Matt Levins - The Hawk Eye
Allee Rose Booten wasn’t sure she was going to play in enough Iowa PGA Section junior golf tournaments this summer to chase a points championship.
Coming off a a third-place finish at the Class 2A girls state tournament as a freshman for Notre Dame-West Burlington, Booten planned to spend most of her summer focusing on sharpening her short game.
It turns out Booten had time to do both.
With her short game sharp as a tack, Booten accumulated 6,670 Player of the Year points to win the 2026 Iowa PGA Junior Tour Girls 14-15 Player of the Year award.
It is a testament to Booten’s perseverance, hard work and dedication.
“It was amazing to hear that I got it this year. I wasn’t even sure I was going to go for it,” Booten said. “It was much more difficult this time. When I won Player of the Year in 13U, we were just playing nine-hole tournaments. Now they are all 18-hole tournaments. Most of the tournament were grueling. You play 36 holes in two days and most of the weekends were really hot.”
Booten said she learned to adapt to playing in the hot conditions as the summer wore on.
“At one of the tournaments the heat index was 120 degrees,” Booten said. “I drank lots of water. My Mom helps fill up my water bottle and I drank a lot of Gatorade Fit and Powerade Zero. I have a separate towel to wipe of my clubs and I take off my gloves a lot.”
Booten played in 15 Iowa PGA Junior Tour events this season. She recorded victories at nine of those events, never finishing worse than runner-up in any start this season.
A few of her victories included the Principal Charity Classic hosted by Wakonda Club, the Western Iowa Junior Open at Carroll National and Fort Dodge CC, the Junior Tour Mid Summer Classic hosted by Otter Creek, the Southeast Iowa Junior Open at Shaeffer Memorial and Flint Hills, and the Albaugh Junior Invitational all two-day Major Point events.
Booten represented the Iowa Section at the Annual Junior Cup Matches, a Ryder Cup style event against the Gateway Section this year in Missouri.
Booten credits her work on her short game with helping her game make steady strides.
“I had a lot of perseverance this season,” Booten said. “There were a lot of ups and downs. There were times I would get in the car and I would be so disappointed and the next day I would do stellar. I kept practicing and kept texting my swing coach (Jeff Schmid). He told me you have to learn to deal with bad days. You have to have faith in yourself that you are going to come back and do well.”
Booten said she will continue working on her game, gearing up for next spring and her sophomore season for ND-WB. The Nikes are scheduled to open the 2027 season April 2 with the Nike Invitational at Flint Hills Municipal Golf Course.
“I am really focused on my preparation. I am practicing with a purpose,” Booten said. “I have to thank the Iowa PGA Section staff for all the time they put in during the summer for junior golf. I also have to thank my parents for all the sacrifices they make to allow me to play golf. I also have to thank the Lord. He is the reason I am doing so well. I am so thankful for Him.”