COLLEGE GOLF: UTPB hires Chavez as men's and women's golf coach

Paul Chavez’s retirement didn’t last long.

The longtime Odessa golf coach has been named the new head men’s and women’s golf coach at UTPB, the university announced Friday.

Chavez previously served as the Odessa College golf coach for 26 years before retiring last spring.

His resume with the Wranglers included three NJCAA Division I national championships from 2004, 2005 and 2017.

Chavez has been honored five times as the NJCAA National Coach of the Year and has been inducted into the NJCAA Golf Coaches Hall of Fame (2007), the Western Junior College Athletic Conference Hall of Fame (2014), the Golf Coaches Association of America Hall of Fame (2017), and the Odessa Athletic Hall of Fame (2021).

Chavez has coached 41 NJCAA All-Americans, 30 GCAA All-Americans, 12 NJCAA Academic All-Americans, 64 All-Region, 49 All-State, and 81 All-Conference players. Over 121 Odessa College golfers have continued their athletic and academic careers at the four-year level and seven (7) former Wranglers are playing professionally on the PGA Tour or LIV Tour.