Sometimes a golf Master can be found outside Augusta National Golf Club. One such pro—Richard Brown III—plays right here in the “Show Me City”.
Brown has a long-range of golf success soaring from California to New Jersey to MCTX. During his time in Missouri City, Brown’s continued winning results have earned him one of golf’s most prestigious designations—PGA Master Professional. The Northern California native has been the Director of Instruction at Quail Valley Golf Course since 2012. And in 2018, he received the Master status, making him 1 of only 372 golfers to achieve this level—and the first African American to achieve this status—since the program began in 1969.
“Richard becoming the first African American to earn Master Professional status in the history of the PGA, exemplifies the future of the game,” said Tyson Stittleburg, PGA Professional and General Manager of the Quail Valley Golf Course & City Centre. “Golf is an international sport that crosses cultural boundaries and Richard is showing many others that there are opportunities to play or even have a career in golf, no matter your background.”
The process of earning Master status is rigorous. Golfers must:
- Be a Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) member for a minimum of 10 years;
- Have PGA certification in the area of mastery;
- Submit a literature review; and
- Complete a three-phase dissertation
Once approved by the PGA’s Education Department, golfers must prepare a presentation with a defense and lastly, perform a 30-minute golf lesson.
“Not too many people pursue certified professional or master,” Brown said. “Roughly out of 29,000 PGA members, probably six percent of those have gone through the certified process, and then out of the master, only one percent.”
Bringing this designation to the “Show Me City” is a cause for celebration, and the MCTX team is proud of what one of our golfers has accomplished.
“Earning PGA Master Professional designation takes years of hard work, dedication and commitment to excellence in the golf industry,” Stittleburg said. “Richard exemplifies each of these attributes. He also expects and motivates his students for the same. This is why he has been so successful.”
PGA Master Professionals may choose one of four categories they wish to follow:
- General management;
- Golf operations;
- Teaching and coaching, or;
- Player development
Brown followed the teaching route because of his upbringing. “My mother was in education so I was always around education as a child,” he said.
While he grew up around education, Brown didn’t plan on getting into golf. After a baseball injury, he stumbled into the game.
“I got hit in the ankle with a pitch, and I had to walk as part of my rehab. Kids in the neighborhood would say ‘We go to this little pitch n’ putt and you can come with us and walk with us.’”
Brown was reluctant to join his friends, but after debating going with them, he finally agreed.
“The first couple of holes I watched them do their thing. I didn’t think anything of it,” he said. “After I took the first swing and hit the ball I was like ‘Wow, this is interesting.’ I continued on and played other sports throughout high school and I always gravitated back toward golf.”
Through golf, he received a full scholarship to Grambling State University in Louisiana. And, the sport helped Brown achieve a higher education, but he didn’t stop there.
“It’s opened doors for me professionally. It has created inroads for me and for others,” he said. “It has really been beneficial for me. I got started a long time ago on a challenge because I had to go walk for rehab on a broken ankle. Interesting how it happens.”
Along with earning the Professional Master title, Brown was also named an adjunct at the PGA of America—Education System in Florida.
“To me, it’s an honor. Not too many people are adjuncts,” Brown said. “You’re looking at some of the best golfing minds in the country. To say that I’m able to sit with them and work with them is amazing.”
On his tour of teaching, Brown has made stops at Rutgers University in New Jersey, Forrest Crossing Golf Club in greater Nashville and Woodlands Hills Country Club in greater Los Angeles, to name a few. Each stop has helped him not only craft his own game, but also mold his style as a teacher. (To see him in action at Quail Valley Golf Course, Watch this Video).
“It’s an advantage because I have a wealth of knowledge because I’ve been well-traveled,” Brown said. “Having been in different locations, having dealt with different types of individuals and personalities has helped create my teaching approach and the learning style of the individual.”
In Brown’s seven years in Missouri City, he’s noticed the change in audience at Quail Valley and knows the importance of being versatile with instruction.
“When I first got here, it was more senior citizen driven. Now, you’re getting younger families coming in,” he said.
With the youth movement growing in golf, Brown knows that he plays a key role in ensuring the momentum carries in the “Show Me City”.
“Creating programs that keep the kids motivated to where they see levels of advancement and improvement helps the facility, helps the family, helps the professional, helps everyone,” he said. “The more that I can create programs that are child-related, that help kids grow, the community can also grow.”
Although a key responsibility for Brown is to teach the game of golf to others, his time at Quail Valley has allowed him to receive lessons as well.
“[Quail Valley] has stoked my passion for the game,” he said. “I’ve come up with this acronym for passion:
- P stands for perseverance
- A is assert yourself, always be attentive and have the proper attitude
- S is you want to share
- S is you want to seek knowledge
- I stands for integrity, be innovative
- O means be open-minded and not formulate opinions
- N means never give up.”
To schedule a tee time with Brown, visit www.richardbrownschoolofgolf.com, email him at rabfore@icloud.com or call him at 832.457.5119.
For more information about Missouri City, please watch the City website: www.missouricitytx.gov, like us on Facebook—fb/MissouriCityTX, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat—@MissouriCityTX and Nextdoor, watch Missouri City Television (Ch. 16 on Comcast and Ch. 99 on AT&T U-verse) or download the MCTX Mobile app (available for free in Google Play and the Apple app store).