Ryan Reisbeck
… For a 42-year-old married man with five children to be able to compete against youngsters half his age in a sport that requires the utmost in finely honed physical skills is pretty amazing; however, Ryan Reisbeck continues to do exactly that and he does it with one hand tied behind his back.
We say that Ryan has one-hand-tied-behind-his- back, because while those younger competitors are all working in related jobs leading up to any particular long-drive event; such as, performing golf exhibitions or offering golf instruction or conducting golf-related physical training, Ryan Reisbeck is sitting in his coat-and-tie behind an office desk, working on his jobs in insurance and real estate, and… while most of those young competitors jet off to the event site on the day before the event, Ryan often has already left a day earlier in order to get there in time after packing his lovely wife Sarah and their five children into the family SUV…telling them that they will be on another family vacation.
At 6’4” in height and 250 pounds, the former University of Utah pitcher “The Big Deal” as he is called has been a major factor in long-drive for the past nine years. Like so many other long-drivers Ryan, who was a college pitcher for the Utah Utes, got into the sport after a buddy of his told Ryan that he had just been at the world long-drive championships, and that after watching those top guys in action, he believed that Ryan had the distance to have a shot at the highest level of the sport.
A short time later, Ryan watched a telecast of fellow Utah native and fellow pitcher for Utah State Jerimie Montgomery on a TV video, and he was hooked. Jerimie was a top long-driver who took 2nd Place at the world long-drive championships in 2008, losing only to two-time champion and long-drive legend Jamie Sadlowski.
Ryan later met Jerimie in-person, and he got a big break when Jerimie loaned him a couple of drivers to use at the Albuquerque, New Mexico long drive qualifying event where Ryan took second place… and so Ryan’s quest began in the world of long-drive.
During the past eight years Ryan has won several long-drive tour events, as well as a number of independent long-drive events and he has been ranked as high as Number 1 by the World Long-Drive Association.
In 2015 it seemed to most observers that Ryan was poised to become a world long-drive champion. That season Ryan nearly ran the table by winning a number of tour events along with several major independent long-drive events, and he was considered by most knowledgeable observers of the sport to be the prohibitive favorite as well as the man-to-beat at the 2015 World Long-Drive Championships.
Unfortunately, as often happens in life Ryan was fated for a major disappointment. The championship was a match play format and Ryan as well as former world champion Joe Miller had the misfortune of matching-up against eventual TV Final Eight Finalist Jason Eslinger who had the perfect ball-flight for the Mesquite, Nevada championship grid, which had a changing and very nasty cross-wind that weekend.
Following that unfortunate finish at the 2015 world long-drive championships, Ryan didn’t get down on himself. Instead he teamed up with long-drive guru Bobby Peterson of the One Stop Power Shop, which sponsors the PLDA Professional Long Drivers Association tour events. Bobby and Ryan went back to the basics and they worked on the foundation of Ryan’s swing. In sum, they made the necessary changes that Ryan believes makes him a better all-around long driver.
Ryan made the Top 16 at the 2017 World Long-Drive Championships and he followed by tying for 9th Place at the 2018 championships. He is again ranked in the Top 5 by the world long-drive association this year, and he demonstrated that such honors are well-deserved by his recent Top 4 finish at the 3rd of the PLDA Professional Long-Drivers Association’s tour events.
Ryan is a member of the Calloway Golf Team. He is currently gaming a 5* Callaway driver head on a Paderson XXX-Flex long-drive shaft. Bobby Peterson of the One Stop Power Shop remains his instructor and his coach.
In addition to those sponsors, Ryan has also had a long affiliation with the Rockwell Watch Company, which sponsors many long-drive events.
2016 Rockwell US Long Drive Tour Champion
2016 Bluff City Shootout 1st Place
2016 WinStar Launch 1st Place
2016 Mile High Shootout 2nd Place
2016 Mesquite Showdown 2nd place
2016 East Coast Classic tied 3rd place
2016 Rockwell Blast 5th Place
2015 Rockwell 1st
2015 Bull's Classic 1st place
2015 Mutant Golf 1st place
2015 Florida State (Sunday) 1st place
2015 Mesquite Ultimate 5th place
2015 Mile High 6th place
2015 Tennessee Shootout tied 7th place
2014 Desert Launch 2nd place
2014 Rockwell 2nd Place
2014 Mile High Shootout 2nd place, Endless Summer Invitational 5th place
2013 Rockwell 1st
WLDC - 2011 (11th place), 2012 (tied 33rd), 2013 (tied 33rd place), 2014 (14th place), 2015 (tied 17th place), 2016 (tied for 64th)
Callaway Mavrik Driver
Paderson XXXX Shaft
Callaway Golf
The One Stop Power Shop