Two Rounds Complete at the Yamaha Golf-Car Company/ Lajitas Golf Resort Match Play Championship
NTPGA • October 9, 2017
ODESSA, Texas –
Round One and Round Two matches of the Yamaha Golf-Car Company / Lajitas Golf Resort Match Play Championship resulted in four of the top ten seeds moving on to the Quarter Final Matches. Tuesday morning’s Quarter Final Matches will feature #2 seed Ben Kern, PGA head professional at Diamondback Golf Club; Danny Coughlan, PGA head professional at Abilene Country Club (#4 seed); Lee Rhind, PGA director of instruction at Midland Country Club (#7 seed); Gabe Reynolds, PGA director of instruction at Top Golf Dallas (#8 seed); Vince Jewell, PGA teaching professional at Woodbridge Golf Club (#11 seed); Adam Headley, PGA head professional at Hillcrest Country Club (#14 seed), Joe Brown, PGA teaching professional at The Courses at Watters Creek (#16 seed) and Ben Cuzen, PGA assistant professional at Preston Trail Golf Club (#21 seed). Cuzen is the highest remaining seed in the field. He was able to best the #12 seeded Christopher Brown, caddie on the PGA TOUR, 2&1 in Round One and #5 seed Jon Antunes, PGA director of instruction at Hot Golf, Inc., 3&2 in Round Two.
The big upset of the day came during Round One when #32 seed Dan Walden, PGA head professional at Texas Star Golf Course, bested #1 seed Brian Norman, PGA teaching professional at Gleneagles Country Club, 2UP. Walden, however, dropped his Second Round match to Brown 2UP.
The Yamaha Golf-Car Company / Lajitas Golf Resort Match Play Championship is being contested October 9-11 at Odessa Country Club’s Old Course in Odessa, Texas, a 7,069-yard, par 72 layout. The Championship is presented by Adventures In Golf and AT&T Byron Nelson. The top 32 players on the final 2017 Yamaha Golf-Car Company / Lajitas Golf Resort Player of the Year Points Challenge were invited to compete in the season-ending major championship. Quarter Final Matches will be played on Tuesday morning with the Semi-Final Matches following in the afternoon. The Championship Match will be played on Wednesday morning, with the winner taking home $5,500 of the $36,800 Open Division purse.
The Championship also includes a Senior Division. The division features eight of the top professionals from the 2017 OMEGA Senior Points Challenge list competing for their own $9,200 purse. Today the Senior Division played the Quarter Final and Semi-Final Matches with Bruce Smith, PGA director of instruction at Black Belt Golf Academy (#1 seed) and Henry Cagigal, PGA assistant professional at Rockwood Golf Course (#7 seed) advancing to Tuesday morning’s Final Match. The eventual Senior Division champion will take home a trophy and a check for $2,800.
Tomorrow morning’s matches are listed below:
QUARTER FINAL MATCHES, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2017
Ben Hogan Bracket
9:00 a.m. #1 Tee
#16. Joe Brown, The Courses at Watters Creek vs. #8. Gabe Reynolds, Top Golf - Dallas
Don January Bracket
9:10 a.m. #1 Tee
#4. Danny Coughlan, Abilene Country Club vs. #21. Ben Cuzen, Preston Trail Golf Club
Byron Nelson Bracket
9:20 a.m. #1 Tee
#2. Ben Kern, Diamondback Golf Club vs. #7. Lee Rhind, Midland Country Club
Lee Trevino Bracket
9:30 a.m. #1 Tee
#14. Adam Headley, Hillcrest Country Club vs. #11. Vince Jewell, Woodbridge Golf Club
SENIOR FINAL MATCH, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2017
9:50 a.m. #1 Tee
#1. Bruce Smith, Black Belt Golf Academy vs. #7. Henry Cagigal, Rockwood Golf Course

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




