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Golfing becomes family affair for Westemeiers
By DOUG NEWHOFF, Sports Editor
WATERLOO -- Usually, it takes an event like a wedding or a funeral to draw an extended family together.
All the Westemeier clan needs is an invitation to play golf.
Sunday at Irv Warren Memorial Golf Course, 108 members of the Westemeier family will tee it up for the 40th annual Westemeier Invitational, an event that has grown from a humble beginning.
"It was started by a couple of my uncles looking for something to do while all the women had a bridal shower," notes Mike Westemeier of Waterloo, a 1976 Central High graduate who has become the director of the Westemeier Invitational. "There were probably only six or eight people at the first one.
"Our families just keep growing after 40 years. We've got families with eight or nine kids. I've got 45 first-cousins. They're not even all coming back. We'd be pushing 150 or so if everybody came back. It's a lot of people. They all have to be in their own little groups, too."
This year's tournament will feature participants from across the country with relatives from Virginia, Texas, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Oregon, Illinois and Iowa committed to play. There's even a cousin from Germany who is planning to attend.
Strictly speaking, it's not entirely a family affair. Westemeier said there are as many as a dozen participants who are either fathers-in-law, mothers-in-law or special guests.
Still, three generations of Westemeiers will be knocking the ball around the course Sunday, beginning at 8 a.m. and concluding with a picnic when the golf is finished.
Depending on who shows up, it could take awhile. Some golfers, no doubt, will spend some time in the Westemeier woods, a group of around 40 trees the family donated around the No. 14 layout at Irv Warren. Others will see most of the Irv Warren course before their day is done.
"I had a cousin one year who wore out a golf court before he got to the 18th hole because he hit so many shots," Westemeier said with a laugh. "I think he shot like 170 or something. He hasn't played since.
"It was hilarious, except when you had to play behind him. All you'd see was his cart zig-zagging back and forth across the fairway."
Of course, there's a more serious side to the Westemeier Invitational, too. The prizes in the flighted event aren't much, but the bragging rights are big. Last year, Jim Westemeier registered the first hole-in-one in the tournament's history on No. 9 at Irv Warren.
"Like I tell people, to win our family tournament, you're going to have to shoot under par," noted Westemeier. "Us people who don't play a lot, we don't care, but the ones who play are out there to win. They know who they are, and last year it was a 69 that won. The year before, it was a 68."
Contact Doug Newhoff at (319) 291-1467 or doug.newhoff@wcfcourier.com
All the Westemeier clan needs is an invitation to play golf.
Sunday at Irv Warren Memorial Golf Course, 108 members of the Westemeier family will tee it up for the 40th annual Westemeier Invitational, an event that has grown from a humble beginning.
"It was started by a couple of my uncles looking for something to do while all the women had a bridal shower," notes Mike Westemeier of Waterloo, a 1976 Central High graduate who has become the director of the Westemeier Invitational. "There were probably only six or eight people at the first one.
"Our families just keep growing after 40 years. We've got families with eight or nine kids. I've got 45 first-cousins. They're not even all coming back. We'd be pushing 150 or so if everybody came back. It's a lot of people. They all have to be in their own little groups, too."
This year's tournament will feature participants from across the country with relatives from Virginia, Texas, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Oregon, Illinois and Iowa committed to play. There's even a cousin from Germany who is planning to attend.
Strictly speaking, it's not entirely a family affair. Westemeier said there are as many as a dozen participants who are either fathers-in-law, mothers-in-law or special guests.
Still, three generations of Westemeiers will be knocking the ball around the course Sunday, beginning at 8 a.m. and concluding with a picnic when the golf is finished.
Depending on who shows up, it could take awhile. Some golfers, no doubt, will spend some time in the Westemeier woods, a group of around 40 trees the family donated around the No. 14 layout at Irv Warren. Others will see most of the Irv Warren course before their day is done.
"I had a cousin one year who wore out a golf court before he got to the 18th hole because he hit so many shots," Westemeier said with a laugh. "I think he shot like 170 or something. He hasn't played since.
"It was hilarious, except when you had to play behind him. All you'd see was his cart zig-zagging back and forth across the fairway."
Of course, there's a more serious side to the Westemeier Invitational, too. The prizes in the flighted event aren't much, but the bragging rights are big. Last year, Jim Westemeier registered the first hole-in-one in the tournament's history on No. 9 at Irv Warren.
"Like I tell people, to win our family tournament, you're going to have to shoot under par," noted Westemeier. "Us people who don't play a lot, we don't care, but the ones who play are out there to win. They know who they are, and last year it was a 69 that won. The year before, it was a 68."
Contact Doug Newhoff at (319) 291-1467 or doug.newhoff@wcfcourier.com
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