Q School in Review: Stages 1, 2 and the Finals

 FIRST STAGE

After turning in my scorecard in the final round of Stage 1 of PGA Qualifying, I was not very optimistic to say the least about my chances of advancing.  I played a pretty solid final round shooting 1 under par to get back to even par for the tournament.  The thing that made me nervous was that the wind only blew for the first half of the day and I was afraid that guys would take advantage of the easy afternoon conditions and bump me out.  I had to sweat it out for over an hour waiting for scores to roll in.  Some low scores were mixed in with a lot of blow up rounds.  In the end, I advanced to stage 2 on the number!

SECOND STAGE

When applying for PGA Qualifying School, all players need to rank their Stage 2 course preferences from 1-6. Players who advance are awarded their Stage 2 location based on how they finished in Stage 1.  The higher you finish, the more likely you will receive one of your first choices.  Because I advanced right on the number, I was awarded my 5^th choice, Plantation Preserve Golf Club in Plantation, Florida.  I put all Florida locations at the bottom of my list because the local Bermuda grass typically gives me problems.  However, after playing my first practice round, I felt really lucky to have gotten shipped to where I did.  I loved the course!  It was fairly open and only about 30 minutes from the ocean so it was likely to have a lot of wind on most days.  I had been playing in the wind almost every week during the two months leading up to the event so I felt this worked in my favor.  The best part was how quickly I was able to adjust to the Bermuda greens. My caddy, my coach, and I were able to figure out which way the grain laid on the greens and how much it would affect the ball’s roll.  I putted really well during my practice rounds and was striking the ball solid as well. 

To my surprise, the wind was calm as the tournament started.  I opened my first 9 holes with 3 birdies and a bogey to shoot 2 under then blitzed the back 9 with 5 more birdies and no bogeys.  7 under par 64 was tied for the first round lead.  That was fun. Talk about a hot putter, 22 putts for the round.  The holes looked like a ice cream buckets.  I love it when that happens. 

Round two had similar conditions as the first with little wind.  I didn’t strike the ball as well so I didn’t have as many opportunities to roll in birdies. I shot 2 under, 69.

The winds arrived for round 3 and they were nasty with gusts up to 40 mph!  I played 17 great holes in brutal conditions striking it great and rolling the rock pure and true to get to 4 under with 1 to go before faltering and making double bogey on the 18^th hole.  I ended up shooting 2 under which, when all was said and done, was a good score for the day and left me in good shape entering the final round.

The conditions for the final round were similar to the day before. I opened with 8 straight pars but dropped shots on holes 9 and 10.  I was now at 9 under for the tournament, and my best guess was that 8 under par would be the number needed to advance to the Final Stage.  Fortunately I stuffed fairway iron shots on holes 13,14, and 17 and converted the birdies to shoot 3 under on my final 6 holes to post another 2 under 69.  I ended in 2^nd place for the event and earned my first birth to the Final stage of PGA Q-School!!!

 FINAL STAGE:

WOW, what an experience!!! PGA West in Palm Springs, California – the site of the final stage of PGA Q School – was a circus leading up the event.  The practice facilities were jam packed with 174 players, 174 caddies, coaches, 10 or so equipment trailers from all the major club companies, media and cameras, and spectators. 

There were several occasions where I was trying to hit balls, and someone would walk up to my bag and start taking clubs out to check shafts, grips, remove head covers, ask what cleats I was wearing, etc.  I am sure that is something you get used to on the PGA Tour but it was a lot to take in for a first time on that stage. Playing two courses for 6 rounds was also a new experience and a lot of work.  In order to be prepared, I arrived 5 days before the event began.  I put in two days work on one course, took a day off, then put in two more days work mapping out the other course. I had played both courses at PGA West in a National Pro Tour event in the summer.  I quickly learned during my practice rounds that PGA West plays hard and fast during the summer, but softens up with overseeding and watering in the winter! I shot a not very good 75 in my opening round…and it wasn’t because I was intimidated by playing in a group with David Duval, it was simply my worst ball-striking day in months.  David is a super nice guy by the way, one of the nicest vets I have met.

For the next 5 rounds, my ball striking gradually improved.  However, I never did get comfortable reading the greens.  

When the week was over, I sat in 152^nd place, and earned conditional status on the Nationwide Tour for the 2012 season. I was disappointed not to have earned PGA Tour status or even full status on the Nationwide tour.  But there are many positives I can draw from and I have a lot to look forward to in 2012! First and foremost, I learned that I belong on the PGA tour, the type of scores that were shot to earn PGA status was well within my reach had I brought the same game I brought during the first two stages.  So it was a nice realization that for me, it’s about finding the consistency to bring my game week in week out more than anything else.

NEXT YEAR

As for my Nationwide Tour status, it’s kind of confusing but I’ll try to explain how things work.  At the start of the season, all players are categorized and are numbered within their category.  I will start the season as number 75 in category 17 (conditional category).   I should only expect to play 2 or 3 events should I not improve my status throughout the season.  Fortunately for me, the tour reshuffles it’s categories after each 5 events on the schedule based on money earned.  Therefore, I have the opportunity to continually improve my status throughout the season.  Once I play one event and make the cut, I will reshuffle up into category 13. For example, if I make the cut in the 5^th event, my name will move to category 13 and I will most likely get entry to the next 5 events.  From there, I will need to make enough money during the next set of 5 to hold or better my position for the next reshuffle and next 5 events.  This will repeat itself until the season is over.  I will most likely have to start the year playing Monday Qualifiers to earn entry into the first several events. The first three events are in South America and do not have Monday qualifiers so my first opportunity will be the when tour returns to the US in Louisiana in March.  My first guaranteed start is the 9^th event of the season, the BMW charity classic in South Carolina.

I am looking forward to a great 2012!!!

I ADVANCED through stage 1 of PGA Tour Qualifying and will be playing in Stage 2 in Plantation Florida November 16-19.

Here is how stage 1 went:

I shifted a good portion of my fall schedule to direct my focus on making it though Q-school this year.  I took some time at home (Arizona) to solidify a few fundamentals in my swing and switched to a belly putter to get some more consistency in my putting.  Yes I jumped the bandwagon and I am totally OK with that, it has been working awesome!  I saw an immediate improvement in my short range putts but its taking a bit more time to get my longer range putts rolling the way I want although it has been getting better day by day.  I arrived at my stage 1 site a week early to prepare and played a 2-day Golden State Tour event onsite.  I shot a pair of 74s and finished just outside of the money.

The first round of q-school played easy with no wind.  That is something I have never seen at Oak Valley over the 12-14 rounds I have played there.  It is always windy sitting amongst the wind turbines just west of Palm Springs.  I didn’t handle the easy conditions very well to say the least.  I struck the ball mediocre and didn’t make any putts. I shot 73 and found myself all the way back in 59th place.  The top 23 players and ties advance to 2nd stage.

The great thing was that I was not fazed or let down by my opening round.  I had confidence that I was playing solid and would make the climb back up inside the number.  It was nice having 3 prior years experience at q-school so I know its a marathon rather than a sprint.

Sure enough, the high winds came up starting the 2nd round.  And I struck the ball awesome!  I hit 16 greens and shot 2 under par.  I think that round pulled me from 59th to 19th.  You can make up a lot of ground in a hurry by playing well in bad weather.  I played a solid front 9 on my 3rd round as well shooting 1 under par in higher winds than round 2.  I caught a cart path just left of the green on the par 3 11th hole and bounded into some bushes leading to a double bogey.  I went on to three-putt the 12 hole and finished the round 2 over par.  Not really how I wanted to finish my round but it actually moved me up a few spots to 15th place going into the final round.

The winds disappeared for the first 9 holes of the final round but I opened with two birdies on my first 4 holes.  I gave one back with a bogey on the 9th and fired straight back with a birdie on 10 as the winds started to rip again.  Then in the middle of my back 9 I made two back to back bogies without hitting a bad shot.  On the par 5 13th hole, the pin was tucked down in a low bowl area, I flagged a wedge directly at the pin but instead of landing in the bottom on the flat and sticking next to the cup, I caught the last foot of the down slope and it kicked my ball over the back of the green leaving me a brutal chip.

I hit a good chip and a good putt but it broke over the lower side of the lip without dropping.  The next hole was long par 3, I left myself with a putt I had in one of the practice rounds.  This putt ran much faster than it looked so I tried to take off some speed.  I hit my putt just the way I wanted but it still ran out 5 feet past the hole and I missed the comebacker.  I knew at this point I was probably on the outside looking in and needed to make something happen.  I attacked a tucked flag on the 14th that I normally would have strayed away from in most situations and I stuck it to 3 feet and rolled it in for birdie.  I hit the last 3 greens in regulation and narrowly missed each of my 20 foot attempts.  After my score posted, things didn’t look good.  Fortunately, I got plenty of help from guys a head of me shooting high scores on the final 9 and I held on to 21st position.  Good enough to get me to 2nd Stage.

After stage 1, I only had 1 day to get down to Tucson, Arizona for the National Pro Tour Championship.  Fortunately for me, the winds were howling there as well.  I played 4 pretty solid rounds shooting 1 over par for the week and finished in 14th place.

I took a couple of days to rest after Tucson and am now back at work getting ready for the trip to Florida.  I leave Phoenix on Saturday the 12th which will give me 3 full days practice onsite before the event begins.

I will keep you posted as next week goes on.

Mitch

I held a “Sponsor Appreciation Day” at Sagebrush Golf & Sporting Club on August 14th 2011.  Thanks to all those who were able to attend and share the day together.  It was a fun day filled with golf, fishing, laughs, great food, drinks, and excellent company!  Coordinating schedules with such a large group is very difficult.  For those who were unable to attend, your constant support is greatly appreciated and I hope we can all get together for next year’s event!  A special thank you to Dick Zokol and the Club for providing your amazing venue for our event!  Sagebrush is such a unique and special place!  Thanks also to Tom and Etelka at the “JJ GILLIS HOUSE” Bed&Breakfast for hosting my family and I.  I highly recommend anyone needing a place to stay in or around Merritt, BC to stay at this awesome B&B.  

Please enjoy the pictures below!

Sincerely

Mitch

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FYI, I’ve made some changes to my 2011 schedule.  I’ve added both of the BC Canadian Tour events – one in Victoria at Uplands Golf Club from June 2nd to 5th and the other in Kamloops at Rivershore Golf Club from June 9th to 12th.  I’ve played well and had success at both courses so I’m really looking forward to playing well.

If you’re interested in coming and watching either or both events, give me a call (541.231.5187 <tel:%28541.231.5187> ) or send me an email and I’ll get you some tickets!

I’ve also added a couple more National Pro Tour events to the schedule.  I just played in the first ‘Regional Major’ of the year in San Francisco, finishing 22nd and winning $2,196.  I shot rounds of 70-71-75-69 (-3).  There are 8 regional majors in all, and I plan on playing in 5 of the 8 in addition to the One Million Dollar Tour Championship at the end of the year.

To make room for these tournaments, I have removed most of the remaining Nationwide Tour Monday qualifiers from my schedule.  Essentially I’ve decided to focus on the Canadian and National Pro Tour events this season then earn either Nationwide or PGA tour status at Qualifying School in the fall.

I hope to see you in either Victoria or Kamloops in June!

Cheers

Mitch

South Georgia Classic Nationwide Monday Qualifier:

I am in Georgia and ready to go!!!  I arrived in Valdosta, GA last night and spent the day today practicing at the Nationwide Tour’s Tournament site (Kinderlou Forest GC).  I had a great practice session…  I am putting extremely well and am finally back to striking the ball solid.  The last two weeks I spent in Phoenix getting back to basics was just what I needed.  I was able to practice at Kinderlou from a connection with a fellow Canadian Tour player who grew up and played college golf here in Georgia (Derek Oakey).  Although I do not have my own network set up here like I do elsewhere in North America, I think I have met someone from pretty much everywhere playing mini-tour events over the past 3+years.  I am going to play Kinderlou tomorrow then set out to Thomasville Saturday which is where my qualifying course is located for my Monday Qualifier for the South Georgia Classic.

More to come as the week progresses…

M