Pritchard Regains Lead During Round Three of the 49th Tanos Exploration II / Patterson UTI-Drilling Texas State Open

Taylor Coffelt • August 1, 2019

Tyler, Texas – Kyle Pritchard of Castroville, TX, took back the lead, shooting a 9-under 61 in today’s round to sit at 19-under par, 191 for the Championship. Pritchard carded nine birdies during his round with four on the front starting on holes #5 and #6 and then again on #8 and #9, and notched an additional five birdies on the back to finish the day bogey-free. With rounds of 67-63-61–191, Pritchard will head into tomorrow’s final round with a six-stroke advantage over four players who sit T2.

“They set the course up a little easier today and my goals were just to make as many birdies as possible. It was the third round so I tried to get something going. They told me right before I teed off that [Ben] Kern shot 61, so he's pretty good and I figured I could follow that,” Pritchard said of today’s round. “You have to putt well and have a good short game. The course sets up for a draw almost every hole. I don't draw it big, but you have to draw it at least a little bit, so it's driver, putter and wedge, that's it. For tomorrow, my game plan is going to be fairways and greens. Same thing as today, not take anything for granted, just one hole at a time. There's some hard holes, there's some easy holes, so it's just one hole at a time.”

For the week, Pritchard has as many eagles as bogeys - two.

Many players took advantage of moving day including the four professionals tied for second. Derek Oland of Plano, TX, ended up finishing the day with a total of eight birdies and an eagle, while Blake Elliott of Bullard, TX, also had a solid third round, carding nine total birdies, six of which he captured on the last six holes of the day. Alex Carpenter of Dallas, TX, finished the round having carded nine total birdies and Chase Barnes of Cypress, TX, finished up with a total of five birdies. All four players currently sit tied for second at 13-under 197.

Colin Kober (a) of Southlake, TX, and rising Senior at Baylor University, and fellow teammate and Round Two leader Ryan Grider (a), are currently tied for Low Amateur honors as well as sixth place in the Championship at 12-under-par 198.

Defending champion Ben Kern, PGA, made a big move up the leaderboard today also firing a 9-under 61. Not only did he move up the Championship leaderboard heading into tomorrow’s final round, but he is also in a strong position to claim Low PGA Professional honors for the third year in a row. Kern is currently leading the division by 6 strokes.

All four rounds are being contested at The Cascades Club, a 6,882-yard, par 70 layout. For the Championship, hole #10 is being played as a 490 yard, par 4 rather than a par 5. The purse for the Tanos Exploration II / Patterson-UTI Drilling Texas State Open is a record $208,560, one of the largest State Open purses in the country. The champion will win $41,000.

Proceeds from the tournament will benefit the Northern Texas PGA Foundation’s scholarship program with the creation of the Tanos Exploration II / Patterson-UTI Drilling Texas State Open Scholarship. Lauren James from Judson, Texas, was awarded this scholarship. This year the NTPGA Foundation awarded $406,000 in scholarships to 50 high school seniors from North Texas. The Championship is sponsored by Tanos Exploration II and Patterson-UTI Drilling. It is presented by Joyce Crane and Veritex Bank and is supported by Cavender’s, Christus Trinity Mother Frances Health Systems, Energy Weldfab, Jucy's Hamburgers and Patterson Tyler.

The final round will commence on Friday, August 2 at 8:00 a.m. The final group of Pritchard and Oland will tee off at 1:12 p.m.

Starting times and groupings can be found at www.ntpga.com. Admission is free to all.

Please note: (a) denotes amateur, and amateurs will be awarded gift certificates.

Round Three results here.

Norman and Massa (a) go Back-to-Back at the Srixon / Cleveland Golf Pro-Scratch Championship

By Erik Anderson • March 25, 2026
Brown and Gibralter (a) claim Senior Division

Bruns And Walts Win 2026 KBS TOUR Shafts Pro-Assistant Championship After Two Hole Playoff

By Erik Anderson • March 3, 2026
THE COLONY, Texas (March 2) – The team of Robert Bruns, PGA Head Professional at Trinity Forest Golf Club, along with partner Chase Walts, PGM Student at Methodist University who currently works as an assistant at Trinity Forest Golf Club won the 2026 KBS TOUR Shafts Pro-Assistant Championship after a two hole playoff. The two carded a bogey-free, 12-under-par, final score after shooting 64 on Old American Golf Club and a 31 on the back nine of Tribute Golf Links. They bested the team of Spencer Dillard and Alastair Jones from Preston Trail Golf Club. The 27-hole, Four-Ball Stroke Play Championship was hosted at Golf Clubs at The Tribute for the sixth straight year. Teams played Old American Golf Club and the back nine of Tribute Golf Links. Bruns and Walts both had looks inside 10 feet on the second playoff hole, though it was Bruns who poured in the winning putt. “I knew he had it in the bag, so I think that made it much easier for me to just be free and let it go,” said Bruns. Walts recently became an assistant professional at Trinity Forest, and said, “Robert is such a huge mentor to me and my career already. I hope to learn from everything he knows and that goes for golf as well.” “It makes it much easier when you’re in the mix coming down the fairway and you have a great relationship with each other. At the end of the day you’re just having fun,” Bruns said after their victory. This is the first win for both Bruns and Walts in Section Major Championships. The pair earned $3,200 ($1,600 each) out of the record $32,000 total championship purse. The KBS TOUR Shafts Pro-Assistant Championship was presented by Callaway Golf, Club Car, Evolve Golf, Landmark Golf Course Products, Range Servant, THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson, and Winston Collection. View the final results HERE . Old American Golf Club Par: 35-36–71 Yardage: 6,770 Tribute Golf Links (Back nine) Par: 36 Yardage: 3,368

Northern Texas PGA Celebrates Award Winners, Conducts 58th Annual Meeting, Elects 32nd President of Section

By Molly Rawlins • February 23, 2026
Dallas, TX – (February 23, 2026) The Northern Texas PGA held their President’s Dinner on Sunday, February 22, at Royal Oaks Country Club. The dinner celebrated the 2025 NTPGA award winners, which included Northern Texas PGA Golf Professional of the Year, the Section's highest award, won by Cameron Doan, PGA director of golf at Preston Trail Golf Club. This is the highest honor given annually to a Northern Texas PGA Member, and is awarded for qualities of leadership, strong moral character and a substantial record of service to the NTPGA as well as the game of golf. The complete list of award winners can be found HERE . Congratulations to all. On Monday, February 23, the NTPGA staff then conducted a Professional Development Seminar and the 58th Annual Business Meeting at Dallas Country Club. During the Professional Development Seminar, the PGA of America golf professionals learned new communication skills from Tim Novak, increased their rules knowledge with Jon Drago, PGA, and David Price, PGA, and learned leadership lessons from a group of golf's top PGA golf professionals, including Cary Cozby, PGA, Bill Eschenbrenner, PGA, Bob Ford, PGA, and our very own Cameron Doan, PGA, and Ronny Glanton, PGA. After lunch, the 58th Annual Meeting consisted of the recognition of many professionals including the playing award winners honoring Matt Lohmeyer, Todd McCorkle, Rob Shields and Kim Paez. The 2026 Eva Williams A.C.E. Scholarship recipient, Sean Kim was also recognized. The meeting included comments from the Northern Texas PGA Past Presidents, current officers as well as from Executive Director, Kelly Gilley, PGA and CEO Mark Harrison. New Officers to the Northern Texas PGA Board of Directors were elected by acclamation. They include Ira Molayo as President, Jeremy Langdale as Vice President and Eric Hunt as Secretary. Two At-Large Directors were also elected by acclamation, Trish Holt and Neil Lockie. All were sworn in alongside East Texas Chapter President Tim Lawson and West Texas Chapter President Adam Headley. The current Northern Texas PGA Board of Directors can be found HERE . Before the meeting adjourned, the newly elected President, Ira Molayo, the PGA General Manager at Cedar Crest Golf Course in Dallas, addressed the membership. He stated that it is an honor to serve as the 32nd President of the Northern Texas PGA, using the word ‘serve’ intentionally because this position, like every role in our profession, is not about title. It is about stewardship. He then gave four notes about his commitment in these next two years – to represent all Members, across facilities, across classifications, across backgrounds, to listen carefully, to communicate clearly, and to support the staff and volunteers who carry this Section forward every day. He finished his comments by saying, “I do not intend to reinvent what is already strong. I intend to build on it.” Thank you to all of the PGA of America Golf Professionals in our Section who attended these special and important events over the past few days. Our Board and our staff look forward to a successful 2026.

Good Good Golf Announces Multi-Year Title Sponsor Partnership with the Northern Texas PGA

By Erik Anderson • February 17, 2026
The brand will sponsor competitive junior events, serve as the official apparel provider to staff, and provide exclusive merchandise, prizes, and more at events as part of their effort to encourage and develop the next generation of golfers