Jerry Johnson

The late Jerry Johnson will be posthumously honored with induction into the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame, the Iowa Golf Association announced Friday.

Johnson, who passed away on July 17, 2020, spent 29 years as the club professional at Elmwood Country Club in Marshalltown. The enshrinement ceremony will be held at an unknown date in the future due to the current pandemic.

Johnson stood tall and always put the game of golf first.

Following a brief career in the banking industry, Johnson changed gears and entered the golf business, becoming a PGA apprentice under Keith Hannan at Mason City Country Club in 1976. From 1980-1985 he was the Head PGA Professional at Lake Bracken Country Club in Galesburg, Ill. When Joe August retired as golf professional at Elmwood in the fall of 1985, Johnson was hired to take over the reins. He enjoyed working at Elmwood C.C. for 29 years before retiring on Dec. 31, 2014, achieving “Life Membership” status in the PGA of America.

Following retirement, Johnson stayed active in giving back to the game — serving on the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame Nominating Committee, Iowa PGA Strategic Planning Committees and other activities.

Johnson will be remembered most for his passion in promoting the game of golf to the Marshalltown community. Be it a listening ear while golfers recounted their rounds to him, spending many hours giving lessons on the practice tee, administering golf events, teaching area high school golf teams and physical education classes in proper swing execution and golf etiquette, and helping to implement the Swings with Kids program in Marshalltown schools, he wanted to share his love of the game and impart its many life lessons.

“His contributions to the game are unsung and not always seen,” said Greg Mason, IPGA Section Executive Director. “He has been in my ear for 15 years to find a way to grow our game with all of our allied associations. I believe if you truly examine his career you note that Johnson never put himself first. He always put his family first, his members first, his PGA Professionals first, but always put the good of the game at the top of that list.”

Johnson’s love of competition also fostered years of participating in amateur and professional tournaments. Two highlights include playing in the Quad Cities Open twice and the National PGA Club Professional Championship four times.

Johnson was also instrumental in the success of the Lennox/Quakerdale Pro-Am Invitational, held at Elmwood. His contributions behind the scenes have helped the event raise more than $2,000,000 in the 30 years at Elmwood.

“Golf has always been an incredible passion for Johnson and it showed time and time again as the attendees, including all the many PGA professionals that participate annually, have always experienced a great time,” said Lee Eft, General Chairman of the Lennox/Quakerdale Pro-Am Invitational. “He was always a pleasure to work with and worked tirelessly to make the event a great success.”

The Iowa Golf Association named Johnson the Golf Professional of the Year in 1990. That same year he was named Iowa PGA Merchandiser of the Year by the Iowa PGA. Johnson held the office of President of the Iowa PGA from 1991-1993 and was chosen by his peers in 1992 as the Iowa Section PGA Professional of the Year. In 2016 he received the IPGA Horton Smith Award.

“You will be hard pressed to find someone within the state that doesn’t know who Jerry Johnson is,” said Jay Giannetto, PGA Professional at Elmwood. “It would be even more difficult to find someone who doesn’t love and respect who he is as a person. Johnson’s passion for golf and his desire to help people is truly inspirational.”