Zach Steffen’s lifelong love of golf

9/2/2026

Did you know that Iowa has one of the highest rates of golf courses per capita? The roughly 400 courses within its borders mean there are 12.46 golf courses per 100,000 people in the Hawkeye state. Nearly 20 golf courses exist around the Des Moines metro alone. One of the area’s best players, Zach Steffen, shared his thoughts and journey with the half-century-old sport. 

Steffen grew up on the south side, especially close to one of Des Moines most well-known courses: Blank. 

“It was an easy connection to start playing golf there,” Steffen said. 

Steffen’s best round came at Blank, where he shot a 61. He believes it is the course record to this day. 

Growing up, his father and grandfather were giving him an early introduction to the game. 

“They were both golfers. I’d go and spend a lot of time in the summer at my grandparents in Oskaloosa, and pretty much my fondest memories are going to the golf course with my grandpa and playing first thing in the morning,” Steffen said.

Steffen would stick with his south-side roots and play golf at Lincoln High School. It was his freshman year when he truly got into the swing of things.

“I was able to be on varsity the whole season and ended up qualifying as a freshman individually for state. I think that was where I was like, ‘OK. I’m pretty good at this,’ ” Steffen said.

While at Lincoln, in addition to qualifying for state as an individual as a freshman, he lost the state title on a playoff hole as a junior and helped the Railsplitters qualify as a team for the state tournament. The latter was one of his favorite golf memories. 

“The look on my coach’s face when we qualified as a team my senior year to make it to state — it was the upset of the century for sure. We had to have a team get disqualified because a kid signed for the wrong score for us to make it happen. I don’t think he had had a team qualify for state ever in his coaching career. That was awesome,” Steffen said.

The success didn’t stop in high school. Steffen would go on to win the national championship with Indian Hills Community College his freshman year, which helped him earn a scholarship to play golf at Iowa State. 

“I didn’t really have much of a plan work-wise. So I decided to turn pro and played professionally for about four full years down in Florida, down in Arizona, back up in the Midwest,” Steffen said. “I think I’ve had more success as a pro than I did as an amateur playing in college.”

Steffen won one of his earliest tournaments while playing on the Dakota’s tour. He has also qualified for a Korn Ferry Tour event and a PGA Tour event, the John Deere Classic. Those are some the best career highlights he points to. 

“The most recent thing that I’m trying to do is win the Herman Sani tournament in Iowa the most times that anybody ever has. I’ve won it three times. I think the number to beat is five,” Steffen said.

Steffen didn’t end up winning this year’s Herman Sani, but a three-time winner is already impressive. In his time as a golfer, he has two hole-in-ones — one in a tournament and one in a casual round, both witnessed by his dad. 

He adds that his favorite club is his putter, but his favorite club for a full swing is his seven iron, one of which he had to retire because the clubface had become worn down from striking the center so often. 

Steffen doesn’t compete as a full-time pro anymore, but he stays close to the game by teaching golf lessons. Although it was not something he originally planned on doing, it has become a passion. 

“People had asked me a lot when I was playing, ‘Are you ever going to give lessons?’ And I kind of scoffed at it. Like, no, I’m not going to do any of that. Then, when I stopped playing, I needed something to do. I started doing it, and I fell in love with it,” Steffen said. “The excitement that I see people get when you tell them to do something and they do it and they pull it off and they hit a shot that they’ve never hit before — that was addicting to me, and I’ve never looked back. I really enjoy it. I enjoy working with high school kids and giving them quality instruction to help them reach their potential. I think it’s really fun to help people, and that was always something that I wanted to do, and I just didn’t know how I was going to be able to do it. I’m glad I could do it through golf.”

One of the main reasons Steffen says golf is the sport he has stuck with for so long, and enjoys so much, is the personal challenge the game presents him.

“I’m never going to stop learning. I’m constantly trying to figure out how to do something better, how to teach better, how to improve people faster, and I think that’s what I love about it. It’s a never-ending journey of gathering information and relaying that information the best way that I can. And you know, it’s just a fun thing to go out and do for the rest of your life. I see people that are out there playing until they’re 95 years old, and I think that’s awesome,” Steffen said. n

 

Cyote Williams was born and raised on the south side of Des Moines and writes about entertainment, sports and personalties across the Des Moines metro for CITYVIEW. Phone: 515-953-4822 x333.