Qualifier Ryan Jansa's golfing dream continues with debut at Pebble Beach

When Sioux Falls, South Dakota, native Ryan Jansa hit the silver mark of his 50th birthday a few months back in April, he did so with the intention of striking gold.

Still very much in its nascency, that journey continues this week as PGA TOUR Champions heads to the PURE Insurance Championship impacting First Tee on one of the world’s most iconic stages – Pebble Beach Golf Links.

But, as opposed to the big dreams Pebble Beach is notorious for fostering in people, it’s the smallest windows of opportunity that power Jansa’s drive.

After successfully navigating his way through Tuesday’s 18-hole open qualifier with a 5-under 67, Jansa secured one of three remaining spots into this week’s tournament. The unique event begins Friday and includes PGA TOUR Champions players, amateurs from the business community and 80 members from First Tee chapters all over the country, as well as a golfer from First Tee – Morocco. Each First Tee participant is paired with a Champions Tour professional and business leader.

For Jansa, golf was part of the family lineage. His father had a wildly successful amateur career and Jansa’s passion for the game started at age 3.

“Beginning at a very young age, I spent all my free time at the local country club we were members of. It was a sanctuary for me,” Jansa said. “When I turned 5, my dad would drop me off on his way to work and I'd go play and play and play.”

At the age of 7, Jansa began playing competitively.

“My dad played college basketball at Creighton University, but I was too little,” Jansa said. “I really didn't start growing into my body until I was in junior high school. I was proficient at golf from a very young age, but I really didn't hit my stride until high school.”

By the time he reached high school, Jansa was winning on a regular basis. Because of those early successes, the possibility of playing college golf crept into his mind.

“In South Dakota, you can only play golf about five months a year, if you’re lucky,” Jansa said. “Back then, we didn't have indoor hitting facilities, so golf died in those long winters. As a kid from South Dakota, I wasn't exactly heavily recruited.”

Interestingly, though, it was that very scenario that turned kids like Jansa into the most threatening college players which, in Jansa’s case, unfolded at New Mexico State University.

“My coach told me he wished he actually had more players from the Midwest,” Jansa recalled. “When October came, I was more fired up to compete than anyone else on the team.”

As a result, Jansa enjoyed tremendous success from 1992-1996 as a four-year starter and first team All-Big West Conference selection for the Aggies. In 1995, he won the Big West Conference individual championship, and the Aggies won the Big West team title.

“When I got out of my sophomore year in college, I really hit the gas pedal back in South Dakota,” Jansa said. “I competed in countless amateur tournaments at home, which was really where and when my run began in South Dakota.”

Out of college, Jansa played professionally for five years until the money ran out. It was also out of that college that Ryan met the woman he would marry, Julie. A well-respected junior player herself, the young love birds were paving the way for what would become a golfing family.

“When we had kids, I told my wife that I was going to put up the clubs, get a job and raise a family,” he said. “And that’s what I did. I’ve spent the last 30 years helping raise our kids.”

“When we started having kids in our mid-20s, he gave up his dream, at least for the time being, of continuing on,” said Julie. “He is a family man and wanted to be around his family to raise his kids. So, he truly did give up on that dream to be home with us. When he turned 50 and the PGA TOUR Champions opportunity arose, we all supported him fully.”

In spite of the hiatus, Jansa managed to amass 18 South Dakota Golf Association titles, a number that remains untouched to this day.

“I wanted to be a professional golfer, a good dad and a good husband,” he said. “If I were to accomplish one, two or three of those things, I would consider my life successful.”

When the dream of doing something like playing professional golf long-term gets sidelined indefinitely, a seamless return can be arduous. But, while his commitment to family was rock solid, playing competitively again one day remained in the back of Ryan’s mind.

With their two children Izaak and Reese now in their 20s, Jansa considers himself fortunate for the chance to be back out in pursuit of a dream that began when he was just a kid.

“Doing all this with my family, who also love golf, is everything,” he said. “We are truly a golfing family and the connection to this event alone is unique in many facets.”

Not only is Julie a very competitive golfer who also played collegiately at New Mexico State University, but she is today the executive director of First Tee – South Dakota. The PURE Insurance Championship is also something the family has in common.

With Julie serving as caddie, Jansa’s cousin Claire played in the 2012 PURE Insurance Championship with Michael Allen. In 2021, Julie and Jansa’s daughter Reese earned a spot in the field and got paired with Jerry Kelly.

These days, Reese, the 2022 national high school golfer of the year, plays collegiately at South Dakota State University.

Following in his South Dakota Golf Hall of Fame father’s golf shoes, the Jansas were also recently inducted into the elite group.

“Being inducted with Julie was super special,” Jansa said. “Plus, to join my dad in the Hall of Fame was pretty amazing, too. What it all boils down to is that golf is what we know and do. We've got a 23-year-old son who is autistic and does not play golf, but he's certainly a part of everything we do.”

Among Jansa’s many accolades was winning the South Dakota state championship – three times. Nearly a dozen of his 33 South Dakota titles came when paired with his wife. Six of those titles with Julie came in consecutive years.

“Amazing as it has all been for me, there are days when I ask myself why I still do this, thinking it just may be too much,” Jansa explained. “Mentally, I didn’t know if I can handle it. But, as my best friend and best golf partner I’ve ever had, that’s where Julie is invaluable.”

According to Jansa, Julie is adamant with her directive to keep grinding. She encourages her husband to put his nose to the grindstone and just get through those days when uncertainty looms large.

“It's a testament to her,” he said. “We've been married 27 years. That’s more than half of my life and every year, it gets better.”

When he got into his late 40s, Jansa committed himself to a better diet and regular exercise. As a result, a return to form on the course gave him the encouragement he needed to pursue PGA TOUR Champions.

Right around his 50th birthday, Jansa learned he had earned a sponsor exemption into his hometown event of the Sanford International in Sioux Falls.

“That’s when I really dug in,” he said. “I was, like, ‘Okay, well, I'm going to play in front of 15,000 people in my hometown. I need to make sure I don't fall flat on my face.’ I was excited and I handled it well. Even with a double bogey on the last hole Sunday, I shot even par for the week.”

Jansa spends his days working as a mortgage lender for a bank in Sioux Falls. This week, though, Jansa is less concerned with rates and more focused on wind direction.

“This week was different, and I went in with a whole different approach,” Jansa explained of his attempt to qualify for the PURE Insurance Championship at Pebble Beach. “I had this epiphany. I realized I had been out here playing these qualifiers just trying to not shoot a bad score, as opposed to trying to have a great round. That was the eye opener for me, so I went out at Black Horse golf course this week determined to make the most of it.”

And, on the strength of a 5-under 67, "making the most of it" proved better than most. His score was good enough to land him one of three spots in the field reserved for the top three scorers.

“When I called to tell my wife, I had to hold the phone away from my ear because she screamed so loud,” Jansa laughed. “With anybody wishing and hoping for that moment, the release was there. She was just so excited and so proud. I was, too. I was probably more in disbelief than anything.”

“I had been refreshing the incoming scores online like a crazy person, but eventually had to leave the house to tend to things before anything with Ryan was official,” said Julie. “When it was a done deal, he called me and I just went crazy. It means so much to him – all of us, actually – for it to happen, especially at this event. With all of our ties to First Tee, this is almost like coming full circle for him. I couldn’t be more excited for him and this opportunity.”

“These guys out here on PGA TOUR Champions are the best players in the world,” Jansa said. “And the guys playing the weekly qualifiers are also among the best in the world. There’s just a fractional difference between those playing every week and those trying to get in.”

“As soon as he made that decision to pursue it again, you wouldn’t have been able to find anyone who outworked him,” said Julie. “He insisted on making sure he didn’t get into anything before believing he had the best game possible.”

“All of this is a super blast and I’m just soaking it up,” Jansa said. “From the time I picked up my courtesy car last Monday at the Sanford International until now, my feet have barely stopped moving. But I'm looking forward to the week. It's going to be a lot of fun.”

Having been here two years ago with his daughter for the event that yielded such great times and memories, Jansa looks to replicate the experience this week with him being the one inside the ropes.

“After coming here with my daughter previously, the drive in was the same,” he said. “We’re staying in the same hotel we stayed in with Reese. So, there are all sorts of similarities, but now I get to be the one traipsing up and down the fairways and greens.”

Jansa admitted that he was probably more anxious watching his daughter play the hallowed grounds of Pebble Beach than he will be when he sticks his own tee in the ground starting Friday.

“I do think people need measurable goals,” he said. “When I decided to come out and do this, there's so many pieces that had to fall into place. I still have a job. I work every day. I'm getting emails every day from people asking me about mortgage quotes and rates. Yet, thanks to the bank I work for, I'm able to be out here trying to do this, too.”

In spite of the successes, he has become accustomed to on golf courses at all ages and levels, true to his classy form, a big focus for Jansa this week is to help create an unforgettable experience with his First Tee partner, Texas’ Abi Newell.

“I want her to have an extraordinary experience. That would be a success for me,” he said. “I remember the impact it had on Reese to have Jerry Kelly be so humble and gentle. I hope I can do that for Abi. I told her she didn't get paired with the most famous guy in the field, but I promised her an exceptional amount of fun.”

“I am so excited to play in the tournament. There’s nothing else like Pebble Beach, so much so that this is probably going to ruin golf for me for the rest of my life,” Newell said with a laugh. “I think it will be a great opportunity for me to learn from Mr. Ryan. But I’m also looking forward to some networking opportunities with some of the amateurs in the business world.”

“If you’re a golfer of any kind, you know that Pebble Beach is about the best place in the world to experience,” said Julie. “But then you add the First Tee component and it’s truly unlike anything else. Not only is it special for the professionals, but the kindness, attention and camaraderie included with and for the kids is truly special.”

From what he calls “being selfish,” another success of Jansa’s would be to play well enough to get into the top 10, so he won’t be relegated to quite as many qualifying attempts for spots in other fields down the road.

“I’ve always said that if something is not impossible, there’s at least a sliver of possible,” Jansa said. “I’m looking for that sliver of possible.”

And, where better to grow that sliver of possibility into a golden opportunity than at Pebble Beach for this week’s Pure Insurance Championship.

“It's going to be kind of like Sanford International Part 2 for me, except that it’s substantially more beautiful here,” Jansa said with a laugh. “I love Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It’s home, after all. But it doesn't truly get much better than this right here, right now at Pebble Beach.”