2013

Hey everyone, sorry for the hiatus! With this post, I’ll try and cover the major issues going on in my world (besides Duke basketball). If you ever have any questions, please don’t hesitate to post a comment, send me an email, or give me a call!

1) 2012
Last year is very difficult for me to summarize. Long story (pun intended) short, I played 17 tournaments on the Web.Com Tour and was pretty frustrated with my play for most of the year. Having conditional status was kind of a mixed blessing. The drama of not knowing if I was going to get into events was a little draining. However, I learned that I’m not very far from the top of the game. In other words, I was not impressed by the level of play on that tour. I know it’s not hard to do well out there and I intend to get another shot at it very soon. Unfortunately, I don’t have status out there yet this year so I’ve got work to do…. Highlights of 2012: 2nd place at Hooters Winter Series event, T9 Web.Com event, and four hole-in-ones (two in back-to-back Web.Com events).

2) 2013 QSCHOOL CHANGES
For those of you who don’t know, the PGA TOUR has made substantial changes to QSchool beginning this year. Instead of giving the top 25 finishers at final stage status on the PGA TOUR, all participants at final stage of QSchool will be playing for only Web.Com status and priority. Thus, it will be called “Web.Com Qualifying School.”
Previously, 50 PGA TOUR cards were given out each year (the top 25 on the Web.Com money list and 25 from QSchool). Beginning this year, the top 75 finishers on the Web.Com TOUR and the bottom 75 finishers on the PGA TOUR will compete for the 50 PGA TOUR spots over the course of four fall events. However, the top 25 from the Web.Com TOUR will still be guaranteed a PGA TOUR card (like before) and will only be playing in the fall events for positioning/priority. Which technically means the other 125 players are competing for 25 PGA TOUR cards…. There are more details to it all but the gist is players now have to play on the Web.Com TOUR to get to the PGA TOUR.

3) PGA TOUR CANADA & PGA TOUR LATINOAMÉRICA
The PGA TOUR recently assumed operational control of both the Canadian Tour and the Latinoamérica Tour. The PGA TOUR Canada will have eight events in the summer while the PGA TOUR Latinoamérica will have eight events in the spring and seven events in the fall. Both tours will have their own qualifying tournaments for membership. The top five finishers of each tour will be given Web.Com TOUR status for the following year; the next five finishers will be exempt to the final stage of the Web.Com TOUR Qualifying School.

4) JUPITER
At the end of November, I moved from Pinehurst, North Carolina to Jupiter, Florida. My apartment is less than 200 yards from Roger Dean Stadium where the St. Louis Cardinals and Miami Marlins play spring training. I joined The Dye Preserve Golf Club where there are about 25 other professional golfers including seven PGA TOUR players and four LPGA TOUR players. I absolutely love it out there, it is a very golfer-oriented place, no pools/tennis courts, etc., and it is always in premier condition. The weather down has been amazing, I can see why it has become one of the most popular locations for professional golfers.

5) 2013
My goal for this year is to re-gain status on the Web.Com TOUR. There are four ways to accomplish this 1) Monday Qualify into an event and get on a roll, 2) PGA TOUR Canada 3) PGA TOUR Latinoamérica, and 4) Web.Com TOUR Qualifying School.
The first thing I’m going to do is try and qualify for the PGA TOUR Latinoamérica which will be February 12-15 in Sebring, Florida. There will be about 135 players for 20 full status membership cards.
The PGA TOUR Canada schedule and qualifying information hasn’t been released yet. I know there will be multiple qualifying sites in America to choose from in April/May.
I also joined the eGolf Tour this year so I’ll have a place to play no matter what. Plus there’s always that whole US Open thing, I wouldn’t mind getting another crack at that!

As you can see, 2013 will be a very busy year and I’m anxious to get going. There will be plenty of opportunities and I plan on taking advantage of them. Thanks again for all of your support, let me know if you have any questions!