The Iowa Golf Association is pleased to announce the election of four new members to the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame, including one individual under the Historical category. The “Class of 2011” will raise the total membership in the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame to 53.
Ten-time Iowa Amateur Player of the Year Mike McCoy of West Des Moines, former LPGA Tour player Barb Thomas Whitehead, originally from Sibley and longtime superintendent and Iowa Turf Industry activist Doug Snook of Waverly will be inducted this spring. In addition, the first man to win the Iowa Amateur Championship, Dr. John Maxwell of Keokuk will be added under the “historical category” of the Hall of Fame. The date and place of the 2011 inductions will be determined and announced soon.
Mike McCoy
The sheer volume of Mike McCoy’s accomplishments in competitive amateur golf, both within the borders of the state of Iowa and on the national scene is amazing. He has played in 33 USGA Championships including 12 U.S. Amateurs and 13 U.S. Mid-Amateurs. He has won the Iowa Amateur five times and the Iowa Mid-Amateur six times but because he has played such an extensive national schedule he missed competing in both of those events many times.
Since the inception of the IGA Player of the Year award in 1960, no other player has won it more than three times. McCoy won his first in 1983 and his tenth 27 years later in 2010.
He is Iowa’s best known amateur player, advancing to the Semi-finals of the U.S. Mid-Amateur twice (2005 and 2008). He has won the Trans-Mississippi Championship twice (2000 and 2008), and is a four-time winner of the Crump Cup at Pine Valley Golf Club in New Jersey.
In a letter supporting McCoy’s nomination two-time Walker Cup Captain George (Buddy) Marucci, Jr. said: “The excellence of his game is obvious. What may not be so obvious to those who have not played with him is just how well he handles himself, win or lose. The game of golf is still and will always be a gentleman’s game, and Mike is the best example I know. He has been a great representative of the State of Iowa.”
Barb Thomas Whitehead
While growing up in the small northwest Iowa town of Sibley, Barb Thomas started winning tournaments at an early age claiming the Iowa Girl’s Junior and High School State Tournament titles in 1978 and 1979. She then spent one very successful year at Iowa State University winning 1st Team All-American honors in 1980. She transferred to NCAA powerhouse University of Tulsa and led them to the NCAA title in 1982, finishing 3rd individually. She won three Iowa Women’s State Amateur Championships in 1979, 1981 and 1982 before turning pro and earning her LPGA Tour card in the fall of 1983.
She played on the LPGA tour for 18 years. Her best years on tour were 1995 and 1996 finishing 31st and 24th respectively on the money list. She won the Cup Noodles Hawaiian Ladies Open in 1995 and finished tied for 6th in the LPGA Championship. In 1996 she lost in a playoff at the State Farm Rail Classic and had seven top-10 finishes. She also served on the LPGA Executive Committee in 1999-2000.
In a letter supporting of her nomination, West Des Moines businessman Paul Juffer recalled growing up with Barb Thomas in Sibley. “I watched her golf career grow to a level most of us dream about, but I’ve been more impressed with what she gave back to the game and what she gave back to the place where we grew up”, said Juffer. “Barb annually hosted a dozen or so prominent LPGA golfers at Sibley’s course and a course in Okoboji that raised thousands of dollars for the Osceola County Hospital in Sibley and Camp Foster in Okoboji.”
Doug Snook, CGCS
Over the course of a 40-plus year career Doug Snook, CGCS has been a leader and a mentor for golf course superintendents. Snook has been the golf course superintendent at Waverly Municipal Golf Course for 29 years and was recognized by the IGSCA as Superintendent of the Year twice, in 1986 and again in 2002.
He has served on the board of directors of both the Iowa Golf Course Superintendents Association (IGCSA) and the Iowa Turf Institute (ITI) and was President of the IGCSA in 1991 and ITI in 2000. Among his many awards Snook received the IGCSA’s Distinguished Service Award in 1998 and the ITI’s Meritorious Service Award in 2006.
The sentiments expressed by several of his colleagues in supporting his nomination were summarized by ITI executive director Jeff Wendel: “Doug has been a dedicated servant of the game of golf for more than 40 years, said Wendell. “The most significant reason for inducting Mr. Snook is his influence on the industry, including mentoring others who went on to become golf course superintendents and shaping the future of the superintendent profession.”
Dr. John R. Maxwell – Historical Category Selection
John Riley Maxwell exemplified all the qualities any organization would want in setting a standard of excellence. Born in Olney, Ill., the son of a country doctor, he went to Monmouth College and later to the University of Illinois where he became a prominent athlete in baseball and football. He graduated from Keokuk Medical College and became a member of the Keokuk faculty as a lecturer and assistant chair of surgery and a professor of anatomy. He was a member of Keokuk Country Club where he was club champion several times.
On August 30, 1900, Dr. John R. Maxwell of Keokuk defeated Iowa Golf Hall of Fame member Warren Dickinson of Des Moines to become Iowa’s first state golf champion. In 1903 he won the Trans-Mississippi Championship at Waveland Park Golf Course by defeating P. H. Finkbine in the final match.
Golf was a medal sport in the 1904 Olympic Games held in St. Louis. Dr. Maxwell received a silver medal competing with the Trans-Mississippi Team which is believed to be a unique accomplishment in Iowa golf history.
Tragically, Dr. Maxwell died in 1906, just before his 35th birthday, of Bright ’s disease.