Friend Wins Club Car | XXIO Northern Texas Senior PGA Professional Championship

Erik Anderson • August 25, 2026

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.


Clayton Friend, PGA head professional at Pinecrest Country Club, captured the Club Car | XXIO Northern Texas Senior PGA Professional Championship after rounds of 71-69–140, even par. Friend was victorious by two shots.


This victory is Friend’s first win in the Northern Texas Section. “I’m actually still in shock, to be honest with you,” said Friend. “My game has come a long way in a short period of time over the last year; it has been trending in the right direction. I have had opportunities the last couple of events, and today I’m just so thankful I was able to get to the back nine with a real opportunity, then to keep it together good enough to finish it off; I’m just so thankful.”


Friend was one shot back of the leader, Brad Elder, PGA Life Member, to start his Final Round. He opened his round with five straight pars, before birdies on holes six and seven gave him a two-stroke lead. 


Birdies on holes 12, 13 and 15 widened the lead for Friend, however the field was applying pressure, “On 15 I hit 7-iron out the left rough to about three feet. When I made that, I thought, this might be my day, but it was still one foot in front of the other until it was over.”


Friend added, “I’m thankful to everyone in the section and the staff here at The Nelson Golf and Sport Club. It’s great to play at a venue like this for a tournament that means so much to us. I’m just humbled and extremely proud to be holding this trophy right now.”


This Championship served as a qualifier for players to earn a spot in the Senior PGA Professional Championship. Friend will lead five other NTPGA Professionals in Gold Canyon, Arizona, for the Senior PGA Professional Championship.


On qualifying, Friend said, “There are some great guys from our section that are going and I look forward to learning from them the best I can. I’m going to work hard to prepare and just enjoy it the rest of the way.” 


The Senior PGA Professional Championship is set to take place at Superstition Mountain Golf and Country Club on October 22-25, 2026. The six qualifiers and five alternates are listed below in order.


Qualifiers:

  1. Clayton Friend, PGA head professional at Pinecrest Country Club
  2. Greg Gregory, PGA head professional at Southern Oaks Golf Club
  3. Cameron Doan, PGA director of golf at Preston Trail Golf Club 
  4. Craig Liddle, PGA director of golf at Rockwall Golf & Athletic Club
  5. T Craig Pullen, PGA director of golf at Wildhorse Golf Club at Robson Ranch
  6. Brad Elder, PGA Life Member


Alternates (in order):

  1. Tim Brown, PGA head professional at Dallas Athletic Club
  2. Vince Jewell, PGA director of instruction at Woodbridge Golf Club
  3. Tony Johnson, PGA head professional at San Angelo Country Club
  4. John Bizik, PGA assistant professional at Hogan Park Golf Course
  5. Todd McCorkle, PGA Life Member


This 36-hole Northern Texas PGA major championship was the third of four individual stroke play events that comprise the Rolex | XXIO Senior Points Challenge. The 52-player field competed for a purse of $18,000, and Friend took home $2,300 for his victory.


The Club Car | XXIO Northern Texas Senior PGA Professional Championship was supported by Golf Channel and PXG.

By Erik Anderson • October 7, 2026
Friend and McCorkle Headed to Lajitas Golf Resort for Duel in the Desert
By Erik Anderson • September 29, 2026
GREENVILLE, Texas (September 28) – For the second year in a row, Spencer Dillard, PGA director of golf at Golf Clubs at The Tribute, claimed the Jerry J. Ransom Northern Texas PGA Shootout at The Oaks, taking home $25,000 for the win. Just like last year, it took Dillard two playoff holes to best runner-up Nick Paez, instructor at The Ronny Golf Park. Both players found the 440-yard, par 4, 9th green in two, but a costly three-putt from Paez from 35 feet led to Dillard finishing off a nervy three-foot putt for the win. Dillard also won with a par in last year’s event and has now taken home the victory in two out of three years in the event’s short history. “It’s pretty special, just the opportunity to play in the event. I just can’t thank Dr. Ransom enough for putting this on and all he does for us,” said Dillard. “Just being able to play is a huge deal and then lasting through the shootout is so tough, so it feels great to be here.” The players in the shootout were battling in what seemed to be a competition of who could continue to make birdies. “Nathan was 9-under through a 12-hole stretch today and still went out. There is so much talent in our Section, so you got to go win it,” said Dillard. Longtime Northern Texas PGA Foundation supporter Jerry J. Ransom welcomed 98 Northern Texas PGA Members and Associates to The Oaks Country Club for the third annual Shootout. The event was created to recognize the PGA Professionals across the Section who dedicate their time and energy to growing the game through the NTPGA Foundation’s initiatives. The event was developed by Ransom as a way to thank PGA Professionals across the Northern Texas Section while also providing exposure to The Oaks Country Club. The Oaks is a top-five nine-hole course in Texas according to the Dallas Morning News golf course rankings. The format for the event featured a 9-hole qualifier, with the top three finishers and one randomly selected participant moving on to the evening shootout. Nathan Park, instructor at Stonebriar Country Club, qualified first after finishing with an impressive 6-under-par, 30. Dillard was the next to advance, carding a 4-under-par, 32, and finally Paez at 3-under-par, 33, who won a six-for-one spot playoff with a birdie on the first extra hole in the playoff. Zack Vinson, PGA head professional at Athens Country Club, was the random drawing winner. The nine-hole Shootout portion of the event was played in three stages of three holes each, with one professional eliminated after every stage. After the first three holes, Vinson was eliminated and landed a prize of $2,500. The scores were then reset to even par, and the second three holes saw Nathan Park bow out, despite being 9-under-par through 15 holes. He played his final three holes in the shootout at even par. Still, he earned $7,500 for his efforts. The scores again reset to even par for the final three-hole segment, where Dillard and Paez battled it out for three holes, followed by two extra holes in the playoff.
By Erik Anderson • September 23, 2026
Woodson and Schaefer (a) Capture Senior Division
By Erik Anderson • September 16, 2026
Little Secures Senior Division