Mark Egly, PGA

Board Service

1. Broadlawns Medical Center Foundation, Des Moines: Board of Directors, 2024–present

Granted Patent

1. Inventor, U.S. Patent No. 12,512,191 B2 (granted December 30, 2025), System for Insurance Underwriting and Post Policy Issuance Action (Fair Underwriting)

Pending Patent Application

1. Inventor, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2022/0160847 A1 (Appl. No. 17/527,730), Method of preventing and/or treating a plurality of diseases. Filed November 16, 2021; published May 26, 2022; claims priority to a provisional application filed November 20, 2020. Pending; not yet granted.

Awards and Honors

1. Iowa Golf Hall of Fame: inducted 2022 (Iowa Golf Association)
2. Jackson Golf Hall of Fame (Jackson, Michigan): inducted 2026
3. 2024 National PGA of America Deacon Palmer Award, presented November 6, 2024, at the National PGA meeting award ceremony in Grand Rapids, Michigan
4. Iowa PGA Teacher of the Year, 7 times: 2002, 2006, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2021
5. Iowa PGA Player Development Award, 4 times: 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020
6. Iowa PGA Horton Smith (Professional Development) Award: 2017
7. Iowa PGA Section Deacon Palmer Award: 2022
8. IGA PGA Professional of the Year: 2021
9. GRAA Growth of the Game Teaching Professional, Elite Member Status: 2023, 2024, 2025
10. Des Moines Driving Range, GRAA Top 50 Stand-Alone Facility: 2023, 2024, 2025
11. Golf Digest Best Teachers in Your State, 2019–20: No. 4 in Iowa
12. Golf Digest No. 1 teacher in Iowa: 2002–2008
13. Golf Digest Best Teachers in State: 2017–18
14. U.S. Kids Golf Top 50 Teacher

Major Tournament Wins

1. 1990 Iowa Open Champion (212, Lake Panorama)
2. 1988 Iowa PGA Match Play Champion
3. Numerous other Iowa PGA wins early in his career
4. PGA TOUR events in 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1989 and 1995
5. Qualified for the 1995 PGA Tour John Deere Classic at age 40, after a 1990 car accident injured his right arm and shoulder
6. Final stage of PGA TOUR Qualifying School, 1979

Education

1. Michigan State University: education degree, 1982, with coursework in kinesiology, physics and human anatomy. Men's golf letterman, 1976–1977.
2. Drake University: one term in 1981, coursework in kinesiology, physics and human anatomy, to enhance his education.
3. Jackson College: 1973–1975, general studies.
4. Lumen Christi High School, Jackson, Michigan: 1973
5. PGA of America member since 1983 (Iowa Section)

Summary

Mark Egly has taught golf for more than 40 years. He grew up in Jackson, Michigan, played golf at Michigan State, and began teaching in Des Moines in 1979. He has been head professional at the Des Moines Driving Range since 1994 and its owner since 2002. He is a member of the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame and the Jackson Golf Hall of Fame, received the 2024 National PGA of America Deacon Palmer Award, and has been named Iowa PGA Teacher of the Year seven times. As a player, he won the 1988 Iowa PGA Match Play and the 1990 Iowa Open. He still teaches at the range, where high school golfers practice and take lessons for free.

Teaching

1. Des Moines Driving Range: head professional, 1994–present; owner since 2002. Willow Creek Golf Course, 1980–1984. Des Moines Golf & Country Club, 1979. Traveling golf schools with the Turner Golf Group and John Jacobs Golf Schools.
2. The Egly Method: physics and natural human motion. It grew out of his Michigan State coursework in kinesiology, physics and anatomy, and this coursework inspired his research.
3. Jack Newman, former student: 2008 United States Golf Association U.S. Amateur Public Links champion.
4. Mike McCoy, former student: 2013 United States Golf Association U.S. Mid-Amateur champion. He also won the 2022 Senior British Amateur at Royal Dornoch and the 2025 USGA U.S. Senior Amateur at Oak Hills, becoming the first player to win both the Mid-Amateur and the Senior Amateur. He captained the winning 2023 USA Walker Cup team at St Andrews.

Foundation and Community

1. The First Tee of Central Iowa host facility since its inception in the 1990s
2. Free range use and instruction for high school golfers and teams
3. Free youth programs, including with the Polk County Sheriff's Office and refugee families
4. Mark Egly Foundation: founded 2023 to educate physicians and individuals about Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency and support patients

In the Media

Recognition from the organizations that shape the game means the most when it tells the whole story. This section shares those moments in their own words.

1. A nearly 12-minute interview produced by the PGA of America, featuring Mark Egly in conversation about his life and career in golf, now featured here from Mark's YouTube channel.