Kern & Coughlan Set to Face Off in Final Match of the Yamaha Golf-Car Company / Lajitas Golf Resort Match Play Championship, Smith Claims Senior Title
NTPGA • October 10, 2017
ODESSA, Texas –
The morning Quarter Final Matches of the Yamaha Golf-Car Company / Lajitas Golf Resort Match Play Championship featured three of the top four seeded professionals advancing to the afternoon Semi-Final Matches.
During the opening match of the morning, #8 seed Gabe Reynolds, PGA director of instruction at Top Golf Dallas, bested #16 seed Joe Brown, PGA teaching professional at The Courses at Watters Creek, 3&2. The second match of the morning took extra holes, but #4 seed Danny Coughlan, PGA head professional at Abilene Country Club, was able to defeat #21 seed Ben Cuzen, PGA assistant professional at Preston Trail Golf Club, in 23 holes. #2 seed Ben Kern, PGA head professional at Diamondback Golf Club, topped #7 seed Lee Rhind, PGA director of instruction at Midland Country Club, 7&5, and the final match of the morning resulted in the #14 seed Adam Headley, PGA head professional at Hillcrest Country Club, besting #11 seed Vince Jewell, PGA teaching professional at Woodbridge Golf Club, 5&4.
The afternoon Semi-Final matches featured Gabe Reynolds versus Danny Coughlan and Ben Kern versus Adam Headley.
In the first Semi-Final match, Headley took the lead on hole #7 going 1UP, but a birdie by Kern on #10 brought the match back to all square. Kern was 2UP after 13 holes when Headley birdied #15 to bring the match back to 1UP with three to play. Kern then managed one more birdie on #17 for a 2&1 victory over Headley.
Reynolds and Coughlan faced off in the other afternoon match. For the second straight match it took Coughlan extra holes to best his opponent, but after some back and forth, Coughlan was able to make par on the 20th hole to beat Reynolds for the win.
Kern and Coughlan will face off in the 18-hole Championship Match on Wednesday morning at 9:00 a.m. Both will be vying for their first Match Play title. The champion will take home a crystal trophy as well as $5,500 of the $36,800 Open Division purse.
The Championship included a Senior Division that included eight of the top professionals from the 2017 OMEGA Senior Points Challenge competing for their own $9,200 purse. In the Championship match, #1 seed Bruce Smith, PGA director of instruction at Black Belt Golf Academy, squared off against #7 seed Henry Cagigal, PGA assistant professional at Rockwood Golf Course. Smith started strong going 3UP after six holes where he stayed through 10. But a couple of bogeys on the backside by Smith made the final match interesting down the stretch. He was finally able to best Cagigal 2&1 on #17. Smith took home a crystal trophy and a check for $2,800.
The Yamaha Golf-Car Company / Lajitas Golf Resort Match Play Championship is being contested October 9-11 at Odessa Country Club’s Old Course in Odessa, Texas, a 7,069-yard, par 72 layout. The Championship is presented by Adventures In Golf and AT&T Byron Nelson. The top 32 players on the final 2017 Yamaha Golf-Car Company / Lajitas Golf Resort Player of the Year Points Challenge were invited to compete in the season-ending major championship.
OPEN DIVISON CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2017
9:00 a.m. #1 Tee
#2. Ben Kern, Diamondback Golf Club vs. #4. Danny Coughlan, Abilene Country Club
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