Ottawa Represents at PGA Tour Q-School
It is known affectionately as "Q-School"
but it's really not a school at all.
It's a tournament played for pretty high stakes.
The PGA TOUR National Qualifying
Tournament is a three stage elimination
marathon played on courses all across
the United States every autumn.
When all is said and done, the big
winners will be the 25 players
(and ties) who earn PGA TOUR cards for
2009. It's arguably golf's ultimate
pressure cooker. Making the cut here
really is a career changer.
The first stage consisted of 11
concurrent events with fields of
approximately 78 players each. This
stage was played from Oct. 21-Nov. 1. The
low 19-21 from each event advanced to the second stage of
qualifying, which will be held at six
sites from Nov. 12-18.
One of our local hopefuls is
Brad Fritsch of Manotick. Brad played on
the Nationwide Tour in 2007 and 2008.
Brad
survived the first stage of Q-School,
finishing the four rounds at one under
par which was good enough for 14th place.
Brad's stage 1 leaderboard and scores
are here:
http://pgatq.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/pgatq8/event/pgatq815/contest/1/leaderboard.htm
Brad
Another
Ottawa area player going for a Tour card
was Lee Curry. Lee played 19 tournaments
on the Nationwide Tour in 2008.
Unfortunately Lee did not advance beyond
the first stage. Lee finished
tied for 33rd place
at two over par.
Lee's stage 1 leaderboard and scores are
here:
http://pgatq.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/pgatq8/event/pgatq88/contest/1/leaderboard.htm
The final stage will be held Dec. 3-8 at
PGA West in La Quinta, Calif. This will
be a a grueling test of nerves,
endurance, and skill played over 6 rounds.
The pressure has brought many a player to
the brink.
Congratulations Brad on making it to
stage two, and
best of luck to you going
forward. We are all rooting for
you here at home! |
