A Full Circle Summer
NTPGA Junior Tour Alumni Sweep the 2026 NTPGA Section Individual Majors
The Northern Texas PGA’s 2026 Section major championship schedule produced four champions with a unique connection. Every victor this summer launched his competitive journey on the Ewing Automotive NTPGA Junior Tour.
Corey Roberson, Chance Mulligan, Colton Hilburn, and Chase Walts each captured one of the four individual stroke-play majors this season. From the Eastern Championship in June to the Section Championship in September, the former NTPGA junior golfers completed a season-long sweep that demonstrates exactly where the NTPGA’s junior pathway can take you.
The run began in June at Sherrill Park Golf Course, where Corey Roberson, PGA Director of Golf at Lakewood Country Club, captured the Prize Possessions | E-Z-GO Eastern Championship. Roberson secured a one-stroke victory to claim the first individual major of the year.
“I remember when I was really young—9, 10, 11, 12—I feel like I won a lot of the junior tournaments. Then, as I got older, I started winning less and less. I only made it to state twice in high school, my freshman year and my senior year. Then, when I got into college, I didn’t win another golf tournament until my junior year, said Roberson. “It’s kind of crazy going through it like that. It makes you appreciate playing well and winning more. When you get used to doing it, and then you don’t do it for a really long time, it was fun.”
Two weeks later, Chance Mulligan continued the trend with a victory at the Northern Texas PGA Professional Championship at Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco. The win earned him a spot in the national PGA Professional Championship next spring. Another summer milestone to celebrate for Mulligan, he was promoted from assistant to Head Golf Professional at Odessa Country Club.
Mulligan’s connection to the NTPGA runs deep. He competed at every level of the Ewing Automotive Junior Tour, winning events on the Prep, Medalist, and All American Tours, before returning as a college intern to help run those same events.
"Maybe I'm the example of what the Section staff means by progressing through all the different levels, loving golf enough to make it a career, and then still being okay at it," Mulligan said.
The third individual major of the season headed west, where Colton Hilburn, assistant professional at San Angelo Country Club, returned to familiar territory. Growing up in West Texas, Hilburn played some of his earliest junior events at Midland Country Club. At these tournaments, he learned lessons in integrity that far outlasted any leaderboard success.
"How you perform on the golf course and your scorecard at the end of the day do not define who you are as a person," Hilburn said. "How you carry yourself, how you talk to others, and how you portray yourself are ultimately what you want to achieve."
Winning the Golf Pro Payments Western Championship was simply the cherry on top.
Chase Walts, PGA Assistant at Trinity Forest Golf Club, completed the unique sweep in mid-September by winning the Joyce Crane | Huntington Bank Section Championship at The Lakes at Castle Hills. With the victory, Walts earned a coveted exemption into the 2027 THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson.
The win marked an original full-circle moment. In 2015, the first professional tournament Walts ever attended as a spectator was a Web.com Tour (now Korn Ferry Tour) event held at Castle Hills. Eleven years later, on that same course, he qualified for his first PGA Tour event.
Despite the impressive achievement, Walts shared Hilburn's grounded perspective, saying, "I wish I could have learned earlier in life that my score doesn't make me who I am. It doesn't matter if I go out and shoot 59 or 99. When I go home at the end of the day, I'm still going to be the same person."
At first glance, the story of the 2026 NTPGA Major Champions is about a junior tour that successfully develops elite playing talent, but really it is how these four PGA Professionals approach the game.
The Ewing Automotive Junior Tour is built to progress players through competitive golf while instilling core values that extend far beyond the fairways. In 2026, Roberson, Mulligan, Hilburn, and Walts proved that the pathway doesn't just build great golfers; it builds great leaders.
