Moving Up the Ladder

Cole Nygren of Longmont and former University of Denver golfer Chris Gilman earned conditional status on PGA Tour Latinoamerica on Friday by finishing in the top 35 at Q-school in Mazatlan, Mexico.

The two join former University of Colorado golfer Jeremy Paul in landing conditional status for this year. Paul placed 23rd last week at a Q-school tournament in Howie In The Hills, Fla.

Nygren (pictured), a rookie pro who finished fourth last summer in the CGA Amateur, ended up 26th out of 106 players in Mazatlan, while Gilman was 33rd.

The top 11 finishers received at least some exempt status on the Latinoamerica circuit, while those in 12th through 35th and ties earned conditional status.

Nygren, winner of the All Pro Championship at the inaugural Major Series of Putting on Halloween in Las Vegas, went 70-71-68-73 for a 6-under-par 282 total in Mazatlan. He carded three birdies and four bogeys in the final round.

Gilman, a regular on PGA Tour Canada last year, posted scores of 71-73-70-70 to end up at 284. He had four birdies and two bogeys on Friday.

For all the scores from Mazatlan, CLICK HERE.

Elsewhere on tour:

— Fort Collins resident Tom Whitney, trying to make his first cut ever on the PGA Tour, shares 36th place at the halfway point of the CareerBuilder Challenge in La Quinta, Calif., where he went to high school.

Despite a double bogey on his final hole Friday, the former Air Force Academy golfer has shot back-to-back rounds of 68 and stands at 8-under-par 136, leaving him eight strokes behind leader Andrew Landry.

Whitney, who made the field after receiving a sponsor exemption, recorded six birdies on Friday and will try to survive the 54-hole cut Saturday in La Quinta.

— Former CGA Les Fowler Player of the Year Steven Kupcho finished eighth at the Dreamchasers Tour’s Ocotillo Winter Championship that ended Thursday in Chandler, Ariz.

Kupcho, a former resident of Westminster, shot rounds of 67-73-65 for an 11-under-par 205 total. He made seven birdies in a bogey-free final round. Kupcho finished six stroke behind winner Shane Smith of Godfrey, Ill., in a field that featured 36 players.

— Former University of Colorado golfer Josh Creel posted two runner-up finishes this week on the Adams Pro Tour Winter Series. Creel, a Cheyenne resident who finished his college career at Central Oklahoma, placed second on Monday at the Woodforest Open in Montgomery, Texas, shooting a 69 and finishing two back of winner Sam Fidone.

Then on Friday, Creel went to a playoff in the 36-hole Lake Windcrest Championship in Magnolia, Texas, with he and Scott Kelly of Austin, Texas, tying at 6-under-par 138 and Kelly prevailing in sudden death. Creel carded rounds of 68-70.