Dad felt good after round of golf, so he bought Iowa lottery ticket. Then he won big

A car salesman started his day off with a round of golf, and it only got better from there.

“I was feeling good about myself and it’s usually in those moments when I buy a ticket,” Bryan Doornenbal told Iowa Lottery officials. “I’m in a good mood, something good just happened, and we try to parlay that into more luck.”

Doornenbal, of Pleasant Hill, went to his hometown Hy-Vee Fast & Fresh and bought a $30 Premiere scratch game ticket, according to a news release.

He scratched the lottery ticket while still in the parking lot, officials said, and realized he might have won big. Then he rushed home to have his wife look over the ticket.

“She scanned it and then we knew,” the 36-year-old husband said when claiming his prize on June 15.

He had won $30,000.

“It’s kind of just a surreal moment,” Doornenbal said. “You get that extra set of eyeballs on it, hopefully with a loved one, and then you celebrate.”

The father of four said he plans to pay off a vehicle, and he plans to buy a Power Wheel car and baseball and softball bats for his kids, according to the release.

Pleasant Hill is part of the Des Moines metropolitan area.

This story was originally published June 20, 2023 at 2:36 PM with the headline "Dad felt good after round of golf, so he bought Iowa lottery ticket. Then he won big."