Castroville Resident Kyle Pritchard continued to play amazing golf on Friday, holding off a host of charging challengers, before capturing the 49th Tanos Exploration II/Patterson-UTI Drilling Texas State Open at The Cascades Golf & Country Club in Tyler, TX. The biggest win of his career has special meaning to the Head Golf Pro at Castroville’s Alsatian Golf Club as his wife Synthia and three sons Hutton (5), Beau (3) and Jack (1) were all on hand to see him win by 2 strokes. Pritchard’s name will now be associated with past tournament champions Lee Trevino and Ben Crenshaw.
“I started the day with a 6 stroke lead and still didn’t believe that I could do it,” said the former University of Louisiana Lafayette golfer. “I switched putters about 2 weeks ago and man it really made a difference in my game,” Pritchard also said “This course just fits my style of play, I can reach all the par 5’s in two and it has six par 3’s which also plays into my game.”
Pritchard finished the tournament at 21 under par, a new record for the tournaments 49-year history (2 eagles, 23 birdies, 6 bogeys). Pritchard played the Texas State Open right out of college but missed the cut, so to come back and win it eight years later with a winner’s check of $41,000 made all the days of practice worth it. Kyle took five years off playing competitive golf, but feels he is playing some of his best golf of his life as a 31 year old.
A Championship party will take place on Monday night (6pm-8pm) at Alsatian Golf Club, located at: 1339 Co Rd 4516, Castroville, TX., 830-931-3100.