Northern Texas PGA Junior Golf Foundation Awards Record $305,000 in Scholarships
NTPGA • June 20, 2018
DALLAS, TX
– The Northern Texas PGA Junior Golf Foundation is pleased to continue its charitable commitment to educational services by announcing its 2018 scholarship recipients. Forty-three (43) recipients have earned scholarships totaling $305,000, the most ever given in a single year by the Foundation.
This year, of the scholarships awarded, 69% were based on financial need, academic performance, extracurricular activities and community involvement, while 31% were awarded based on academic performance, extracurricular activities and community involvement.
The Northern Texas PGA Junior Golf Foundation is pleased to announce its 2018 scholarship recipients.
• Jordan Spieth Family Foundation Scholarship – Omar Arriaga
• Royal Oaks Country Club / Nicholas Stafford Scholarship – Anthony Basta
• AT&T Byron Nelson Scholarship – Lauren Blackburn
• NTPGA Scholarship, Supported by AT&T – Herlin Bonilla
• Tony Martinez / Dallas District Golf Association Scholarship – Malak Bourdaeda
• Ewing Automotive College Scholarship – Sadie Bow
• Birdies for Kids Scholarship – Abbey Bryan
• Jerry J. Ransom Scholarship – Megan Daleo
• Cameron McCormick Golf Scholarship – Ranger Donnell
• Ben Hogan Foundation / Mark and Katie Kalpakis Scholarship – Cullen Embry
• Ben Hogan Foundation / Jeff and Suzanne Mooney Scholarship – Austin Escamilla
• Tanos Exploration II / Patterson-UTI Drilling Texas State Open Scholarship – Emma French
• NTPGA Scholarship, Supported by AT&T – David Garcia
• Randy Smith Scholarship – Justin Gatlin
• Jerry J. Ransom Scholarship – Brooks Glanton
• Jordan Spieth Family Foundation Scholarship – Jalen Gonzales
• Holly & Doug Brooks Family Foundation Scholarship – Connor Howard
• The Veritex Bank Scholarship – Karli Livingston
• Jordan Spieth Family Foundation Scholarship – Naila Lopez
• McMillan Golf Academy Scholarship – Finn Maguire
• Ewing Automotive College Scholarship – Zoe Mayfield
• NTPGA Scholarship, Supported by AT&T – Maria Medina
• Briggs Berry Heart of a Lion Scholarship – Mateo Mejia
• I AM Scholarship – Sandra Moreno
• Ben Hogan Foundation / Robert Stennett Scholarship – Brendan O’Connell
• NTPGA Scholarship, Supported by AT&T – Maria Ortiz
• West Texas Legends Scholarship honoring S.A. Smith, Hart Warren, Jay McClure and Sherwin Cox – Nolan Otto
• Holly & Doug Brooks Family Foundation Scholarship – Matt Prieskorn
• Holly & Doug Brooks Family Foundation Scholarship – Gabrielle Rosas
• Holly & Doug Brooks Family Foundation Scholarship – Sara Schuster
• Cameron McCormick Golf Scholarship – Lauren Wallace
• *Mac Spikes PGA Member Scholarship – Victoria Williams
• I AM Scholarship – Hillmon Woods
• Cameron McCormick Golf Scholarship – Phoebe Yuan
• Jerry J. Ransom Scholarship - Emily Zhou
• S.A. Smith West Texas Invitational / Frost Bank Scholarship – To be announced
*Denotes - Annually awarded to a child or grandchild of a Northern Texas PGA Member
The Deloitte Fairway to Success After School Program completed its eleventh year of outreach at three DISD high schools – W.W. Samuell, Thomas Jefferson and Lincoln. These schools were selected by DISD for their level of need, lack of outside resources and commitment of staff leadership to this project. Fairway to Success is a collaborative effort between Deloitte, Northern Texas PGA and United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, which provides scholarships to at-risk students who are learning to play golf.
Fairway to Success is helping to impact and change the lives of children in our community. The five-week, after school program had 155 DISD high school students learning the basics of golf from PGA professionals over the course of the academic year. Students also went on a field trip to Keeton Park Golf Course and graduating seniors were given the opportunity to apply for a $20,000 college scholarship. New to the 2018 Fairway to Success scholarship program, the NTPGA partnered up with the University of North Texas at Dallas to provide one student with a full, four-year scholarship to UNT Dallas.
Deloitte, the Northern Texas PGA and United Way are proud to announce the 2018 scholarship recipients:
• Daniel Akwei
– Thomas Jefferson High School
• Ashley Crispin
– W.W. Samuell High School
• Elia Espinosa
– Thomas Jefferson High School
• Juwon Grant
– Lincoln High School
• Francheska Johnson
– Lincoln High School
• Sonya Soto
– Thomas Jefferson High School
The University of North Texas at Dallas and the Northern Texas PGA are proud to announce the first ever UNT-Dallas/NTPGA Fairway to Success Scholarship recipient.
• Tyra Shockley
– W.W. Samuell High School
Established in 2007, the Fairway to Success Program has annually awarded scholarships to deserving students based on academic performance, extracurricular activities, community involvement and financial need. Since its inception, the program has awarded $1,000,000 to 51 deserving students in our community. Funding is entirely through the individual contributions of Deloitte personnel in North Texas. One hundred percent of the contributions made are designated to fund scholarships.
About the Northern Texas PGA Junior Golf Foundation:
The Northern Texas PGA Junior Golf Foundation is committed to introducing, promoting and growing the game of golf to a diverse group of kids in North Texas and instilling in them the positive, character-developing traits for which the game is so well known. Each year close to 10,000 children and their families are impacted by the game that lasts a lifetime through a full circle of programs and services including:
• Introduction – Fairway to Success After School Program, Drive, Chip and Putt and Summer Golf Camps
• Playing – Team and PGA Junior League Golf, Prep and Medalist Levels and All American Tour – 450+ tournaments per year
• Education – College Scholarships – $2.36M distributed including $305,000 awarded in 2018
• Employment – Internship Program, Fairway to Success After School Program and Summer Golf Camps
• Philanthropy – Ewing Charity Classic, Birdies for Kids, the Jerry J. Ransom Pro-Junior-Am and the Royal Oaks’ Great 108
For more information about the Northern Texas PGA Junior Golf Foundation Scholarship Program or for additional information about our 2018 recipients, please contact Alyssa Richardson at arichardson@ntpga.com
or (214) 420-7421 or visit www.ntpgajuniorgolf.com/scholarships.
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.