Northern Texas PGA Announces Ronny Glanton as Namesake For New Golf Park / Endowed Scholarships Added Also

Madison Koen • September 14, 2022

FRISCO, TX – Last week, Northern Texas PGA Executive Director/CEO, Mark Harrison, surprised long-time NTPGA professional Ronny Glanton with the news of being honored as the namesake for the new NTPGA Golf Park in Frisco, Texas. It will be called “The Ronny” Golf Park. 


Harrison was joined by Glanton’s close friends Philip Bleakney, PGA head professional at Luna Vista GC in Dallas and Eric Oliver of Abilene. In addition, Jon Morgan of Austin was in attendance. Morgan and Mark Anthony of Dallas supported the NTPGA Foundation’s Capital Campaign and made this naming opportunity to recognize Glanton possible. Glanton and Morgan grew up together in Mineral Wells and have been lifelong friends since. 


Glanton has been the head professional at Sherrill Park Golf Course in Richardson, Texas, since 1985. He served as President of the Northern Texas PGA Section two times, the only professional in the Section’s history to do so. The first being from 2006-2007 and the second from 2018-2019. The most notable accomplishment under Glanton’s leadership, in 2018, was the announcement of PGA Frisco and a new home for the Northern Texas PGA. Glanton was also honored by the PGA of America in 2020 with the National Golf Professional of the Year Award. Through his entire career Glanton has been a large proponent of junior golf.


“The Ronny” will be a two acre lighted synthetic turf golf park. It features two replica putting greens from the 18th greens of the East and West Courses of PGA Frisco (reduced in size), two chipping greens, a third practice putting green, an 18-hole putting course and a flex area with a playground and obstacle course specifically for kids. Programming will specifically target middle school age kids and younger. It will be mostly group-based instruction and development with an emphasis on fun, enjoyment and graduation opportunities. The purpose of the pavilion and “The Ronny” is to expand the NTPGA Foundation’s community outreach and growth of the game programs. “The Ronny” Golf Park will open in 2023 and will feature signage (attached) along with a quote from Jon Morgan and Mark Anthony as follows: 


“Leadership is all about relationships—connections made and friendships created. Like

friendship, true leadership means having integrity, and encouraging others to speak up and tell

their truth. When you do these things, the fine line between leadership and friendship is rendered invisible.


Ronny, thank you for your leadership over more than 30 years of dedicated service and

commitment to the Northern Texas PGA and the PGA of America. Your efforts were deservedly

celebrated upon being honored with the Association’s highest award in 2020 as the PGA of

America’s Golf Professional of the Year.


More importantly, thank you for your friendship. We are honored to name this golf park, ‘The

Ronny,’ where bonds like ours, and leaders like you, will be created again and again.” 


Along with “The Ronny” Golf Park, the new home of the NTPGA will boast two buildings. The 7,000-square-foot Dr. Jerry J. Ransom Northern Texas PGA Golf House and the 2,500-square-foot Randy Smith & Dr. Bill Blair Who’s Next Pavilion. 


In addition, thanks to support from Eric Oliver, it was announced the same evening that three new NTPGA scholarships would be awarded and also endowed. The new scholarships are named the Perry Arthur Scholarship, the Philip Bleakney Scholarship and the Ronny Glanton Scholarship. Arthur, Bleakney and Glanton were part owners of the Golf Club of Dallas along with Eric Oliver and Jon Morgan. The club was sold in 2020. 


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About the Northern Texas PGA

The Northern Texas PGA is one of 41 Sections of the PGA of America and its geographic territory includes the State of Texas north of the 31st latitude, or just north of Austin. The Northern Texas PGA has approximately 900 PGA members and associates employed at more than 300 facilities.  The Northern Texas PGA has 17 full-time staff members and is currently headquartered in Dallas.

 

The Northern Texas PGA will be joining the PGA of America national office relocation to Frisco in the fall of 2022 with its own state-of-the-art headquarters on the PGA Frisco campus.

 

In addition to managing the day-to-day affairs of the Section, the Northern Texas PGA also operates a non-profit and charitable foundation that focuses on five pillars: junior golf, college scholarships, inclusion, internships and military & veterans.

 

About the Northern Texas PGA Foundation

Founded in 1983, the nationally acclaimed Northern Texas PGA Junior Golf Foundation, a 501 (c)(3) tax-exempt organization, was rebranded in 2019 as the Northern Texas PGA Foundation. The Northern Texas PGA Foundation focuses on five pillars: junior golf, college scholarships, inclusion, internships and military & veterans.

 

The Northern Texas PGA Foundation is governed by the Northern Texas PGA Board of Directors and is supported by the Northern Texas PGA Foundation Trustees.


By Erik Anderson August 25, 2026
Six qualify for Senior PGA Professional Championship
By Erik Anderson August 25, 2026
Irving, Texas (August 25) – The Nelson Golf and Sports Club hosted two Northern Texas PGA Major Championships this week, the Club Car | XXIO Northern Texas Senior PGA Professional Championship and the Lajitas Golf Resort Women’s Section Championship. Clayton Friend claimed the Senior title, and Kim Paez claimed the Women’s title. Kim Paez, PGA Member at Ping Inc., claimed the Lajitas Golf Resort Women’s Section Championship title, carding rounds of 70-72–142. Paez finished the Championship at 2-over-par, winning by four strokes. She began the final round one stroke back of Katie Flinn, director of instruction at Topgolf - Fort Worth, and her 2-over-par final round was enough to come from behind and secure the win. This is Paez’s first victory with the Northern Texas PGA since joining the section in 2025. “I stuck to my game plan this week, which was fairways and greens,” Paez said. “I think I missed only one or two fairways yesterday. I played pretty conservatively, but it paid off in the end.” Reflecting on her final round performance, Paez said, "It was a little bit windier today. It made me calculate a lot more on the tee shots.” It was an up-and-down round for Paez, but she hit her approach on hole 18 to two feet and tapped in for birdie. “The last three holes are pretty gettable, so I just had to remind myself that no matter how the round was going, I was going to have opportunities to close it out at the end.” Next week, September 3-5, Paez joins four other PGA female PGA Teaching, Coaching and Club Professionals from across the country to represent the United States in the fourth Women’s PGA Cup. They will take on Australia, Canada, Great Britain & Ireland, South Africa and Sweden in a 54-hole stroke play format at Carden Park Golf Resort in Chester, Cheshire, United Kingdom. “It is the biggest honor. When I first got my PGA Membership, and I found out about the PGA Cup, it became one of my biggest goals,” said Paez about making the team. “I was constantly checking the rankings, and coming into the KPMG [Women’s PGA Championship] and the LPGA Professionals Championship, I knew I had to lock in and give myself the best chance.” “I am so excited and so proud to represent the Northern Texas PGA as well, so hopefully I make everyone proud,” added Paez. This 36-hole Northern Texas PGA major championship is the fourth of five individual stroke play events that comprise the Woman Player of the Year points standings. The 22-player field competed for a purse of $7,500, and Kim Paez took home $1,050. The Lajitas Golf Resort Women’s Section Championship was presented by A.PUTNAM and XXIO. The Nelson Golf and Sports Club Par: 35-35–70 Women’s Championship Yardage: 5,878 yards
By Erik Anderson August 17, 2026
Four Qualify for 50th Assistant PGA Professional Championship
By Erik Anderson August 10, 2026
PLANO, Texas (August 10) – Seth Murphy, Associate at John Sikes Golf Academy and Thomas Faulk Jr. (a) captured the 1st & 10th Tee Golf Energy Bar Pro-Junior Championship title. The pair carded a 33-31–64, 8-under-par and made birdie on the first playoff hole. The pair began their round on the 8th hole and opened with a par. Six birdies on their next eight holes set them up for success for the first round. Their final nine holes were steady, with 7 pars and two birdies, but the bogey-free round was enough to get them into a two-team playoff against Ryan Grider, Associate at The Lakes at Castle Hills, and Colten Karstendiek (a). After a safe drive on the first playoff hole from Faulk Jr., Murphy was able to attack and had just 135 yards into the par-4 18th hole. He hit a pitching wedge to 10 feet and buried the putt. Murphy said, “He [Thomas] made about a 20-footer on our second hole, and that just put us on the pace we needed to get some momentum going. We gave ourselves lots of opportunities, double opportunities, where we were both putting for birdie, which is always nice. Just overall, we teamed very well today.” Faulk Jr added, “I started off hot and helped him out, and then when I was winding down, he got things going. We just made putts and pars when we needed to. It was just the team working.” Ryan Grider, Associate at The Lakes at Castle Hills, and Colten Karstendiek (a) fired 32-32–64 to finish in second place. Matt Weinberger, PGA senior director of member and amateur championships at PGA of America and Owen Layton (a) shot 31-35–66 to claim third place. The Championship featured 64 teams consisting of one PGA professional and one junior golfer between the ages of 7-19. The teams competed in a Four-Ball Stroke Play format. There was also a second division within the Championship where PGA professionals and their children competed for a separate title. The nine-team division was claimed for the third consecutive year by Jon Antunes, PGA director of instruction at Heart of Texas Golf Academy and his daughter Hannah Antunes (a) with a score of 34-34–68. For the professionals in the field today, there was a skins game with a $4,500 payout. Only one skin was earned today. Hanna Dickens, Associate at The Ronny Golf Park, made a birdie on hole 14 to earn the skin. The 1st & 10th Tee Golf Energy Bar Pro-Junior Championship was presented by CMC Design, PGA TOUR, and THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson.