85th Iowa Open Begins August 1st

Jul 28, 2018

Riverside, Iowa – The 85th Iowa Open will be held on August 1-3 at Blue Top Ridge in Riverside, Iowa. The tournament first began in 1927 and has since been a Midwest Golf Championship. The event has a rich tradition of champions, most famously, Zach Johnson is a two-time winner of the Iowa Open. (Click here for full list of Iowa Open winners). This year’s field hosts a handful of previous champions as well as some of the most successful local golfers.

Iowa PGA Member, Sean McCarty will look for his fifth Iowa Open victory this week at Blue Top Ridge. McCarty is coming off a second-place finish at the Iowa PGA Professional Championship at Glen Oaks Country Club on July 23-24. McCarty also finished T2 at the 51st PGA Professional Championship in June and made the 36-hole cut at the 2018 John Deere Classic. The four-time Iowa Open Champion has won four Iowa PGA events this season. McCarty finished T17 at the 84th Iowa Open last year. 

2018 Iowa PGA Professional Champion, Darin Fisher, is looking for his first Iowa Open victory this week. Fisher is coming off his second Iowa PGA Professional Championship victory (2016, 2018) and has five top-10 finishes in Iowa PGA events this year. Fisher finished T71 at the 51st PGA Professional Championship back in June and was the top Iowa PGA finisher (T11) in the 84th Iowa Open.

Jeff Schmid is one three Iowa PGA Members in the 85th Iowa Open that has won the Iowa Open (2000). Schmid is coming off a T5 finish at the Iowa PGA Professional Championship. His finished qualifies him for the 2019 PGA Professional Championship, where he finished T63 this June. Schmid finished T14 last year at the 84th Iowa Open. 

McCarty (2013, 2008, 2005, 1997), Schmid (2000) and Kevin DeNike (1993, 1989, 1987) are the only Iowa PGA Members in the 85th Iowa Open field that have previously won an Iowa Open.   

Former Iowa PGA Member and 1998 Iowa Open Champion, Caine Fitzgerald returns to test his game again in this prestigious event. Fitzgerald is now a native of Colorado and a part of the Colorado PGA Section. 

West Des Moines native and 2018 NCAA individual Champion, Broc Everett will compete in the 85th Iowa Open on August 1. The former Iowa PGA Junior Tour Member, won his first career collegiate event at the 2018 NCAA Championship, and became the first player in Augusta University history to earn NCAA medalist honors.

2016 Iowa Open Champion, Nathan Stamey returns to the Iowa Open in search for his second victory. The Bluffton, South Carolina native out lasted Scott Gutschewski by one stroke to win the 83rd Iowa Open. 

The first round of the Iowa Open begins Wednesday, August 1 with groups teeing off of Nos. 1 and 10 at 7:30 a.m. Following the second round on Thursday, the field will be cut to the low 70 players and ties. The Iowa PGA will provide tournament updates on iowapga.com and on Iowa PGA social media.