The Western Washington Chapter PGA is proud to announce that Ryan Young, Head Golf Professional at Chambers Bay in University Place, has been named the 2026 PGA of America National Player Development Award recipient.
The award recognizes a PGA of America Golf Professional who has demonstrated extraordinary and exemplary contributions to growing the game through player development. For Young, the honor represents years of intentional work creating programs that help golfers begin, improve, and stay engaged in the sport.
“Receiving this award means everything; it is a capstone to my career. It feels like the ultimate form of validation for all the work I’ve put into creating our academy.”
A PGA of America Member for 11 years, Young is certified in Teaching and Coaching and is a First Tee Level 3 Coach. During his 14-year career, he has dedicated himself to mentoring fellow PGA Professionals, building sustainable programming, and expanding access to the game. In 2016 he founded the Chambers Bay Academy, which has since become a model for structured player development and long-term engagement.
At the center of his philosophy is a simple but powerful idea: golfers stay in the game when they feel they belong.
“I try to make every student feel like they’ve found a home for learning golf. I want to engage them early, have a process for achieving their goals, and create a long-term relationship.”
Early in his career, Young noticed that many students left the game not because they didn’t enjoy golf, but because they did not know what came next. The solution was creating clear pathways — from beginner instruction to ongoing programs and participation opportunities — and sharing that progression with students from the very beginning.
“Without clearly defined pathways, I would lose students’ engagement too soon. Once I created programs for students to grow into and shared that pathway from the start, I began seeing long-term engagement.”
Participation accelerated when he made another important decision: investing in people.
“The best decision I made to help grow participation was to seek help. Once I hired a skilled team and invested in their careers, we started growing exponentially.”
Young’s approach treats player development not as an additional service, but as a core operation of a golf facility.
“Treat your player development efforts like a business. You must create goals, monitor metrics, and prove success. Simply creating programs and hoping for success does not cut it.”
His measure of success is ultimately defined by the people he teaches.
“My success in player development is defined by the success of my students. Whenever a student accomplishes the goals that we helped define, I know we’re doing the right things.”
Young’s contributions have been widely recognized throughout the golf industry. He has been named to Golf Digest’s Best Teachers in Washington State lists (2017–18, 2022–23, 2024–25, 2026–27) and was included on GOLF Magazine’s Teachers to Watch list (2024–25). The Western Washington Chapter PGA named him its 2023 Teacher of the Year, and he currently serves the Chapter as Honorary President.
He has received multiple Pacific Northwest PGA Section awards, including Player Development Awards (2016, 2020, 2023) and the Youth Player Development Award (2018). He also earned the Western Washington Chapter PGA Patriot Award (2022, 2023) and was named Assistant Golf Professional of the Year in 2015. In 2025 he was recognized by the Golf Range Association of America as a Growth of the Game Teaching Professional Elite Member.
Young is quick to credit others for the achievement, including his family, the educational resources provided by the PGA of America, and the team that helped build the academy.
He specifically recognized his academy instructors — especially Matt Montecucco and Christian Ballard — along with the Chambers Bay golf operations staff and management team for playing an integral role in the program’s success.
The Western Washington Chapter PGA congratulates Ryan on this well-deserved national recognition and thanks him for the daily work he does to introduce new players to golf and keep golfers engaged for life.
Player development is successful when there is always a next step — and thanks to PGA Professionals like Ryan Young, more players are finding their place in the game.
Congratulations, Ryan!
