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Carnes, Eng and Peck Win at 94th West Texas Amateur
ODESSA – Casey Carnes of Schertz wins the 94th West Texas Amateur at Odessa Country Club with an overall score of 10-under, 206. Kelly Eng of Austin captures the Senior Division at 5-under, while Mike Peck of Irving wins the Super Senior Division at 1-under.
Leaders: Casey Carnes, who was the leader after the first round, posted rounds of 68-71-67 to get to 206 overall and three strokes ahead of the field. He started the day with three straight birdies on holes two through four and added another two on Nos. 10 and 11. He made his final birdie on the par-4 14th, dropped a bogey on the par-4 15th, and finished at 5-under 67. Kelly Eng captured the Senior Division after shooting 3-under 69 on Sunday. The Austin native finished strong in the Final Round, making four birdies in his closing nine holes to no bogeys. His 211 total was one stroke better than the field. Mike Peck of Irving won the Super Senior Division after shooting 4-under 68. He started with birdie on four of his first six holes and was able to coast to victory. He added a final birdie on the par-4 ninth, which was his 54th hole of the week.
Top Finishers: Nolan Otto of Big Spring finished runner-up in the Championship Division after shooting rounds of 69-69-71. Tied for third was Midland’s Josh Pasco, Dallas’ Justin Thompson and Snyder’s Jake Leatherwood. Addison’s Christopher Wheeler finished sixth, while Houston’s Bryant Hiskey II finished seventh and three players tied for eighth. In the Senior Division Iraan’s Joe Sconiers finished runner-up to Eng at 4-under 212 followed by defending West Texas Amateur Senior Division Champion Mike Booker at 1-over 217. Lewis Stephenson finished fourth, while three players tied for fifth in the division. In the Super Senior Division, Granbury’s Lelan Chiles and Irving’s Michael Puls tied for second at 4-over 220, while Bobby Haney of New Braunfels finished fourth. Mickey Jones and Doug Hopton-Jones finished tied for fifth.
Golf Course: Odessa Country Club was founded in 1939 after the 167 acres of land was purchased for $2,500. The course was designed by John Bredemus and the layout features Bermuda grass fairways and bent grass greens. Odessa Country Club is hosting the West Texas Amateur for the third time in the tournament’s 94 years. The last West Texas Amateur to be held at OCC was in 2015, with Mark Jones Jr. capturing the title.
Weather: Temperatures started in the low 80s in the morning and crept up to the high 90s in the afternoon. There was a calm breeze around 15 miles per hour throughout the day with a clear sky over Odessa.
Tournament History: Carnes joins some amazing past champions such as Charles Coody, Billy Maxwell, Bob Estes and Alex Moon. This year’s event saw more than 300 signups and the 144-player field was cut to 73 players after Saturday’s second round.
TGA Player of the Year: Points were awarded to the top 20 finishers for the West Texas Amateur in the Men’s Regional Points Race. The champion got 1,000 points towards the statewide honor followed by 800 for runner-up, 700 for third, 650 for fourth and 600 for fifth. To see the complete breakdown of points available, click here.
TGA Regional Series: The TGA Regional Series is made up of four events for each region of North and South Texas. There is a Regional Four-Ball, Mid-Amateur, Senior Amateur and Amateur for both the North and South. The West Texas Amateur also serves as an event in the Regional Series and is open to any players in the state of Texas that meet eligibility.
What’s Next: The Texas Golf Association returns to the DFW area as the Texas Mid-Amateur Match Play takes place at Denton Country Club. 84 of the state’s top Mid-Amateurs will duel it out starting Wednesday, July 21.
For more information on the West Texas Amateur, click here.
