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

Friend Wins Club Car | XXIO Northern Texas Senior PGA Professional Championship

By Erik Anderson • August 25, 2026
Six qualify for Senior PGA Professional Championship

Paez Prevails at Lajitas Golf Resort Women’s Section 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

McDonough Claims Northern Texas Assistant PGA Professional Championship

By Erik Anderson • August 17, 2026
Four Qualify for 50th Assistant PGA Professional Championship

Team of Murphy, Faulk Jr. Win Playoff to Capture 1st & 10th Tee Golf Energy Bar Pro-Junior 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.