Pritchard Victorious at 49th Tanos Exploration II / Patterson-UTI Drilling Texas State Open
Kyle Pritchard of Castroville, TX, captured the 49th Tanos Exploration II / Patterson-UTI Drilling Texas State Open by playing spectacular golf all week with rounds of 63, 67, 61 and a final round of 68. He finished the Championship two strokes ahead of the competition at 21-under par 259 for 72-holes. The four-day total matches past Champion and PGA TOUR Member, Shawn Stefani’s Championship total when he won at The Cascades Club in 2011.
Pritchard held a six shot lead heading into today’s final round. However, the lead quickly evaporated after he played the first seven holes three over par, and standing on the 8th tee, he found himself tied for the lead with Bullard’s Blake Elliott. Until today, Pritchard had only made two bogeys, both in the second round. But, he managed five birdies on the back nine, including four in the last five holes. He put an exclamation mark on the win when he sank a three-foot birdie for the victory on the 18th hole. The 2-under par round was enough to secure the Championship and a check for $41,000. Pritchard, a club professional at Alsatian Golf Club in Castroville, also earned a lifetime exemption into the Texas State Open.
“I teed off with a 6-shot lead today and still didn't believe that I could do it. It never hit me until that last putt on the last hole. Just to have my kids there and to know that their dad could do it, that's all that it means to me. It's perfect,” said Pritchard on the victory. “This win means a lot. It's been a long road.”
Once the putt on #18 dropped, he was swarmed on the green by his three sons, wife Synthia and family.
Colin Kober (a) of Southlake, TX, earned the Low Amateur honors and finished tied for fifth place shooting 67-67-64-67—265, 15-under-par, for the Championship. Kober is a rising senior at Baylor University, and was one of eight amateurs to make the cut. He bested Baylor teammate Ryan Grider (a) by three strokes to claim the honors.
“It's a really cool honor to be the low-am, especially since I was battling it out with one of my teammates this week, Ryan Grider, and I was actually staying in the same hotel room as him,” said Kober. “So we were just having fun with it. We both want to be professional golfers, so we both came here to compete and try to win the overall [Championship], and that was kind of the goal.”
In impressive fashion, Matt Lohmeyer, PGA teaching professional at GolfTEC – Montgomery Plaza, had the lowest round of the day shooting a 9-under 61 to top defending champion and last year’s Low PGA Professional Ben Kern, PGA head professional at Georgetown Country Club, by one stroke for Low PGA Professional honors. Lohmeyer overcame a 6-stroke gap that Kern created yesterday when he carded the same 61 in the third round. This is Lohmeyer’s first time receiving this award, ending Kern’s two-year run.
“Today went well. After seeing Ben Kern's round yesterday of 9-under I knew to get the low club pro I had to shoot something pretty special, probably the same score that he did, and hope that he didn't shoot another 9-under round,” said Lohmeyer. “I had 9 birdies, the hole looked very big today putting, and there was just something about today. I had a crazy focus and it was my career-best round by 3 shots, so that was pretty cool. This is pretty special to win. That's been a goal of mine to at least get the Low PGA Professional. At some point I'd also win the tournament as well.”
The 72-hole stroke play event began with 156 contestants. Following 36-holes, the field was cut to the low 55 scores and ties. 71 players survived the cut, which was at even par 140. 63 professionals and 8 amateurs played the final two rounds. All four rounds were contested at The Cascades Club, a 6,882-yard, par 70 layout located in Tyler. For the Championship, hole #10 is being played as a 490 yard, par 4 rather than a par 5. The total purse was a record $208,560.
Proceeds from the tournament benefitted 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 over $406,000 in scholarships to 50 high school seniors from North Texas. The Championship was sponsored by Tanos Exploration II and Patterson-UTI Drilling. It was presented by Joyce Crane and Veritex Bank and was supported by Cavender’s, Christus Trinity Mother Frances Health Systems, Energy Weldfab, Jucy's Hamburgers and Patterson Tyler.
Please note: (a) denotes amateur, and amateurs were awarded gift certificates.
Final Round results here.
