Submitted photo: The Fort Dodge Country Club opened both its golf course and clubhouse in May of 1912.

As the pace of the world intensifies and our attention spans continue to wane, finding people willing to balance this hyperactivity with thorough research and historic preservation suddenly feels more imperative than ever.

Fort Dodge lost one of those stalwarts recently with the death of Al Nelson.

For at least the last quarter-century of his life — from the time he retired and moved back to his hometown — Nelson closely studied the ins and outs of our community’s 156-year track record. The 1963 Fort Dodge Senior High graduate poured his heart and soul into learning more about the connections and stories that make us unique.

From a sports perspective, Nelson’s impact was quietly immense. A high school teammate and classmate of Fort Dodge’s Dave Sergeant, Nelson developed a keen eye for one of the sports he had always been most passionate about: golf. Nelson developed patents on putters and bags he’d worked on as an inventor living in the Arizona area, and when he returned to Fort Dodge, he spent over two decades unveiling just how much the game had deeply impacted our town for well over 100 years.

Sergeant, an amateur history buff and long-time Fort Dodge loyalist himself, admits Nelson never ceased to amaze. The two often met in Sergeant’s local law office, where Nelson would reveal the fruits of his research labor.

Nelson told Sergeant about old golf courses that even pre-dated the Fort Dodge Country Club, which was founded in 1911. Around the turn of the century, there were tracks just west of town; by the old Expo Pool area; in Round Prairie; near what is now the hospital and Friendship Haven grounds; and the “River View Golf Club” next to the Des Moines River on the northwest side.

“Al kept coming up with this stuff, and I’m just shaking my head thinking, ‘how in the hell does he find this?'” Sergeant laughed. “He’d sit with me in my office and go over his latest batch of Fort Dodge history. He’d methodically sift through newspaper articles and other bits of information and piece it all together like a puzzle.

“The time he put into it and his attention to detail was incredible.”

Nelson delved deep into the archives for the FDCC, and most modern-day understanding of its rich heritage originated from his legwork. Sergeant said Nelson didn’t stop with just the general information, like the year it was built or when it opened for play. Nelson found the list of original members; the failed plans to contract from nine holes to seven in 1918, followed by the expansion to 18 in 1926; the fact that a stage coach used to reside where the clubhouse now stands; and that human bones, believe it or not, were discovered where the 18th green was first being constructed.

“That was an interesting one,” Sergeant noted.

Nelson also dusted off and shared with Sergeant stories of professional golf legends and future Hall of Famers Walter Hagen, Tommy Armour and Gene Sarazen visiting town and playing exhibition matches at the FDCC in the 1920s and 30s.

Nelson’s devotion to history and golf gave Sergeant an idea a little over 20 years ago that changed the trajectory of the Iowa Golf Association.

“The Iowa Golf Hall of Fame was going to be revitalized around 2002 or 2003,” Sergeant said. “It had been dormant for six or seven years prior. We needed help with the archives, and getting everything back in line with where it needed to be.

“I talked to (then-IGA executive director) Bill Dickens about getting Al on the (Hall of Fame) committee. It ended up being the smartest thing we could have done. He served for over 20 years, and was just so invaluable with his commitment to research and accuracy. It’s safe to say the IGA Hall of Fame wouldn’t be what it is today without him.”

Sergeant was always fascinated by Nelson’s itinerary. Nelson spent over a decade researching for and writing a book that was published in 2018, “Fort Dodge: America’s Frontier Town.”

“We’d have our (Hall of Fame) meetings, and he’d take off to do research on his next book or project,” said Sergeant, who was even nominated by Nelson and inducted himself in 2014. “He’d go from Des Moines to Chicago, looking for railroad maps, stagecoach lines or anything else affiliated with Fort Dodge. Then he’d head to Washington D.C. He had access to archives at the Library of Congress.”

A celebration of life was held to honor Nelson this past Sunday at Shiny Top Brewing in Fort Dodge.

“Al was so proud of our community and its lineage,” Sergeant said. “He learned so much and shared so much with all of us. He wanted to give something back…I know he always loved history anyway, but when he saw a need to fill in a lot of the blanks and verify what had happened here, he took it seriously and made it his life’s work.

“I really cherished our friendship, as did so many others. He’ll definitely be missed.”

Nelson once told The Messenger that studying history is “like a treasure hunt. You’re finding something that nobody else has really found.”

Thanks to Nelson’s efforts, we are a better, wiser community today.

Eric Pratt is Sports Editor at The Messenger. Contact him via email at sports@messengernews.net, or on Twitter @ByEricPratt