Bryson Elected Next President of NebGolf
Knispel to Serve as Vice President
OMAHA (January 1, 2024) - The Nebraska Golf Association conducted its Annual Meeting on December 1 at Omaha Country Club, and new officers were elected, including Kearney's Michael Bryson, who will become the Association’s next president.
Bryson will serve as president of the organization for the 2024-2025 term. He will be the 34th president of NebGolf, and will be the first to serve in the role from Kearney.
Bryson has served on the NebGolf board since 2014 and is a dedicated volunteer rules official. He was a Kearney High School graduate, before attending the University of Nebraska College of Dentistry. After receiving his degree in 1978, he practiced in Kearney until his retirement in 2020.
Introduced to the game by his father, Bryson is still an avid golfer, playing at Kearney Country Club. Bryson's son, Kevin, was an accomplished player, who played in several NebGolf events as a junior and during his time as a member of the Husker golf team. After Kevin moved on from competitive golf, his father found a way to stay involved in the game.
"I first became involved in rules so I could still be involved in the game as my game diminished," Bryson said. "What I enjoy about golf is the people I have had the opportunity to meet and in my officiating, watching the junior players grow up to be young ladies and men."
A couple of those junior golfers include Bryson's grandsons, Thomas and John. Thomas was the 2022 Nebraska Junior Golfer of the Year and was one of the top juniors in the state again in 2023.
Bryson has chaired both the Allied Associations Committee and the Rules Committee during his time on the NebGolf Board.
Ryan Knispel of Omaha will serve as Vice President under Bryson during the same term. He grew up in Fairbury and said that golf has been a part of his life for a long time.
"I cannot remember a time that I didn’t play golf," Knispel said "My parents introduced both my brother and myself to the game at a very young age. I have great memories of this from my youth. My parents were, and still are very good players, and they play almost daily in retirement."
Knispel graduated from Nebraska Wesleyan University in 1994, where he majored in Business Administration with a minor in Psychology. He was a two-time All-American while competing for the NWU men's golf team.
"I have always enjoyed competing in tournament play and truly love the process of working on my game," Knispel said. "While I have a goal to play at a competitive level again, the best part of golf has been time spent with family, along with the many people I’ve met, and friendships developed, that may not have happened without golf acting as a conduit. Golf can be a sport for life, you can try to improve the quality of your game if you like, or just enjoy the exercise and being outdoors with friends."
Knispel has operated an insurance agency in Northeast Nebraska for the past 25 years, and now has offices in West Point, Hooper and North Bend. He has golf memberships at Indian Trails Country Club in Beemer and The Pines Country Club in Valley.
Knispel has been on the board since 2015, and has served as the Chair of NebGolf's Tournament Committee since 2020, and previously chaired the Junior Committee before that. Knispel is a longtime tournament player, who won the 2019 Nebraska Four-Ball Championship with Ryan Nietfeldt of Elkhorn, another board member.
"I initially had an interest on the tournament side of NebGolf, I thought I might have something to offer in this area; for example, a revamp the player rankings/points system," Knispel said. "However, the best part of NebGolf that I have seen is the exponential growth of junior golf in Nebraska, not only with so many fantastic male and female junior players, but more importantly introducing new golfers, and helping golf to be accessible through our Youth on Course partnership."
The rest of the slate included new three-year terms for current directors Charlie Burt of Omaha, Tom Kelley of Omaha, John Knicely of Elkhorn, Ryan Nietfeldt of Elkhorn, Patrick Pepper of Omaha and Heidi Stark of Lincoln.
Find out more about NebGolf and its Board of Directors at the button below.
About NebGolf
The Nebraska Golf Association (NebGolf), founded in 1966, is comprised of all members of public and private clubs and/or municipal or regional golf associations which utilize an approved handicap service recognized by the USGA and provided by NebGolf. Our mission is to uphold and promote the game of golf and its values to all golfers in Nebraska. Among the duties of the Association include governance of member clubs and service as their handicapping and course rating authority, conduct of state golf championships, local USGA qualifying & other notable competitions, promotion of junior golf, presentation of worthwhile educational programs and support of allied golf organizations in Nebraska. The Nebraska Golf Association is an Allied Golf Association of the USGA and carries out core services including Handicap Administration and Oversight, Course Rating, Rules of Golf and Rules of Amateur Status, Tournaments and USGA Championship Qualifiers and USGA Initiatives and Community Programs.
