Studebaker Captures National Car Rental Northern Texas Assistant PGA Professional Championship
Taylor Coffelt • August 10, 2020
FORT WORTH, Texas
– David Studebaker, assistant professional at Cross Timbers Golf Course, captured the National Car Rental Northern Texas Assistant PGA Professional Championship by one stroke over Thomas Devanna, PGA assistant professional at Tangle Ridge Golf Course, and James Bolton, assistant professional at Dallas Country Club. Studebaker carded rounds of 73-67–140, 2-under-par to capture his second Northern Texas PGA Assistant Championship title and Northern Texas PGA individual major championship. He took home a $900 check for his victory.
“It’s been 20 years!” Studebaker exclaimed after his win. “I got out of the golf business and then came back in, so my game hasn’t been quite what I wanted it to be, but I really worked quite hard on it this year and put the extra practice in and trusted it today. I finally got it going and hit a lot of great tee shots and was hitting the driver well and that gave me the confidence to play this golf course.”
Studebaker will lead two other assistant professionals from the Northern Texas Section to compete November 12-15 in the 44th National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional Championship. The two additional assistants joining him will be Devanna and Bolton. PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Florida will host the Championship.
Begun in 1977, the National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional Championship is modeled after the PGA Professional Championship, with a field of 132 PGA Professionals and Associates who advanced through 41 Section Championships conducted from May through October this year. If eligibility is met and maintained, the champion earns a berth in the 54th PGA Professional Championship being played in the spring of 2021 at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, FL.
The National Car Rental Northern Texas Assistant PGA Professional Championship was conducted by the Northern Texas PGA Section and was supported by Srixon / Cleveland Golf / XXIO / ASICS , John Deere and PGA TOUR. The Championship was conducted August 10 at Mira Vista Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, a 6,919-yard, par 71 layout. A field of 54 assistant golf professionals competed for a share of the $7,000 purse and were attempting to qualify for the National Championship.
Final Results: Championship
and Qualifying.
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