Posted 5:24 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2011
Playing a good round of golf is about perseverance, paying attention and — engaging the heart, says UW-La Crosse Alumnus Don Iverson. Iverson did and he saw results. He was recognized in November as one of the all-time best golfers in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s 100-year history.
[caption id="attachment_1064" align="alignright" width="256" caption="AP Wire photo taken in 1974 of Don Iverson, of La Crosse, as he watches the ball sail down the fairway during the Greater Milwaukee Open. “Iverson’s round was as hot as the 90-degree weather,” according to the photo caption"]
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Playing a good round of golf is about perseverance, paying attention and — engaging the heart, says UW-La Crosse Alumnus Don Iverson. “You gotta want it,” he says.
Iverson did and he saw results.
He finished second and then first in two national championship competitions his freshman and sophomore years at UW-L in 1965 and 1966. He went on to compete in the PGA Tour.
For his UW-L accomplishments, Iverson, of La Crosse, was recognized in November as one of the all-time best golfers in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s 100-year history. His name was added to Men’s Golf All-Time team, a group of former student golfers from across the NCAA III conference of nine Wisconsin schools. They will be recognized along with other All-Time Teams as part of WIAC’s Centennial Celebration during the 2012-13 school year.
"As we embarked on the planning for the centennial, it became readily apparent that a celebration of this magnitude would not be complete without recognizing many of the student-athletes and coaches who have contributed to the success of the most accomplished Division III conference in NCAA history,” says WIAC Commissioner Gary Karner.
[caption id="attachment_1072" align="alignright" width="305" caption="UW-L Alumnus Don Iverson’s name was added to the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Men’s Golf All-Time team."]
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Iverson learned perseverance in golf early. He spent his summers in the 1950s on the greens of the La Crosse Country Club. From morning to suppertime, the 10-year-old lugged his MacGreger clubs from hole to hole, sometimes hitting balls and sometimes competing with his brothers and friends.
It’s how he got good and learned his love of the game.
“Why did I love it? I haven’t got a clue. I did,” he says. “It’s all I wanted to do.”
He learned to play under pressure as he began competing in city, state and national competitions from age 11-17. He then joined the UW-L golf team where he competed individually and as a team in two national championship tournaments.
After graduating in 1968 with a stellar golf record, Iverson decided to compete professionally. On the PGA tour from 1971-79, he found TV cameras following his drives, large crowds on the putting greens and competitions with famous golfers such as Arnold Palmer, Jonny Miller, Tom Watson and Lee Trevino. He won twice on the PGA tour. He won the 1972 Shreveport, La., Open and the 1975 B.C. Open. in Endicott, N.Y., and finished sixth in the PGA and the Bing Crosby Tournaments in 1973.
[caption id="attachment_1079" align="alignright" width="400" caption="AP Wire Photo from 1973 of Don Iverson playing in the PGA national championship."]
[/caption]He learned it was important to pay attention not only when he did well, but also when he played poorly. “You don’t let yourself get down. And you don’t let yourself get away from what you do right,” he notes. “You have to pay attention.”
And like anything in life, he explained, golf is about believing in yourself.
[/caption]
Playing a good round of golf is about perseverance, paying attention and — engaging the heart, says UW-La Crosse Alumnus Don Iverson. “You gotta want it,” he says.
Iverson did and he saw results.
He finished second and then first in two national championship competitions his freshman and sophomore years at UW-L in 1965 and 1966. He went on to compete in the PGA Tour.
For his UW-L accomplishments, Iverson, of La Crosse, was recognized in November as one of the all-time best golfers in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s 100-year history. His name was added to Men’s Golf All-Time team, a group of former student golfers from across the NCAA III conference of nine Wisconsin schools. They will be recognized along with other All-Time Teams as part of WIAC’s Centennial Celebration during the 2012-13 school year.
"As we embarked on the planning for the centennial, it became readily apparent that a celebration of this magnitude would not be complete without recognizing many of the student-athletes and coaches who have contributed to the success of the most accomplished Division III conference in NCAA history,” says WIAC Commissioner Gary Karner.
[caption id="attachment_1072" align="alignright" width="305" caption="UW-L Alumnus Don Iverson’s name was added to the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Men’s Golf All-Time team."][/caption]
Iverson learned perseverance in golf early. He spent his summers in the 1950s on the greens of the La Crosse Country Club. From morning to suppertime, the 10-year-old lugged his MacGreger clubs from hole to hole, sometimes hitting balls and sometimes competing with his brothers and friends.
It’s how he got good and learned his love of the game.
“Why did I love it? I haven’t got a clue. I did,” he says. “It’s all I wanted to do.”
He learned to play under pressure as he began competing in city, state and national competitions from age 11-17. He then joined the UW-L golf team where he competed individually and as a team in two national championship tournaments.
After graduating in 1968 with a stellar golf record, Iverson decided to compete professionally. On the PGA tour from 1971-79, he found TV cameras following his drives, large crowds on the putting greens and competitions with famous golfers such as Arnold Palmer, Jonny Miller, Tom Watson and Lee Trevino. He won twice on the PGA tour. He won the 1972 Shreveport, La., Open and the 1975 B.C. Open. in Endicott, N.Y., and finished sixth in the PGA and the Bing Crosby Tournaments in 1973.
[caption id="attachment_1079" align="alignright" width="400" caption="AP Wire Photo from 1973 of Don Iverson playing in the PGA national championship."][/caption]He learned it was important to pay attention not only when he did well, but also when he played poorly. “You don’t let yourself get down. And you don’t let yourself get away from what you do right,” he notes. “You have to pay attention.”
And like anything in life, he explained, golf is about believing in yourself.