Around the Green

Odessa Country Club Wins Texas League Play Playoffs

Horseshoe Bay — Odessa Country Club-Old defeats Rockwall Golf & Athletic Club at the 2022 Texas League Play Playoffs hosted by Horseshoe Bay Resort. Odessa CC won 9.5-2.5 to claim their second playoff championship, both captained by Mark Jones.

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Championship Match: Sunday, June 5 – The Championship match was a faceoff between No. 9 seed Rockwall Golf & Athletic Club and No. 10 seed Odessa Country Club-Old. Texas League Play Playoffs are nothing unfamiliar to team Captain’s CJ Brock of Rockwall Golf & Athletic Club and Mark Jones of Odessa Country Club. Brock previously captained the Dallas Athletic Club team who won in 2016 and Jones was the captain of the 2019 Odessa Country Club team who won the playoffs.

The first match of the finals was between Jay Weiss and Michael Shirley of Rockwall Golf & Athletic Club and Darren Seglem and Mark Jones of Odessa Country Club. Seglem and Jones set the tone early for Odessa Country Club with a clean 3-0 win in their match.

The second match of the day was a showdown between Charles Archer and Randy Durant of Rockwall Golf & Athletic Club and Robert Rigney and Brandon Warne of Odessa Country Club. The two teams went back and forth all day and ultimately halved the match, 1.5-1.5.

Nick Loar and Marc Nelson of Rockwall Golf and Athletic Club went up against Luke Groves and Jim McNeil of Odessa Country Club in the third match. Like Seglem and Jones, Groves and McNeil got hot early and never looked back winning their match 3-0, and ultimately securing the team victory.

The fourth and final match of the playoffs was a battle between Rockwall Golf & Athletic Clubs CJ Brock and Mike Frias and Odessa Country Club’s Aaron White and Jerry Dugan. Brock and Frias were the anchor for the Rockwall Golf & Athletic Club team all week but came up short, falling to White and Dugan 2-1.

Semifinal Matches: Saturday, June 4 – Semifinal matches got underway with a matchup between No. 9 seed Rockwall Golf & Athletic Club and No. 13 seed Denton Country Club. Rockwall Golf & Athletic Club came out firing early taking 3.5 out of 4 points in the opening nine holes of their matches. Carrying their momentum to the backside, the club secured the win 9.5 to 2.5, advancing to the finals.

The second Semifinal matches of the day was a West Texas showdown between No. 3 seed Abilene Country Club and No. 10 seed Odessa Country Club-Old. The two clubs went head-to-head all day and ended their matches tied 6-6. It took one playoff hole to decide the team to join Rockwall Golf & Athletic club in the finals when Jerry Dugan dropped a 15-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to send Odessa Country Club to the finals.

Quarterfinal Matches: Friday, June 3 – Quarterfinal matches started with No.1 seed Nutcracker Golf Club and No. 9 seed Rockwall Golf & Athletic Club. The entire match came down to the final putt on 18 with team captain CJ Brock rolling in a seven-foot birdie putt for Rockwall Golf & Athletic Club to send them to the Semifinals with a winning match score of 6.5 to 5.5.

The second set of matches, No. 13 seed Denton Country Club carried the momentum from their Round of 16 win and defeated No. 5 seed Odessa Country Club-Links. Denton Country Club won the match 8.5-3.5 and will advance to the Semifinals. The third matches of the day included No. 2 seed Golf Club of Houston and No. 10 seed Odessa Country Club-Old. Lead by Luke Groves and Jim McNeal’s 3-0 victory in their respective match, Odessa Country Club-Old won the match 9-3, knocking off the No. 2 seed.

The final match of the Quarterfinals was a faceoff between No. 3 seed Abilene Country Club and No. 11 seed Ridlgea Country Club. The two clubs went back and forth all day and ultimately the matchup came down to the final match of the day with Abilene Country Club winning 6.5-5.5. Abilene Country Club was the only team with a Round of 16 bye to advance to the Semifinals.

Round of 16 Matches: Thursday, June 2 – Ten teams went head-to-head Thursday during the Round of 16 at the Texas League Play Playoffs. The three top seeds had a bye into the second round of quarter final matches. Those teams included No. 1 seed Nutcracker Golf Club, No. 2 seed Golf Club of Houston, and No. 3 seed Abilene Country Club. The first matches of the Round of 16 was contested between No. 8 seed Tierra Verde Golf Club and No. 9 seed Rockwall Golf & Athletic Club. The two clubs were tied 6-6 at the competition of all four matches. A playoff between the two clubs went six holes before Rockwall Golf & Athletic Club won the playoff and moved on to the next round.

The second matches of the day included No. 4 seed The Hills Country Club and No. 13 seed Denton Country Club. Coming down to the final match, Denton Country Club defeated The Hills Country Club 7-5. The third matches of the round were played between No. 5 seed Odessa Country Club-Links and No. 12 seed Lakewood Country Club. An all-around team effort was needed with all matches contributing to the final match score of 7-5 in favor of Odessa Country Club-Links.

The fourth matches featured No. 7 seed Eagle Pointe and No. 10 seed Odessa Country Club-Old. The second Odessa Country Club team to advance to the Texas League Play Playoffs cruised to the next round of matches winning 10-2, keeping the hopes of an Odessa vs Odessa finals alive.

The fifth and final match of the day was between No. 6 seed The Golf Clubs at the Tribute and No. 11 seed Ridglea Country Club. After multiple 3-0 match scores, Ridglea Country Club defeated the No. 6 seed 8.5-3.5.

Course: Horseshoe Bay Resort is hosting the Texas League Play playoffs for the twelfth consecutive year in a row, and the thirteenth time overall. This year’s playoffs will be contested on the Robert Trent Jones Sr. designed Slick Rock course. The Slick Rock course is most known for its breathtaking par-4 fourteenth hole, also know as the “Million Dollar” hole. The hole features 35-yard waterfall players are forced to carry with their tee shot before winding down, though, and around the water feature.

Tournament History: The Texas League Play Playoffs have been around since the introduction of Texas League Play in 2006. Regular season conference winners advance to a single-elimination bracket tournament to determine the overall state champion. Conference winners are seeded into the Playoff Bracket based on the total number of points accumulated during the regular season.

TGA League Play: Texas League Play is open to all TGA members clubs that meet the club eligibility requirements. Participating clubs establish a four-club conference and compete over an eight-week regular season. The regular season consist of six interconference matches including three home and three away matches. Eight players represent each club on match day and play Four-Ball matches. Points are awarded in a Nassau style scoring with each of the four matches being worth three points.

What’s Next: The TGA heads out East to Tyler where the 113th Texas Amateur Championship will be contested. The state championship will be played June 16-19 at Willow Brook Country Club. The field consists of 144 of the best amateurs in the state who will all be competing for the coveted H.L. Edwards trophy and Texas Amateur title.

About the TGA: The Texas Golf Association was established in 1906 with a mission to promote the playing and advancement of the royal and ancient game of golf in Texas. The association is one of the most respected in the country with an ongoing commitment to its members, contestants, volunteers and all who strive to preserve the great traditions of the game.

For more information about Texas League Play, click here. To see all the scores from the playoffs at Horseshoe Bay Resort, click here.