Nationwide Tour competitor Martin Flores, a former Mansfield High School golfer, earned a spot in Thursday’s opening round at the HP Byron Nelson Championship in Irving by winning Monday’s rain-delayed qualifier in Frisco. Flores, a Dallas resident, posted a 65 to join Robert Gamez, Todd Fischer and Sam Smith among the final wave of Nelson competitors.
Smith, a 19-year-old amateur, is a college golfer at Midwestern State in Wichita Falls who played one season of college football at Abilene Christian before switching schools and turning his attention to college golf.
After checking in Tuesday with tournament officials, Smith said it felt “kind of surreal” to be making his PGA Tour debut in Irving. During his high school golf career, Smith made it to the Class 1A state tournament on two different occasions while competing for Archer City High School.
_ Jimmy Burch
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