Ishee Takes Lead After Round One of the Joyce Crane & Veritex Bank Section Championship
Taylor Coffelt • September 15, 2020
LONGVIEW, TX
– Nic Ishee, PGA assistant professional at Preston Trail Golf Club, sits atop the leaderboard after Round One of the 2020 Joyce Crane & Veritex Bank Section Championship. He fired an impressive opening round of 4-under-par 66, carding seven birdies and three bogeys, to lead the field heading into tomorrow’s final round.
Sitting three shots back at T2, 1-under-par 69, are Brandon Bingaman, PGA assistant professional at Bent Tree Country Club, Reid Parrish, PGA head professional at River Crest Country Club, and Henry Cagigal, PGA assistant professional at Rockwood Park Golf Course.
Ishee, Bingaman, and Parrish will tee off at 2:40 p.m.
The Joyce Crane & Veritex Bank Section Championship is the fourth and final individual stroke play major championship of the 2020 season to earn points towards the Yamaha Golf-Car Company & Srixon / Cleveland Golf / XXIO / ASICS Player of the Year Points Challenge presented by Adventures In Golf. The Eastern Championship, Western Championship, NTPGA Professional Championship, and Section Championship all serve as qualifiers for the year-end Yamaha Golf-Car Company & Srixon / Cleveland Golf Match Play Championship. The Player of the Year Points Challenge also serves as qualifying for the 2020 NTPGA Texas Joe Black Cup and Levy Cup teams.
The Joyce Crane & Veritex Bank Section Championship also includes a Senior Division of 37 PGA Members aged 50 and older who are competing for a separate $21,000 purse and are playing from a modified yardage. The Senior Division champion will take home $2,750. Stuart Hendley, PGA director of instruction at Dallas Athletic Club, currently leads the Senior Division at 2-under-par 68. He will tee off tomorrow morning at 10:20 a.m with Jim Henderson, PGA director of golf at Stevens Park Golf Course, and Gilbert Freeman, PGA director of golf at Lakewood Country Club.
The Joyce Crane & Veritex Bank Section Championship, presented by AT&T Byron Nelson, Ewing Automotive Group, GT Golf Supplies, and the PGA TOUR, is being conducted at Pinecrest Country Club, a 6,513-yard, par 70 course located in Longview, Texas. The overall purse for the event is a record $56,000. The Open Division field consists of 61 PGA Members competing for a purse of $35,000. The champion will take home $4,625 and the prestigious title of Northern Texas PGA Section Champion.
Round One results.
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