The fifth-annual Northwest Iowa National Invitational Tournament is now in the books, and it has proven, once again, to be a premier tournament on the NAIA schedule for another year.
The tournament brings competitors from near and far to the Ice Cream Capital for a one-of-a-kind golf experience. Keiser University women’s golf head coach Brandon Miller says all the time spent traveling is worth it to be a part of a tournament that is uniquely special.
Texas Wesleyan University men’s golf head coach Kevin Long echoes Coach Miller’s sentiments. The tournament is a wonderful experience that Coach Long wishes could be the format at every tournament in their schedule.
Community involvement is at the core of what this tournament is able to accomplish on a yearly basis. This year’s women’s individual champ, Jolie Wong from Keiser, says everyone that volunteers makes the golfers feel welcome during their stay.
The men’s individual champion from Texas Wesleyan, Juan Ricardo Davila Bone, says the opportunity to stay with host families is really special.
Coach Miller says this kind of experience will keep his team interested in competing for years to come.
Of course, Le Mars does provide some benefits to the golfers that makes them better. Davila Bone says playing in cooler weather is great to experience considering most of their meets in the south are not this way.
The standard now has been set for what the feeling and the experience of this tournament should be. Coach Long attributes all the great success of the tournament to tournament director Dan Gray who does the heavy lifting to get this tournament running.
The tournament will be entering year six for 2024.
