UTA golf presence expands in PGA field

Two golfers with connections to UT Arlington earned berths in the field for the PGA Championship, the final major championship of the 2017 season, by placing among the top 20 finishers Wednesday at the PGA Professional Championship in Sunriver, Ore.

Stuart Deane, the UTA director of golf and a former touring professional, survived an eight-man playoff to land his spot in the field at Quail Hollow Club, Aug. 10-13 in Charlotte, N.C. He will be joined at Quail Hollow by Greg Gregory, a former UTA golfer who works as an assistant golf professional at Hidden Creek Golf Course in Burleson.

The PGA Championship reserves 20 of its 156 playing spots each year for the top finishers at its annual national championship for club pros.

Gregory tied for ninth in the 72-hole event, won by Austin resident Omar Uresti, and did not have to go through the playoff to punch his ticket into the field at the PGA. A participant in the 1999 U.S. Open, Gregory posted a 1-over par total at Crosswater Club.

Deane, who also works as a teaching pro at Rolling Hills Country Club in Arlington, was one of two golfers to emerge from an eight-man playoff for the final berths in the PGA field. Deane, who missed the cut at the AT&T Byron Nelson in May, finished with a 72-hole total of 3-over to reach the playoff. He advanced with a birdie on the second playoff hole.

Uresti, who won the event in a playoff, played college golf at Texas and spent several years as a PGA Tour participant before becoming a teaching professional in the Austin area.　

This story was originally published June 22, 2017 at 10:11 AM with the headline "UTA golf presence expands in PGA field."