More Than a Golf Tournament: Why the Northwest Iowa National Invitational Means So Much to Me

Every year when the Northwest Iowa National Invitational comes to Le Mars, I’m reminded that this event is about so much more than golf.

Don’t get me wrong, there is some fantastic golf. But for those of us who volunteer, sponsor and host players, it’s the people who make these few days so special.

Welcoming Players to Le Mars

Teams begin arriving Saturday and Sunday, and I genuinely love welcoming them to our community.

Maybe it’s the Realtor in me, but I love giving people a little “tour” of Le Mars. Players, coaches and families ask where they should eat, what they should see and what they can do while they’re here. I’m always happy to give them a few recommendations.

What I hear over and over again is how thankful everyone is for this event and how welcome they feel in Le Mars.

There truly isn’t anything quite like the Northwest Iowa National Invitational. Teams look forward to returning year after year, and there’s even a waiting list of teams hoping for an invitation.

I think that says a lot about what has been created here.

Sunday Means the College-Am

Sunday is one of my favorite parts of the Invitational because it’s the College-Am.

As a sponsor, I’m provided a spot for a team of four amateurs. This year my daughter Dani, her boyfriend Jake, their friend Keegan and my go-to guy for real estate photography, Keaton Rowe, made up my team.

They were paired with Oliver Ruutu and Chiara Israng from Ottawa University Arizona, the team Dale and I hosted in our home.

Dani played collegiate golf at Grand View University, so seeing her back out there is always fun for me. Apparently, she hasn’t lost her touch either. She won both the longest drive and longest putt pin prizes!

I reserve the right to brag. I’m her mom.

Iowa Mom, Mama Linda and a Cold Week of Golf

The weather wasn’t exactly cooperative this year. We dealt with cold and wet conditions, which made things a little more challenging for both the players and volunteers.

That’s when “Iowa Mom” comes out.

That’s the nickname I’ve picked up over the years, but I’m not the only tournament mom around here. Linda Mayrose is known as “Mama Linda” to the golfers she and her husband Russ host.

I came prepared with hand warmers for the cold weather. Mama Linda showed up with homemade hot chocolate for her golfers.

Clearly, I need to up my game the next time we have a cold year!

Our course marshals were especially important in those conditions. The rough can get long and thick, and golf balls disappear quickly. Marshals help spot and mark balls so players can find them and keep the pace of play moving.

That doesn’t mean every ball is found.

One golfer hit a ball into a flower bed, and despite everyone’s best efforts, we never found it.

We DID find four other golf balls in there.

Golf. 🤷‍♀️

Feeding a Few Hungry Golfers

Sunday night, the host families for the men’s team and coaches helped provide dinner. We had a taco bar with all the fixings, chocolate chip cookies and, naturally, Blue Bunny ice cream.

A couple of the boys asked if I was making chili and cinnamon rolls again this year. The cold weather would have been perfect for it, but the tacos were already prepped!

Maybe next year.

Monday is a big day for the players with 36 holes of golf. They played until dark this year, so dinner needed to be simple.

Godfather’s pizza for the win.

By then, they just want a shower, food and bed. And for some of them, there’s still homework waiting.

It’s easy to forget sometimes that these talented athletes are students, too.

An Exciting Finish

Tuesday is the final day of play, followed immediately by the awards banquet.

The men’s tournament gave us quite a finish this year with a three-way tie heading into the last hole. The player from Embry-Riddle won it with a birdie putt.

But one of my favorite things happened after the awards ceremony.

As everyone was leaving, I lost track of how many players came over to us, shook our hands and personally thanked us for the tournament and for making them feel welcome.

Those moments are why so many people in our community put so much time into making this event happen.

When a Host Family Becomes Family

Tuesday night, the Ottawa University Arizona team and those of us hosting them got to relax together over dinner at 4 Brothers, followed by a trip for ice cream. They even got to watch the movie about how Wells Blue Bunny ice cream got its start.

It was a wonderful way to end the week.

And then came the part I wasn’t ready for.

Chiara has stayed with Dale and me for four years.

She’s an international student from Germany, and when we first welcomed her into our home, we wanted her to feel like she had family here in the United States, too.

Somewhere along the way, she simply became part of ours.

Even Piper knows when “her girls” are here and waits for them to wake up in the morning.

So when it came time to say goodbye this year, there were a lot of hugs and definitely some tears.

But Dale and I told her one thing.

This isn’t goodbye.

It’s absolutely a “see you later.”

That’s the part of the Northwest Iowa National Invitational that you can’t see on a leaderboard.

Friendships are formed. Relationships grow. People from different states and different countries come together right here in Le Mars. Players arrive as guests and, sometimes, leave feeling a whole lot more like family.

The golf may be what brings everyone here.

But the people are what make it so hard to leave.