Ryba Outshines the Field in Longview to Win the Northern Texas PGA Professional Championship

Madison Koen • September 20, 2022

LONGVIEW, TX – Matt Ryba, PGA assistant professional at Preston Trail Golf Club, was victorious at the 2022 Northern Texas PGA Professional Championship. He shot rounds of 65-66–131, an impressive 9-under-par. Today’s win marks his first individual Section major championship in his six years in the Northern Texas Section. 


“It’s exciting! It still hasn’t set in yet I don’t think,” said Ryba on his victory. “My natural ball flight is a big slinging draw so a lot of those dogleg-lefts kinda fit my eye and the putter was hot this week so everything fell into place, it was fun.”


Ryba’s final round consisted of seven birdies and three bogeys, allowing him a comfortable finish 5 shots ahead of second place. He will head back to Dallas with a $3,000 check.


The field was competing for seven qualifying spots into the 56th PGA Professional Championship set to take place April 30 - May 3, 2023 in Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico. The seven qualifiers are listed below along with five alternates.

 

Qualifiers:

  1. Matt Ryba, PGA assistant professional at Preston Trail Golf Club
  2. Gabe Reynolds, PGA director of golf at Topgolf Dallas
  3. Spencer Dillard, PGA assistant professional at Preston Trail Golf Club
  4. Sam Randolph, PGA director of instruction at Mira Vista Country Club
  5. Matt Lohmeyer, PGA director of instruction at SLIC GOLF
  6. Shane Pearce, PGA head professional at Hurricane Creek Country Club
  7. Brian Norman, PGA instructor at Lakewood Country Club



Alternates:

  1. Jeff Barton, PGA director of instruction at Preston Trail Golf Club
  2. Adam Headley, PGA head professional at Green Tree Country Club
  3. Brad Simons, PGA head professional at Northwood Club
  4. Brian Coe, PGA instructor at The Highlands Performance Golf Center
  5. Jon Antunes, PGA director of instruction at Heart of Texas Golf Academy


Those seven will also be joined by three other NTPGA professionals who were previously exempt. JJ Killeen, director of golf at Red Feather Golf and Social Club and 2021 NTPGA Player of the Year, was already exempt for the Championship via the “Section’s pick” which is awarded annually to the reigning Northern Texas PGA Player of the Year. Brandon Bingaman, PGA assistant professional at Bent Tree Country Club and Nic Ishee, PGA assistant professional at Preston Trail Golf Club earned exemptions because they played in the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills. In total, the NTPGA will send 10 professionals to New Mexico in April.

 

The Northern Texas PGA Professional Championship featured a $25,000 purse. The Championship was presented by Cadillac, Club Car, and Rolex, and was supported by Titleist / FootJoy, Callaway, Nike, and TaylorMade. Supporting partners were the Golf Channel and PGA TOUR. 

 

This Championship was the last of four individual stroke play events that comprise the Yamaha Golf-Car Company | Srixon / Cleveland Golf / Asics Player of the Year Points Challenge presented by Adventures In Golf and served as the final chance to earn points for the 2022 Texas Joe Black Cup and Levy Cup teams. These teams will be finalized and announced in the coming weeks.


Pinecrest Country Club

Par: 35-35–70

Yardage: 6,513 yards


By Steven Clements April 2, 2025
DALLAS, Texas (April 1) – Brian Norman, PGA instructor at Lakewood Country Club, and Bobby Massa (a) fought through a 3-hole playoff to win the 2025 Srixon and Nike Pro-Scratch title. It marks their third victory in four attempts. Starting the final round one-stroke behind the lead, they carded the second lowest round of the day at 8-under-par, 32-32–64. Their five birdies on the back-nine was enough to get them into a playoff. Joining them in the playoff was Peyton Coursey, Associate at Dallas Athletic Club, and David Schultz (a). The pair turned in the lowest round of the day and the Championship at 9-under-par, 31-32–63. Both teams played in the favorable morning conditions, which featured tame winds, compared to the gusty afternoon conditions. This also left them both with lengthy waits to see if their scores would hold up through the afternoon wave. They did. The playoff for the Open Division title began on the par-4, 18th hole. Both teams made par and they proceeded to the par-5, 3rd hole. Two birdies on the par-5, 3rd hole led both teams back to the 18th tee. All four players hit the fairway. Norman was the first to hit his approach and he hit the green. Then the pair from Dallas Athletic Club both missed the green. Finally, Massa (a) hit his approach to 15-feet, just off the green, long left of the hole. Massa (a) was the last to attempt his birdie opportunity and stepped up to the downhill left-to-right putt with a chance to win the Championship. Tracking the whole way, it dropped and the pair had won their third Pro-Scratch title. “We got off to a kind of slow start, but got on the back and got hot and made some birdies,” said Norman about their round this morning. “We were just ham and egging it,” added Massa (a). “We think very similarly about golf so it’s easy to bounce ideas back and forth,” said Massa (a) about the three-time winning duo. The team earned $2,000 ($1,000 each) for the victory today.
By Steven Clements April 1, 2025
Two Teams Tied for Senior Division
By Steven Clements March 25, 2025
Jewell and Ott Claim Their Second Senior Division Title
By Steven Clements March 24, 2025
SHREVEPORT, Louisiana (March 24) – Two teams in both the Open and Senior Divisions are tied for the lead after 18 holes of play at the Boxto Pro-Pro Championship taking place at Southern Trace Country Club. The lead is at 5-under-par 67 in both divisions. After receiving 1.5 inches of rain overnight, Southern Trace Country Club proved to be a lengthy test during round one for the 62 teams competing in the Four-Ball, 36-hole Stroke Play Championship. The field is vying for a piece of the $34,500 overall Championship purse. The Open Division is led by the team of Eric Dye, PGA assistant professional at Dallas Athletic Club, and Peyton Coursey, Associate at Dallas Athletic Club, and the team of John Sikes, PGA director of instruction at Hollytree Country Club, and Jake Smelser, Associate at John Sikes Golf Academy. “The golf course was great, [the] weather was great. I think we were both just so happy the wind wasn’t blowing like it has been,” said Sikes about the first round. Looking to the final round tomorrow he said that he and Smelser are going to, “Just have fun and enjoy it. That’s how you play good golf.” Five teams sit only one stroke behind the two leading teams and will be aiming to take the title tomorrow. The two teams that lead the Senior Division are Ronny Glanton, PGA head professional at Sherrill Park Golf Course, and Britt Patton, PGA Life Member, as well as Brad Ott, PGA director of instruction at TPC Craig Ranch, and Vince Jewell, PGA instructor at Woodbridge Golf Club. Both teams carded rounds of 67, with six birdies and one bogey. They hold a two-stroke lead over the third-place team of Robert Singletary, PGA director of golf at Grapevine Golf Course, and Stuart Hendley, PGA director of instruction at Dallas Athletic Club. The final round will begin at 9 a.m. tomorrow. The Boxto Pro-Pro Championship is presented by Adventures In Golf, CMC Design, Columbia Golf, E-Z-GO, Golf ScoreCards, Inc., Lorente Golf and THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson. Southern Trace Country Club Par: 36-36–72 Open Division Yarage: 7,038 yards Senior Division Yardage 6,572 yards View current results HERE .
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