Let's Talk Q-School

I am back from the PGA Annual Meeting in New Orleans. This was my first ever and it was well worth the wait! I spent 3 days playing two tour courses, English Turn, TPC of Louisiana and the historical New Orleans Country Club. The area has bounced back some but still has a long way to go. The devistation from Katrina is still everywhere you look even four years after... My heart goes out to all the people who suffered through that horrible disaster. My many thanks to the Golf Coast Section for their hospitality.

Enough of that, let's talk Q-School.

The first two stages consist of 72-hole tournaments. A predetermined number of players from each first-stage event advance to the second-stage and from the second to the all-important final stage at Bear Lakes in West Palm Beach, FL. The final stage will be held December 2-7, 2009.

The finale is contested over 108 mind-numbing and stomach-churning holes that determine where a player will work in 2010. Every player who reaches the finale has some degree of status on the Nationwide Tour, but only the low 25 and ties are exempt on the PGA TOUR for next year.

Recent Q-School Medalists and how they did...

2008 Harrison Frazar - The veteran PGA TOUR player was on the top 125 bubble until he tied for seventh at the Turning Stone Resort Championship. He's No. 104 on the money list.

2007 Frank Lickliter II - Lickliter, who has graduated from Q-School four times, failed to retain his TOUR card for 2009 and is outside the top 125 again this year, having played 14 events this season.

2006 George McNeill - After getting his TOUR card, McNeill won the Frys.com Open in 2007. He has surpassed $1 million each of the last three seasons.

2005 J.B. Holmes - The long driver won the FBR Open twice, in 2006 and 2008, and added a secondplace finish when he lost to Paul Casey in a playoff at theis year's Shell Houston Open.

2004 Brian Davis - Davis came over from the European Tour in 2005 and has retained his TOUR card each year since with three runner-up finishes.

2003 Mathias Gronberg - Since 2003, the Swede has successfully navigated Q-School twice (2005, 2008). He won a Nationwide Tour event this year and is a pretty safe bet to make "THE 25".

2002 Jeff Brehaut - Brehaut hasn't been a full TOUR member since 2005. He reappeared this year and led the U.S. Open after a rain-soaked Thursday and tied for 58th.

2001 Pat Perez - Perez has been a mainstay on TOUR since medaling. He broke through with his first win at the 50th Bob Hope Classic in 2009. He's a poster boy for Q-School success stories.
2000 Steve Allan - The Australian worked his way up to post runner-up finishes in 2003 and 2004, but has faded since. He's made one cut in 17 PGA TOUR events this year.

This year will be some of the most fierce competition we have seen in recent years. Players are bigger, stronger and hit it further than ever before. The groove change from box grooves to the traditional v grooves will make driving the ball in the fairway a must. Stay tuned next week for the results!

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