Meet the Member: Dr. Rich Ballinger, PGA

Special message from your Executive Director around exciting times ahead as your dedicated staff continues to develop! SPRING, TX (October 15, 2025) – As the Southern Texas PGA looks to finish out 2025 in style and kickstart 2026 on the right foot, I have some important announcements to share regarding your hard-working STPGA Staff. As announced in September, Tuesday, November 4 th will be Scott Archer’s last day at the Southern Texas PGA. He has accepted a job with the PGA of America in Frisco, TX, and we wish him nothing but the best. Since Scott’s announcement, I have spent a lot of time on our team, planning moving forward, and overall organizational structure to ensure we uphold all aspects of our business. When making decisions on staffing moving forward, three items were at the center of my decisions. Growth opportunities for current staff members Ensuring institutional knowledge within the team stays connected Overall efficiency within our operation

Scott Olsen, PGA – Hospitality Beyond the Game

SPRING, TX (October 14, 2025) – The Southern Texas PGA is proud to announce that Jim Nittoli, PGA Director of Golf at San Antonio Country Club, has been named the 2025 STPGA Golf Professional of the Year. This prestigious honor recognizes Nittoli’s exceptional leadership, dedication to growing the game, and his impactful contributions to both his facility and the broader golf community. He leads a distinguished group of award winners honored at both the Section and Chapter levels, each exemplifying the values, professionalism, and service that define the Southern Texas PGA. Elected to PGA Membership in 1993, Nittoli has dedicated more than three decades to elevating the private club experience and shaping the next generation of golf professionals. For the past 16 years at San Antonio Country Club, he has led the club as they have seen record growth in rounds played, tournament participation, and golf association membership, while also building a golf culture that members and staff alike are proud to call their own.

MONT BELVIEU, TX (October 10) – What a week, what a playoff, and what a Champion! Congratulations to PGA Life Member Omar Uresti for winning back-to-back Energy Transfer Texas Senior Opens presented by the City of Mont Belvieu, OPD, Vortech Contracting and Riceland. With this win, Uresti becomes the first ever back-to-back winner of this prestige Championship. Known as the largest State Senior Open in the country, this year’s event once again drew some of the nation’s best senior professionals and amateurs to Eagle Pointe Golf Club in Mont Belvieu, Texas. With competitors representing 21 different states and traveling a combined 62,000 miles to be here, this year’s field showcased depth, high quality golf, and a remarkable Champion. The 54-hole Championship was not enough to crown a Champion as the event needed to go into a three-way playoff between Uresti, Guy Boros from Plantation, FL (2022 Champion), and Wes Short from Buda, TX. The playoff hole was the par-5 18 th hole and Uresti was first to play. “My mindset was to attack,” said Uresti, who is now heading to the Senior PGA Professional Championship in Florida as his next event. “I wanted to apply as much pressure as possible to the other two players with hitting high quality shots and I am happy I was able to do that.” Uresti had 51 yards to the flag for his third shot and hit an unbelievable shot to 10 inches to make birdie to win the Energy Transfer Texas Senior Open. “It feels great to win as this is the highlight of my year. I have not played that well this year and it was great to get off to a fast start on Wednesday and then deliver in the playoff for the victory.” Uresti was leading the event from the beginning of the week when he shot a low tournament round of 7-under 64. While the leaderboard saw lots of people trying to catch Uresti, Boros and Short were the only two but fell just a little short in the playoff. Eagle Pointe Golf Club and the City of Mont Belvieu have served as home to the championship since 2014, and their continued partnership with the Southern Texas PGA has helped elevate the event to new heights. This year also marked the continued growth of a strong alliance between Energy Transfer, the City of Mont Belvieu, Eagle Pointe, and the Southern Texas PGA, which recently extended its collaboration for another three years, ensuring the Energy Transfer Texas Senior Open will remain in Mont Belvieu through 2028. Earlier in the week, the Energy Transfer Texas Senior Open Pro-Am officially kicked off the festivities, featuring 23 teams in support of PGA REACH Southern Texas and the Energy Transfer Scholarship Fund. The Pro-Am exemplifies the community spirit that drives the event, uniting players, partners, and supporters to make a lasting impact through the game of golf. The Southern Texas PGA extends its sincere gratitude to Energy Transfer, the City of Mont Belvieu, Riceland, Vortech Contracting, OPD, and Scott Olsen, PGA Head Professional, alongside his entire team at Eagle Pointe Golf Club for their continued hospitality year after year. This year’s event featured a purse of $100,000 with $20,000 going to the winner. This purse along with the Pro-Am and its partners showcases why this is the largest State Senior Open in the country. The 30th Energy Transfer Texas Senior Open will take place October 7-9, 2026 with the Pro-Am taking place October 6. Thank you again to Energy Transfer and congratulations to Omar Uresti. We will see everyone again next year. Click here for the final results.

MONT BELVIEU, TX (October 7, 2025) – The stage is set and players are ready to go. It is officially the week of the Energy Transfer Texas Senior Open! For the 29th time, over 120 Senior Professionals and Amateurs are set to play in the largest State Senior Open in the country. Hosted at Eagle Pointe Golf Club in Mont Belvieu, TX, since 2014, players will be faced with a golf course in fast and firm conditions. The event commenced today with the famous Energy Transfer Texas Senior Open Pro-Am. This featured 23 incredible teams that support the event and the philanthropic initiatives of the PGA of America REACH Foundation Southern Texas. We would like to congratulate the winning team of Barbers Hill Education Foundation, featuring Fred Skinner, George Barrera, Clay Fullick, and Clint Pipes, led by Anthony Rodriguez.  Prior to the Pro-Am starting, the STPGA, in partnership with Energy Transfer and the City of Mont Belvieu, announced a partnership extension for the next three years, keeping the Energy Transfer Texas Senior Open at Eagle Pointe each October. “We could not be more excited to continue our relationship to host this event, but also give back to the local community,” said Thomas Hutton, Executive Director for the STPGA. “This partnership with Energy Transfer started in 2015 and continues to grow each year, and we are extremely grateful for their support.”

2026 looks to continue record participation from 2025, but also find new ways to engage with PGA Members throughout the year! SPRING, TX (October 1, 2025) – As we enter the final quarter of an amazing 2025 year, the Southern Texas PGA is excited to announce our schedule and important dates for the upcoming year. When building this schedule, the Southern Texas PGA continued to keep our Members as our top priority, considered the overall flow with many moving parts, and tried a few new ideas. While not all host facilities are finalized, we felt it was important to share as much as possible at this point in the year. Opening Stretch – Hello 2026! January and February are filled with an exciting start to the year with new Chapter offerings, high-quality education, one-day events, our very popular Golden Nugget Pro-Pro-Am-Am events, and our new STPGA Merchandise Suite Show.

STPGA Q3 UPDATE Mentoring, Chapter Growth, and More Dear STPGA Members and Associates, I wanted to provide an update following our September board meeting at The Big Easy Ranch. As your President, my goal is to keep you informed about our progress and the key initiatives we're working on. Associate Mentoring Program One of my top priorities has been to launch an Associate Mentoring Program to align with national PGA initiatives. I'm excited to announce our first Pro-Associate Event on October 6 at The Big Easy Ranch. This event is open to all Level 1 Associates and is a great opportunity for them to learn about industry best practices, the benefits of PGA membership, and the resources available to them. After the educational session, Associates will be paired with a select PGA member for a round of golf to help them build their network and form valuable relationships. Associates can learn more and register for this event below.

COLUMBUS, TX (September 16) – Over the last two days, the Southern Texas PGA proudly hosted its premier event, the 58th STPGA Section Championship, at The Covey at Big Easy Ranch in Columbus, Texas. 112 PGA of America Members from across the Section competed in a two-day championship not only to crown the 2025 STPGA Section Champion but also served as the pathway to the national PGA Professional Championship, Player of the Year Honors, and the last opportunity to climb our points list and earn a spot on #TeamSTPGA for the Joe Black Cup Matches and Levy Cup Matches. Congratulations to Casey Russell, PGA Director of Golf at Big Easy Ranch, for winning this year’s Section Championship at Big Easy Ranch. The home-field advantage would serve Casey well as he would finish with a tournament total of 70-71–141 (-3) After round one, the leaderboard was extremely tight with a three-way tie for first at 2-under (70) between Alan Hodde, PGA Director of Instruction at Axis Golf Academy & Fitting Center, Greg Hiller, PGA Director of Instruction at TPC San Antonio, and Casey Russell, PGA, and another 16 people within three strokes of the lead. With the added pressure of a tie, Casey would be put at ease with his course knowledge and the perfect pairing to go to battle with.

Ricky Lyons, PGA – Building Community, On and Off the Course