist in the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur in 1999. Bro resides in Scottsdale, Ariz.

 

JIM ENGLISH

Jim English never played in an Iowa Amateur, which explains why he never won one. Work commitments made it too difficult for English to miss three days of work.  But he still did plenty of winning.

English was especially dominant in one stretch that saw him win the 1950 Iowa Masters, the 1950 Trans-Mississippi, the 1951 Iowa Open and the 1951 Herman Sani Invitational. 

English considers the Trans-Miss his most prestigious victory as an Iowa resident. His 11-10 victory in the 36-hole championship match is the largest margin of victory in tournament history.

English moved to Kansas in 1952 and won the Kansas Amateur the only two times he competed, in 1954 and 1956. After moving to Colorado, English won five Colorado State Amateur titles, a Colorado Open and four Colorado State Senior titles. He also won the prestigious Broadmoor Invitational twice.

In addition, English was low amateur at the 1959 U.S. Open, finishing in front of Jack Nicklaus and Charlie Coe. It was one of nine times he played in our national championship. He also played in the U.S. Amateur six times, reaching the quarterfinals in 1951.

English, 80, who resides in Denver, Colo., is already a member of the Kansas and Colorado golf halls of fame.

 

JOCK OLSON

Jock Olson, a native of Marshalltown, has been a golf professional for 34 years. His first job came at the Des Moines Golf and Country Club as an assistant, the start of a journey that now has him the head golf professional at Interlachen Country Club in Edina, Minn., the top-ranked course in Minnesota and No. 36 nationally. Olson has been at Interlachen since 1994.

Jock also served as head golf professional at the Cedar Rapids Country Club from 1983 to 1993 and the Burlington Golf Club from 1976 to 1982.

Olson was inducted into the National PGA Hall of Fame in 2006, the latest in a long line of distinguished accomplishments. He was named National PGA Golf Professional of the Year in 2002, the highest honor the PGA of America can  bestow upon one of its members. Olson is the only Iowa-born golf professional to have received those two honors.

He was also named the Iowa Golf Association’s Golf Professional of the Year in 1986; Iowa PGA Teacher of the Year, 1985; Iowa Golf Association Outstanding Service Award, 1983; and the Iowa PGA Horton Smith Award, 1982.

 

GEORGE TURNER

George Turner’s contributions to Iowa golf have come both on and off the golf course. From his victories in two designated major championships — the 1965 Northwest Amateur and the 1969 Fort Dodge Amateur — to countless other amateur events, Turner’s name is well-known in Iowa.

He also won the Iowa Golf Association State Seniors title in 1989, the Iowa Golf Association State Masters title in 1990 and the Iowa Golf Association State Senior Amateur title (70 years-over) in 2002. He also won the Des Moines Senior Open title in 2005.

The Iowa Golf Association named its distinguished service award after Turner in 2003. His name value runs beyond state borders. Turner qualified for and played in the 1981, 1984 and 1993 U.S. Senior Open and the 1988, 1990 and 1991 U.S. Senior Amateur.

Off the course, George has been an Iowa Golf Association volunteer for decades, helping run numerous events. George and John Nervig took over operations of the Iowa Masters from the late Harry Burrell 20 years ago. It’s not an official Iowa Golf Association event unless George Turner is somewhere on the course!

Reservations will be required if you wish to attend the inductions ceremonies on Sunday, May 6^th at Glen Oaks Country Club.  You can get all of the information from the Iowa Golf Association website at www.iowagolf.org.