May 26, 2006

Former Bronc golfer Mike Brisky spent four seasons at Pan American University and then went on to play seven years on the PGA Tour and three on the Nationwide Tour.

Born and raised in the Rio Grande Valley, Brisky grew up in Brownsville, TX and enrolled at Pan American University in 1983 to play golf. While at Pan American, he recorded multiple top-10 finishes, including three of them at the Pan American University Golf Classic in 1983, 1984 and 1986. In 1984, he fired a 67 at the PAU Golf Classic which is the third-lowest single-round score ever by a golfer at UTPA.

"I remember I played well in tournaments in the Valley. I played a few decent rounds in other tournaments but I was never a top golfer in college. Guys these days are able to step right out of college on to the pro tour. I gave myself a timeline of six years to make it on the pro circuit and I decided that once I got to the point where I wasn't improving over the course of a year, I would consider pulling out," said Brisky.

It took Brisky five years to reach the PGA Tour. As a professional golfer, he enjoyed his most successful year in 1997. He earned a total of $367,112 that season and ranked seventh on the tour in putting average. He recorded six top-10 finishes and his best finish that season came at the Deposit Guaranty Golf Classic where he placed third overall. Twice during his PGA career, he forced a playoff for an event championship, taking second place at the 1995 Buick Open and the 1999 John Deere Classic. During his 10 years as a professional golfer, Brisky earned nearly two million dollars.

"It was a lot of work to stay on the tour. I went out with the mindset of `do I really belong out here?' and I discovered that a lot of guys out there had that same mindset. There were an elite few who really seemed to believe they belonged out there and they played like it. It took me three or four years to realize that I could really play on the PGA Tour. I finally got comfortable and felt like it was really time to put forth the effort to win a tournament. After that, I continued working and striving to win but never really put myself in a great position to win. I would say I reached my pinnacle in 2000, and I went back to the belief that if I wasn't improving I would consider stopping. I joined the Nationwide Tour in 2001 and through 2003 it just wasn't there. In the mid-to-late fall in 2003, I made the decision to leave the tour and enter the ministry," added Brisky.

In November of 2003, Brisky became an associate pastor at Gateway Church in Southlake, TX, located near the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. At Gateway he oversees the family ministries and works with small group ministry. The church opened in the year 2000 with Brisky and his wife Judy at the very first service which had about 100 people in attendance. Since then, he has seen the church grow to a point where weekend services have roughly 7,000 attendees.

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