Churchman and Terrazas Co-Leaders After Round Two of the 50th Texas State Open, 57 Make Cut
Taylor Coffelt • July 30, 2020
Cory Churchman of Fort Worth, TX fired a 4-under 66 and Aaron Terrazas of El Paso, TX carded a 9-under 61 during Round Two of the 50th Texas State Open to share the lead at 9-under-par 131 heading into the third round.
Following today’s round, the 156-player field was cut to the low 55 scores and ties. Churchman and Terrazas will lead a field of 57 players into Round Three of the Championship. 63 professionals and 8 amateurs survived the cut, which was at 1-under-par, 139.
“Being up near the lead is always nice,” Churchman said after the round. “I know there’s a lot of golf left so I’m trying not to worry about where I sit just yet. I’m just trying to play the best golf I can and see where it puts me afterwards.”
Terazzas, who is playing in the Texas State Open for the very first time is also happy to be atop the leaderboard after his impressive round.
“Today I was just trying to hit fairways and give myself chances,” he said after his round. “I think I did that pretty well so I think the rest of the week I’ll play shot by shot and give myself more chances. I know I can make a few putts out there and I have a chance to win this.”
Twelve players are within three shots of the lead including 2017 Texas State Open Champion, Brax McCarthy, and 2018 Champion, Ben Kern.
Ben Kern, PGA head professional at Georgetown Country Club, also leads the Low PGA Club Professional division at 8-under-par. Spencer Dillard, PGA assistant professional at Preston Trail Golf Club in Dallas was the only other club professional to survive the cut. He currently sits 7 strokes back of Kern. The Low PGA Club Professional will be recognized at the conclusion of the 50th Texas State Open.
“I love this place, it’s a good golf course. I drive the ball well so this course suits me well,” said Kern. “This course is slow and steady and that’s what I’m working on.”
Ryan Grider (a) of Lewisville, Texas, carded a second round 66 to sit in the top spot for Low Amateur honors at 3-under 137 heading into the third round. He will battle five other amateurs over the next two days to become the 50th Texas State Open Low Amateur.
The 72-hole stroke play event started with 156 players (124 professionals and 32 amateurs) competing. All four rounds will be contested at The Cascades Club, a 6,882-yard, par 70 layout. For the Championship, hole #10 is being played as a par 4 rather than a par 5.
The purse for the 50th Texas State Open is $150,000,and the champion will take home $30,000.
The Championship is presented by Joyce Crane and Veritex Bank, and is supported by Ameriprise Financial Group, Cavender’s, Dobb’s & Porter, Energy Weldfab, Jucy's Hamburgers, Patterson Tyler, The Plato Group, and The Property Shoppe. Proceeds from the championship will benefit the Northern Texas PGA Foundation.
Round Three will commence on Thursday, July 30 at 8:00 a.m. Churchman and Terrazas will tee off at 12:08 p.m.
Starting times and groupings can be found at www.ntpga.com. Admission is free to all.
Please note: (a) denotes amateur, and amateurs will be awarded gift certificates.
Round Two results here.
Woodson and Schaefer (a) Capture Senior Division
Little Secures Senior Division
Six qualify for Senior PGA Professional Championship
Irving, Texas (August 25) – The Nelson Golf and Sports Club hosted two Northern Texas PGA Major Championships this week, the Club Car | XXIO Northern Texas Senior PGA Professional Championship and the Lajitas Golf Resort Women’s Section Championship. Clayton Friend claimed the Senior title, and Kim Paez claimed the Women’s title. Kim Paez, PGA Member at Ping Inc., claimed the Lajitas Golf Resort Women’s Section Championship title, carding rounds of 70-72–142. Paez finished the Championship at 2-over-par, winning by four strokes. She began the final round one stroke back of Katie Flinn, director of instruction at Topgolf - Fort Worth, and her 2-over-par final round was enough to come from behind and secure the win. This is Paez’s first victory with the Northern Texas PGA since joining the section in 2025. “I stuck to my game plan this week, which was fairways and greens,” Paez said. “I think I missed only one or two fairways yesterday. I played pretty conservatively, but it paid off in the end.” Reflecting on her final round performance, Paez said, "It was a little bit windier today. It made me calculate a lot more on the tee shots.” It was an up-and-down round for Paez, but she hit her approach on hole 18 to two feet and tapped in for birdie. “The last three holes are pretty gettable, so I just had to remind myself that no matter how the round was going, I was going to have opportunities to close it out at the end.” Next week, September 3-5, Paez joins four other PGA female PGA Teaching, Coaching and Club Professionals from across the country to represent the United States in the fourth Women’s PGA Cup. They will take on Australia, Canada, Great Britain & Ireland, South Africa and Sweden in a 54-hole stroke play format at Carden Park Golf Resort in Chester, Cheshire, United Kingdom. “It is the biggest honor. When I first got my PGA Membership, and I found out about the PGA Cup, it became one of my biggest goals,” said Paez about making the team. “I was constantly checking the rankings, and coming into the KPMG [Women’s PGA Championship] and the LPGA Professionals Championship, I knew I had to lock in and give myself the best chance.” “I am so excited and so proud to represent the Northern Texas PGA as well, so hopefully I make everyone proud,” added Paez. This 36-hole Northern Texas PGA major championship is the fourth of five individual stroke play events that comprise the Woman Player of the Year points standings. The 22-player field competed for a purse of $7,500, and Kim Paez took home $1,050. The Lajitas Golf Resort Women’s Section Championship was presented by A.PUTNAM and XXIO. The Nelson Golf and Sports Club Par: 35-35–70 Women’s Championship Yardage: 5,878 yards