Woltman Wins 85th Iowa Open

Aug 3, 2018

Final Round Results

Riverside, Iowa – Dan Woltman of Beaver Dam, Wisconsin won the 85th Iowa Open after carding a 6-under-par 66 in the final round. Woltman beat out amateur, Tripp Kinney by two-strokes. 

“You can get a lot of birdies on this golf course,” said Woltman. “There was no wind today and the greens were soft and rolling so well. I knew someone was going to have a low round in front of me. I just tried to stay patient and continued to hit fairways and greens. Luckily it was enough to win.”

Woltman started the final round in second place, one stroke off the lead, after carding a 2-under-par 70 in round one and an 8-under-par 64 in round two. Woltman carded a bogey-free final round with six birdies, including three-in-a-row on Nos. 2-4. He also tallied back-to-back birdies on Nos. 17-18 to secure the victory. 

“I know more about failure than anyone else,” said Woltman. “When you play this game for a living, you lose 90 percent of the time. You don’t win very often. It feels good to get a win. It feels like all the hard work I’ve been putting in is getting validated.”

Woltman finished the tournament with 16 birdies, 38 pars, and no bogeys. He played the par-3s at even par for the tournament and was 9-under-par on par-4s and 7-under-par on par-5s throughout the three days. 

“I felt good the last couple of weeks, “said Woltman. “I had a good final round last week in Cedar Rapids that propelled me into this week. I’ve played my last 72-holes bogey-free. Something is clicking right now, and my confidence is starting to pick up.” 

Former Iowa PGA Junior Tour Member and Iowa State University golfer, Tripp Kinney finished second at the 85th Iowa Open and won low Amateur. Kinney carded a 5-under-par 67 in the final round. Kinney was tied for the lead going into the 18th hole, but bogeyed the final hole to shoot 5-under-par.

Kinney finished with 16 birdies, 36 pars and 2 bogeys. He played the par-3s at even par, the par-4s at 5-under-par and the Par-5s at 9-under-par for the tournament.    

Iowa PGA Member John Bermel is the Iowa Open Senior Division Champion. Bermel carded a 3-under-par 69 in the final for a tournament total 9-under-par 207 to complete the wire-to-wire victory. He finished the tournament with 13 birdies, 37 pars and four bogeys. Bermel played the par-3s at 1-under-par, the par-4s at 6-under-par and the par-5s at 2-under-par for the tournament. 

“I made some putts today,” said Bermel. “I don’t know that I had my best game, but I certainly made a lot of putts. When your putter is working it makes the game a lot easier.”

Joe Palmer of West Des Moines, Iowa finished second in the Senior Division and was the low Senior Amateur. Palmer recorded a 2-over-par 74 in the final round for a tournament total 1-under-par 215. Palmer finished with six birdies, 43 pars and five bogeys for the tournament. He played the par-3s and par-4s at even par for the tournament and was 1-under-par on the par-5s for the tournament. 

“This a great golf course,” said Palmer. “I had three days where I struck the ball well. I really didn’t make many putts, but I had great partners for the week and I’m excited to be low Senior Amateur.”

The Iowa PGA would like to thank Director of Golf Bryan Haas and Golf Course Superintendent Mike Nelson and the entire Blue Top Ridge Golf Operations Staff for hosting this event. We would also like to thank Riverside Casino & Golf Resort and Billion Autos for their support in sponsoring this event.