We’re already in late August, but for players with tour aspirations, the pivotal part of the golf season still awaits.
Though, starting this year, there’s no such thing as earning a PGA Tour card directly through qualifying school anymore, the quest for spots on the LPGA Tour and the Web.com Tour begins within the next week. And that quest includes plenty of golfers with strong Colorado connections.
Due to changes announced last year, instead of 25 PGA Tour cards being available through Q-school and another 25 through the Web.com Tour, all 50 available PGA Tour spots will be awarded through Web.com Tour performance.
That leaves the Web.com Tour as the top status that can be attained through Q-school, starting this year.
But on the women’s side, LPGA Tour berths are still directly at stake through Q-school. The number of 2014 LPGA spots that will be up for grabs hasn’t been specified, but last year the top 20 finishers at the final qualifying tournament earned fully-exempt status and another 25 and ties received conditional status.
In both the cases of the LPGA and Web.com Tours, the qualifying process begins next week.
The first of three stages of LPGA Tour Q-school will be contested over 72 holes on Aug. 27-30 in Rancho Mirage, Calif. As of Thursday, 247 players were entered in the event. Among them are three-time CWGA Stroke Play champion Melissa Martin (pictured), a former University of Denver golfer from Grand Junction; two-time state high school champion and 2012 U.S. Women’s Open qualifier Becca Huffer of Denver; former DU golfer Kimberly Kim, the 2006 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion and former LPGA Tour card-holder; former Big Sky Conference champion — and University of Northern Colorado golfer — Carleigh Silvers; and former University of Colorado golfer Emily Childs.
The top 100 players will advance to stage 2 — Oct. 8-11 in Venice, Fla. — with the top 80 finishers and ties there going to the final stage, set for Dec. 4-8 in Daytona Beach, Fla.
As for the men, there are four qualifying stages for the Web.com Tour. First up are the six pre-qualifiers, 54-hole tournaments that will be held between Aug. 28 and Sept. 13, with the first being next week’s events in Nebraska City and Hollister, Calif.
Here are the local players scheduled to compete in Web.com pre-qualifying next week:
Nebraska City Aug. 28-30 — Austin Dean of Centennial, Chris Good of Denver, Alex Gutesha of Greenwood Village, Kory Harrell of Colorado Springs, former University of Denver golfer Klinton Krieger, Bryan Kruse of Westminster, former CSU golfer Ryan Peterson Beau Schoolcraft of Denver, former Coloradan Justin Spray.
The top finishers at the pre-qualifying sites will advance to the dozen 72-hole first-stage tournaments (Oct. 8-25). The six 72-hole stage 2 events are set for Nov. 12-22, and the 108-hole final stage is scheduled for Dec. 12-17 in La Quinta, Calif.
The top 45 finishers and ties at the final stage will receive priority status on the 2014 Web.com Tour, with the other finalists being conditionally exempt.
As for the Champions Tour, regional qualifying is set for mid-fall, with the final stage scheduled for Nov. 19-22 in Scottsdale, Ariz.
The European Tour Q-school gears up with stage 1 starting Sept. 10 and concludes with the finals Nov. 10-15 in Girona, Spain.
