Friday will mark the beginning of the 70th annual Iowa Masters Golf Tournament, one of the premier amateur tournaments held in the state each year.

Veenker Memorial Golf Course, 1925 Stange Road, will be hosting the event, as it has since the tournament’s inaugural year in 1938.

“The course is in great shape and should be very playable,” said John Nervig, one of the tournament directors for the event. “The maintenance guys do a super job with the course and we have a lot of good players coming to compete this year, including Nathan Leary and a couple of the ISU players.”

Leary, who just graduated from Waterloo West High School and will be golfing for Iowa State next year, became the youngest ever Iowa Masters champion last year and will be competing again this year.

“It was a great accomplishment to win last year,” Leary said. “And I was really excited because I decided that I was coming to Iowa State right afterwards.”

ISU men’s golf coach Jay Horton knew he wanted Leary as soon as he saw him in last year’s Masters.

“I knew I wanted to have him on my team,” Horton said. “After he won the Masters, we sat and talked for an unofficial visit – I got him to commit right then.”

Leary chose the Cyclones over Big Ten suitors such as Michigan and Iowa, but not without reason.

“I got along with all the players and coaches real well,” Leary said. “It was a program that I felt was on the rise.”

Leary will be competing against 213 other amateur golfers, trying to become only the sixth person to ever win the event in back-to-back years. The last person to perform the feat was Jon Brown of Urbandale in 2004 and 2005 – the last champion before Leary.

Only amateur golfers are allowed to compete in the event. According to Rules of Golf, the definition of an amateur golfer is “one who plays the game as a non-remunerative and nonprofit making sport and who does not receive remuneration for teaching golf or for other activities because of golf skill or reputation.”

Because an amateur can’t receive cash, the prize for the winner of this year’s Iowa Masters is a glass bowl trophy and a $750 gift certificate to the Veenker Clubhouse.

Leary won the same prize last year and took full advantage of it. Along with his glass bowl, he bought two pairs of golf shoes, a golf bag, golfing socks and golf balls. He also bought his mom a hooded sweatshirt, a visor and a jacket.

In order to win the prize, a golfer must make it past the cut, which will be made after the second round is played on Saturday. Sunday will be the final round of play, and that’s when the spectators are encouraged to arrive.

“We usually get a fill of people on Sunday who come and watch the last nine holes,” Nervig said. “We encourage people to come watch the whole event, but especially on Sunday afternoon, it’s a good way to see the best golfers from around the area.”

For those interested in watching the event or trying out the course that has hosted 70 straight Iowa Masters, Veenker Memorial Golf Course is located across the street from Frederiksen Court on Stange Road.