Walts Crowned Champion at Joyce Crane | Huntington Bank Section Championship

Erik Anderson • September 16, 2026

Little Secures Senior Division

LEWISVILLE, Texas (September 15) – Chase Walts, PGA assistant professional at Trinity Forest Golf Club, captured the Joyce Crane | Huntington Bank Section Championship. Walts’ first round 32-32–64, gave him a four-shot lead headed into the final round. A 39-33–72, even par in the final round was enough for Walts to close out the Championship and earn his first NTPGA Section Championship. It also earned Walts an exemption into the 2027 THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson.


Walts made nine birdies and just a lone bogey in his first round. “I’ve been striking the ball well for the last few months. I’ve just been waiting for the putts to drop,” said Walts. “Yesterday, it really lined up for me. I had a lot of luck on the greens, and had a couple go in that are a little outside the range where you expect them to.”


His final round began with two pars and a bogey before a bounce-back birdie on the par-5 fourth hole. A tough stretch led to three straight bogeys before Walts made the turn.


“I knew I was still hitting it well; I knew my game was still there. I got to hole 10, grabbed a new golf ball and just reset. What happened on the front, you can’t control when you get on to the back,” said Walts.


Walts steadied himself with a lengthy par putt on 10 and birdies on holes 11 and 12. After a stretch of pars, he suddenly found himself one-back of Kent Graham, PGA director of golf at Gleneagles Country Club, after Graham eagled the 18th hole. 


“I love watching the leaderboard. I want to know what I have to do. Pressure is a privilege, and you have to earn it. It was nice to have that pressure feeling again,” said Walts.


Walts hit his tee shot on 17 into the fairway bunker, before hitting his approach to six feet. “I had 188 [yards], downwind. It was a perfect 7-iron that I hit right at the flagstick. It was probably the best shot I hit all week.” Walts knocked in the 6-footer and headed to the par-5 18th needing birdie to win.


“I was just trying to get the ball in play. I knocked one on the green and had a pretty simple two putt. I made it a little friskier than I needed to, but I got the job done,” said Walts.


Walts earned $9,300 along with his exemption into THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson. “I grew up watching that tournament. Actually, when I got into golf, the first professional event I went to was the Web.com Tour event [now Korn Ferry Tour] out here at Castle Hills. I took a picture on the top of that hill and it’s one of my first memories in golf. Being able to qualify for a PGA Tour event out here is really, really cool,” said Walts.

Brennan Little, PGA Member, claimed the Senior Division after rounds of 66-68–134, 10-under-par. This is his third NTPGA Section Major Championship victory and second Joyce Crane | Huntington Bank Section Championship in the last three years.


In round one, Little carded a 35-31–66 that had him in a tie for first with Rob Shields, PGA Member at The Winsford Group. Yesterday, Little made five birdies in his last seven holes and looked to keep the momentum going into the final round. 

Today, Little made two pars and a bogey to start his final round, but from there he was back to his opening round form. Birdies on holes four, six, seven and eight saw him quickly open up a five-shot lead over the rest of the field.


“I hit a couple of decent shots early; I just couldn’t make anything. Then I had a few good holes there and got rolling. I was feeling much better and actually wanted to get a few more,” said Little. 


Little added, “I know there’s a bunch of guys that could come back, and I know it's a cliché, but I just had to play my game. I didn’t have it quite as much today, but it seems like it worked out okay.”


Little is a full-time caddie for PGA TOUR player Gary Woodland, and when asked what lessons he has learned as a caddie that translate to his own game, he said, “The main thing is I see guys shooting eight, nine, ten under, and so there’s a level of comfort when you’re six under like I was yesterday. Mentality-wise, you have to keep hitting good shots, and at the end of the day it’s just a golf course. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a tournament or not.” 


Little’s victory today earned him $4,600.


This 36-hole Northern Texas PGA major championship was the final of four individual stroke play events that comprise the Yamaha Golf-Car Company | Srixon / Cleveland Golf Player of the Year Points Challenge presented by Adventures In Golf and Good Good Golf. The field competed for a Championship purse of $112,500. 


It was also the final opportunity for professionals to earn points to qualify for the Texas Joe Black Cup and Levy Cup teams. Teams will be announced in the coming weeks.


The Joyce Crane | Huntington Bank Section Championship was presented by BlueGolf, bogeys2Birdies, Ewing Automotive Group, GT Golf Supply, PGA TOUR, Kohler, Wisconsin, Strike Visuals, Super Mex Golf, THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson, and TITE Eyewear.


The Lakes at Castle Hills

Par: 36-36-72

Open Division Yardage: 7,069 yards

Senior Division Yardage: 6,514 yards

Friend Wins Club Car | XXIO Northern Texas Senior PGA Professional Championship

By Erik Anderson • August 25, 2026
Six qualify for Senior PGA Professional Championship

Paez Prevails at Lajitas Golf Resort Women’s Section Championship

By Erik Anderson • August 25, 2026
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

McDonough Claims Northern Texas Assistant PGA Professional Championship

By Erik Anderson • August 17, 2026
Four Qualify for 50th Assistant PGA Professional Championship

Team of Murphy, Faulk Jr. Win Playoff to Capture 1st & 10th Tee Golf Energy Bar Pro-Junior Championship

By Erik Anderson • August 10, 2026
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.