Golf driving retired doctor around Iowa

Debra George is coloring the state of Iowa purple, one golf course at a time.

The retired Mount Vernon family doctor is traveling up, down and across the Hawkeye state in an attempt to play a round of golf in all 99 counties.

'I keep a whole graphic with a purple highlighter,” George said. 'I just have four unhighlighted now.”

Three of those four - Pottawattamie, Shelby and Mills counties in western Iowa - will be highlighted by the end of the month.

Her journey will culminate at The Harvester, Golfweek and Golf Magazine's top-ranked course in Iowa, in Marshall County on her 60th birthday in October.

'I've never gotten to play that (course),” George said. 'I thought playing the final county on my 60th birthday would be cool.”

But it wasn't long ago George, also an avid tennis player, had given up the sport due to a wrist injury.

Turns out the pain came from piano lessons, not golf, so after about 20 years off, she hit the links again in 2011 and fell in love.

'I'm not a really excellent golfer. I call myself an enthusiastic golfer,” George said. 'When you hit that one, connect on that shot, it can just be amazing.”

George grew up in Boone and has spent her entire life in Iowa. The game of golf has given her an opportunity to see all corners of the state she loves.

'Iowa's a really beautiful state,” George said. 'The settings of the golf courses are beautiful and they take pride in them.”

Chatting with the locals, dining in the small-town cafes and enjoying the quirks of those towns - mentioning specifically Lake City's motto, 'We have everything but a lake” - have been highlights, but above all, George enjoys the views the state's golf courses have to offer.

'I like to be outside,” George said, 'and just stare off at the sky and the grass and the hills.”