UT Permian Basin Athletics announced the hiring of Paul Chavez as the new Head Coach of the men's and women's golf programs in July 2024. Chavez most recently served as the Head Golf Coach at Odessa College, where he coached three NJCAA National Championship men's golf teams. On Tuesday, June 17, 2025, UT Permian Basin Head Men's & Women's Golf Coach, Paul Chavez, was one of the inaugural recipients of the Coaches Legacy Awards, which recognizes the all-time winningest coaches in NJCAA history. Coach Chavez was selected on the basis of winning three national championships at the NJCAA level. During his first Fall semester at UTPB, Odessa College announced that the Odessa College Invitational has been renamed in honor of the Hall of Fame Coach.
During just his second tournament leading the Falcons, Chavez earned his first-career NCAA win as the UTPB men's golf team won the RJGA South Central Shootout (Sept. 30-Oct. 1) at the Inn of the Mountain Gods Golf Course in Mescalero, New Mexico. It was career win No. 159 for Coach Chavez and was the third tournament win for the Falcons in program history. Meanwhile, Will Tate shot 214 (-2) and tied for second place in the tournament, but it would not be the last time he would make an impact this season. In the 2025 Spring season, Tate shot 207 (-6) to claim the first individual win of his career at the Midwestern State Invitational (Mar. 24-25) played at the Wichita Falls Country Club in Wichita Falls, Texas. Tate became just the third-ever UTPB golfer to win a tournament. In all, the UTPB men's golf team earned three top-five finishes during the 2024-25 regular season: the RJGA South Central Shootout (1st place), the Shadow Valley Invitational (4th place), and the Midwestern State Invite (5th place). Then in the postseason and after moving up to a tie for sixth place halfway through the final round, the UTPB men could not gain any more ground and ultimately finished out the 2025 Lone Star Conference Championship (Apr. 14-15) in a tie for eighth place after the stroke play portion of the event concluded at the Rockwall Golf and Athletic Club in Rockwall, Texas. Tate, who was previously named Second-Team All-LSC before the start of the tournament for his performance during the 2024-25 regular season, was UTPB's top finisher in the championship, shooting 217 (+1), tying for fifth place, and earning a spot on the LSC All-Tournament Team. Following the conference championship, Tate was selected to compete in the NCAA Division II West/South Central Regional Tournament (May 8-10) as an individual at the Victoria Club in Riverside, California. Tate saved his best for last at the NCAA Regional Championship, shooting 213 (-3), finishing tied for 38th place, and becoming the first Falcon to shoot under-par during all three rounds at the regional championship.
After 31 years of service to Odessa College, including 26 years as the Head Golf Coach, Coach Chavez announced his retirement at the conclusion of the 2023 season. Over his tenure as the Head Golf Coach, Odessa achieved wide success not only on the golf course but in the classroom. Coach Chavez guided the Wranglers to three NJCAA Division I Golf National Championships in 2004, 2005 and most recently in 2017. In addition to the three national titles, Odessa finished in the top-five 16 times.
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).
As successful as the Wranglers have been on the golf course, their academic achievements are notable: The team achieved a 3.0 grade point average or better in each of Coach Chavez's 20 final seasons and the 2021-22 team was named NJCAA Men's Golf Academic Team of the Year with a 3.61 team GPA.
Before embarking on his journey at UTPB, Chavez had already 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 former Wranglers are playing professionally on the PGA Tour or LIV Tour.
In his final season at Odessa College in 2023, Coach Chavez helped guide the Wrangler men's golf team to a second-place finish at the NJCAA championships in Newton, Kansas, while the women's golf team finished their inaugural season with a fourth-place finish at nationals.
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Chavez at UTPB
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| Year |
Season at UTPB |
Men's Conference Finish/Accolades |
Women's Conference Finish/Accolades |
| 2024-25 |
1st |
T-8th of 11 LSC |
12th of 12 LSC |
| Overall |
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