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The six-day (108 holes) final stage of the PGA Tour's Q School begins today at Orange County National Golf Center and Lodge in central Florida. There are dozens of former SCGA players in the field. The low 25 scorers and ties will earn 2008 PGA Tour cards. Beyond that, the number closest to 50 will win full privileges on the 2008 Nationwide Tour. All others earn conditional Nationwide Tour privileges. LEADERBOARD
Former Southern California junior star Bob May fired a final-round 64 today at Oak Valley GC in Beaumont and tied for second at the completion of the second round of PGA Tour Q School qualifying. May and 19 other golfers will advance to the final round Nov. 28-Dec. 3 at Orange County National GC in Florida, where the low 30 scorers will earn PGA Tour cards for 2008.
Others advancing from Oak Valley GC were:
• Chris Anderson of West Covina, 1992 Pacific Coast Amateur champion Todd Fisher and former UC Riverside golfer Brendan Steele, all of whom tied for eighth;
• 1992 CIF-SCGA High School champion Chris Riley, who tied for 14th.
The most interesting story may well have been four-time PGA Tour winner Steve Pate, who kept a remarkable run going by finishing tied for 14th.
QUALIFIERS AT OTHER SITES
At Hombre GC’s Bad/Ugly courses in Panama City Beach, FL:
• 2004 California Amateur champion Spencer Levin advanced after tieing for seventh.
At TPC at Craig Ranch in McKinney, TX:
• Former UC Berkeley star Peter Tomasulo of Long Beach tied for fourth
• 1984 California Amateur champion and former UCLA star Duffy Waldorf tied for13th with a group that included Tiger Woods’ former Stanford University teammate Notah Begay. Waldorf shot a final-round 65 to make it into the top 20 and, thus, move on.
• Reigning U.S. Amateur and U.S. Amateur Public Links champion Colt Knost easily advanced after tieing for second. He was one of three members of the victorious 2007 U.S. Walker Cup team to advance to the final stage.
At Royal Dunes GC in Maricopa, AZ,
• 1992 California Amateur, 1993 SCGA Amateur and 1993 Pacific Coast Amateur champion Todd Demsey tied for seventh after opening with a 64. Levin was the low amateur in the 2004 U.S. Open and had a hole-in-one there before flying across the country from New York to San Jose and then arriving at Poppy Hills GC (site of his first stroke play round) with minutes to spare.
• Northridge’s Darren Angel finished 12th
• 2005 Pacific Coast Amateur champion Alex Prugh qualified after tieing for 16th.
At The Woodlands in Kingwood, TX:
Former Pepperdine star and 1997 U.S. Junior Amateur champion Jason AlLred qualified after tieing for 15th.
• For more information and all scores, click HERE.
• For the Golfweek story, click HERE.
Two pairs of SCGA golfers who usually play very well together will lead a 10-man SCGA contingent in the inaugural playing of The Honors Matches on Fri., Nov. 16, at The SCGA Golf Course in Murrieta.
The event, which is sponsored by TaylorMade-adidas, kicks off with the opening ceremonies at 8:30 a.m. The matches will begin at 9 a.m. Spectators are welcome at no charge; the course is located at 39500 Robert Trent Jones Parkway in Murrieta (east of I-15 and I-215). Live scoring will be at HERE.
The five four-ball matches will be:
• David Bartman and Robert Funk, who won the 2006 SCGA Four-Ball Championship and lost out in a three-team playoff in their bid to successfully defend their title, will play Jim Gormley of Palos Verdes GC and Scott Miller of North Ranch CC. Earlier this year, Bartman and Funk won the SCGA Foursomes Championship, and each have won a Trans-Mississippi Mid-Amateur title.
• Tim Hogarth and John Pate, the 2004 and 2005 SCGA Foursomes champions, will be matched against Butch Sheehan of Indian Wells CC and Ryan Kennedy of Saticoy CC. Hogarth's latest SCGA victory came in the SCGA Mid-Amateur Championship last spring at Mission Viejo CC. Among his other titles, Pate is the 1999 SCGA Amateur champion.
• Three-time SCGA Amateur champion Scott McGihon and University of San Diego golf coach Tim Mickelson will be paired against Dave Podas of Bel-Air CC and Dale Abraham of the PGA of So. Calif. GC. Mickelson, brother of two-time Masters champion Phil Mickelson, was third in this year's Pacific Coast Amateur.
• Joe Greiner, runner-up in this year's California Amateur, and Brian Edick, runner-up in the last three SCGA Amateurs, will face Scott Heyn and Dave Hutchens, both of whom work at Black Gold GC.
• In the senior division, reigning SCGA Senior Amateur champion Rich Tolly and Mesa Verde CC's Steve Rhorer will square off against Jerry Wisz of Alhambra GC and Bob E. Smith of Ventura.
In four-ball matches each side is represented by two players; each plays his own ball and the better score of the two players is the team score for the hole. Each match will be worth three points (one point for the front side, one for the back and one overall). Pairings will be announced next week.
Each of the 10-man teams must contain at least two seniors (age 55 or older). Per NCAA regulations, they cannot be playing in college golf programs. The SCGA team was picked from its 2007 Player of the Year and Senior Player of the Year points lists.
GET MORE DETAILS HERE.
Today begins the most excruciating four days that anyone who aspires to join the PGA Tour can endure: the second stage of Q School. We used to say that the third stage — 108 holes long — was the worst but several years ago, the PGA Tour changed the rules so that everyone who makes the third and final stage (it’s actually the fourth stage if you include the pre-qualifying tournaments) has some sort of status on their the PGA Tour or Nationwide Tour. Not so with the second stage; those who don’t advance are relegated to the mini-tour circuit (except for those who have Past Champion status). A large number of former SCGA players are competing at Oak Valley Golf Club in Beaumont and there are five other sites, as well.
• Q SCHOOL SITE
• OAK VALLLEY GC LEADERBOARD
Bob Buttitta, the Ventura County Star golf writer, wrote a nice profile of newly elected SCGA President Bob Lowe in today's paper and on its Web site HERE.
Former three-time SCGA Amateur champion Scott McGihon, reigning SCGA Mid-Amateur champion Tim Hogarth and current SCGA Senior Amateur titleholder Rich Tolly will head a team of 10 amateurs that will face off against 10 PGA of Southern California professionals in the inaugural playing of The Honors Matches on Friday, November 16, at The SCGA Golf Course. The four-ball matches will begin at 9 a.m. following an opening ceremony at 8:30 a.m.
Former two-time SCGA Senior Amateur champion Bud Bradley and legendary golf professional Eddie Merrins will be the honorary captains; immediate SCGA Past President Ed Holmes and former SCPGA president Bill Hulbert will be the captains.
The PGA Tour will begin testing players for banned drugs no sooner than July 2008, with an education program set to begin in December 2007. MORE
In a meeting of the International Association of Golf Administrators last week, USGA Executive Director David B. Fay indicated that the USGA would institute a testing program, probably beginning with the U.S. Women's Open in 2008 and carrying on to the U.S. Open and U.S. Senior Open the following year. However, Fay also said that he didn't expect such a program to be implemented for amateur events due, in part, to the high cost both for the USGA and regional and state golf associations to create and administer such a program.
There's more than a psssing interest in this year's Champions Tour Q School finals at the TPC at Eagle Trace in Florida as former four-time SCGA Amateur champion Craig Steinberg is among the entrants. Steinberg tied for 13th in regional qualifying at Redhawk GC despite shooting a final-round 79. Another former SCGA veteran, Michael Turner, is also in the field for the second consecutive year. SCOREBOARD
Cal State Long Beach men's golf coach Bob Livingstone has announced his retirement, effective at the end of the current season. MORE
Brad Shupe, PGA, director of golf at Mission Viejo CC, reports the following:
"I think a rare, if not first-ever, golf occurrence involving Mission Viejo Country Club occurred last week at the 1st stage of PGA Tour Q School at The TPC at Scottsdale. THREE of our "junior golfers" advanced through to the second stage. All three grew up on Mission Viejo Country Club and are currently practicing/playing here. Moreover, all three have been great about mentoring and donating time to the more than 100 kids we currently have in our junior program."
The three are:
STEVE CONWAY
• 2003 SCGA Amateur Runner-Up at Torrey Pines
• Rancho Santa Margarita High School (Individual and Team CIF Southern California champion)
• College Golf at UCLA (First-Team All Pac-Ten)
MIKE LAVERY
• 2002 SCGA Amateur Runner-Up (Lost in Play-Off) at El Caballero
• Irvine High School
• College Golf at UC Irvine (First-Team All Big West)
BEN GARNER
• El Toro High School (Only boy to beat Tiger in a high school match)
• College Golf at University of Washington and LSU
"I hope you find it as interesting/amazing as I do that these three kids that grew up
playing together at one course all advanced through together," continues Brad. "What are
the odds? We are certainly proud of them!"
