Norris & Gregory Set to Face Off in Final Match of the Yamaha Golf-Car Company / Lajitas Golf Resort Match Play Championship
NTPGA • October 11, 2016
LUFKIN, Texas –
The morning Quarter Final Matches of the Yamaha Golf-Car Company / Lajitas Golf Resort Match Play Championship featured two upsets that included the exit of the #1 seed as well as two of the top Championship seeds advancing to the Semi-Finals.
The opening match of the morning resulted in the first upset of the day with #9 seed Cameron Doan, PGA head professional at Preston Trail Golf Club, besting #1 seed Stuart Deane, PGA golf coach at The University of Texas at Arlington, 2 & 1. In the second match of the day, the second upset occurred when Paul Norris, PGA golf coach at Texas Wesleyan University (#29 seed) defeated Amanda McCurdy, PGA teaching professional at Tierra Verde Golf Course (#28 seed) 6 & 5. The third match resulted in Ben Cuzen, PGA assistant professional at Preston Trail Golf Club (#7 seed), defeating Thomas Devanna, PGA assistant professional at Tangle Ridge Golf Club (#8 seed), 5 & 4. And the final match resulted in #3 seed Greg Gregory, PGA assistant professional at Hidden Creek Golf Course, topping #11 seed Michael Martin, PGA teaching professional at Sinclair’s Golf Training Center, 2 & 1.
The Semi-Final matches featured Cameron Doan versus Paul Norris and Ben Cuzen versus Greg Gregory.
In the first Semi-Final match, Norris took an early lead on hole #2 and never let Doan back in the match. By the turn, Norris had a 4 UP lead. On hole #13, Doan made birdie to bring it back to 3 UP, but a par on hole #15 sealed the match for Norris for a 4 & 3 victory.
Gregory and Cuzen faced off in the other afternoon match. Cuzen took an early lead going 1 UP after three holes, but a birdie on hole #5 by Gregory brought it back to all square. On #7, Cuzen notched a birdie to go back to 1 UP, but Gregory was eventually able to swing the momentum of the match to his favor. He had a chip in on hole #15 and secure the match on hole #17 with a 3 & 1 victory.
Norris and Gregory will face off in the 18-hole Championship Match on Wednesday morning at 8:30 a.m. Both will be vying for their first Match Play title. The champion will take home a crystal trophy as well as $5,250 of the $36,300 Open Division purse.
In 2015, the Senior Division was expanded from four to eight of the top professionals from the 2016 OMEGA Senior Points Challenge competing for their own $9,150 purse. In today’s Semi-Final Matches, #4 seed Stuart Hendley, PGA director of instruction at Green Tree Country Club, bested #1 seed Perry Arthur, PGA part owner of The Golf Club of Dallas, 2 UP. Also, #6 seed Rick Woodson, PGA teaching professional at Sherrill Park Golf Course, defeated #2 seed Tom Strueber, PGA Life Member, 1 UP. Hendley and Woodson will square off tomorrow at 8:40 a.m. in the Championship match of the Senior Division. The champion will take home a crystal trophy and a check for $2,750.
The Yamaha Golf-Car Company / Lajitas Golf Resort Match Play Championship is being contested October 10-12 at Crown Colony Country Club in Lufkin, Texas, a 6,711-yard, par 72 layout. The Championship is presented by AT&T Byron Nelson, Lorente Golf and PGA TOUR. The top 32 players on the final 2016 Yamaha Golf-Car Company / Lajitas Golf Resort Player of the Year Points Challenge were invited to compete in the season-ending major championship.
Tomorrow’s final matchups and the results from today’s matches are listed below:
OPEN DIVISON CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2016
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2016
Don January Bracket Winner Lee Trevino Bracket Winner
8:30 a.m. #1 Tee
#29. Paul Norris, Texas Wesleyan University vs. #3. Greg Gregory, Hidden Creek Golf Course
SENIOR DIVISON CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2016
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2016
8:40 a.m. #1 Tee
#4. Stuart Hendley, Green Tree Country Club vs. #6. Rick Woodson, Sherrill Park Golf Course
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
Four Qualify for 50th Assistant PGA Professional Championship
PLANO, Texas (August 10) – Seth Murphy, Associate at John Sikes Golf Academy and Thomas Faulk Jr. (a) captured the 1st & 10th Tee Golf Energy Bar Pro-Junior Championship title. The pair carded a 33-31–64, 8-under-par and made birdie on the first playoff hole. The pair began their round on the 8th hole and opened with a par. Six birdies on their next eight holes set them up for success for the first round. Their final nine holes were steady, with 7 pars and two birdies, but the bogey-free round was enough to get them into a two-team playoff against Ryan Grider, Associate at The Lakes at Castle Hills, and Colten Karstendiek (a). After a safe drive on the first playoff hole from Faulk Jr., Murphy was able to attack and had just 135 yards into the par-4 18th hole. He hit a pitching wedge to 10 feet and buried the putt. Murphy said, “He [Thomas] made about a 20-footer on our second hole, and that just put us on the pace we needed to get some momentum going. We gave ourselves lots of opportunities, double opportunities, where we were both putting for birdie, which is always nice. Just overall, we teamed very well today.” Faulk Jr added, “I started off hot and helped him out, and then when I was winding down, he got things going. We just made putts and pars when we needed to. It was just the team working.” Ryan Grider, Associate at The Lakes at Castle Hills, and Colten Karstendiek (a) fired 32-32–64 to finish in second place. Matt Weinberger, PGA senior director of member and amateur championships at PGA of America and Owen Layton (a) shot 31-35–66 to claim third place. The Championship featured 64 teams consisting of one PGA professional and one junior golfer between the ages of 7-19. The teams competed in a Four-Ball Stroke Play format. There was also a second division within the Championship where PGA professionals and their children competed for a separate title. The nine-team division was claimed for the third consecutive year by Jon Antunes, PGA director of instruction at Heart of Texas Golf Academy and his daughter Hannah Antunes (a) with a score of 34-34–68. For the professionals in the field today, there was a skins game with a $4,500 payout. Only one skin was earned today. Hanna Dickens, Associate at The Ronny Golf Park, made a birdie on hole 14 to earn the skin. The 1st & 10th Tee Golf Energy Bar Pro-Junior Championship was presented by CMC Design, PGA TOUR, and THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson.