Many Australasians still with PGA hope
BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2010 USPGA Tour Q-School - Stage Two | Preview | 08 Nov 2010
Stage Two Qualifying for the 2011 PGA Tour begins at six venues across the USA next week with 28 Australian and New Zealand based players currently entered and seeking the right to play the Final Stage in early December.
One or two others may be required to join the list or perhaps those entered drop off the list subject to their performance at the final event of the PGA Tour’s regular season, the Children’s Miracle Worker Classic which is being played in Orlando this week.
Qualifying begins at the Redstone Golf Club in Texas on November 16th and at five other venues the following day. All those successfully surviving Stage 2 will play the Finals on December 1st – 6th in Orange County in Florida where they will be joined by others who are exempt into the Finals.
The bulk of the Australasians will play in Murietta in California but the five other venues are spread across the USA.
At the Bear Creek Golf Club in Murietta, Adam Blyth, Andrew Buckle, Matthew Giles, Mike Hendry, Mark Hensby, Jin Jeong, Danny Lee, David McKenzie, Phil Tataurangi, Kane Webber and Jake Younan-Wise have earned the right to play their way to the Finals.
Jeong is of course the 2010 British Amateur Champion and led the Amateurs at this year’s Open Championship at St Andrews. He has lived in Australia for four years.
At the Redstone Golf Club in Texas Tasmanian Mathew Goggin and Victorian Craig Scott will take their chances although Goggin still has an outside chance to avoid Stage Two with a good week at the final event of the PGA Tour Calendar in Orlando this week. A top twenty finish there might be good enough.
At the Hombre Golf Club in Panama City in Florida Peter Lonard, Simon Furneaux and Tim Wilkinson tee it up. Lonard has spent most of 2010 recovering from hip and knee surgery and seeks to regain the PGA Tour card he lost in 2009.
At Craig Ranch near Dallas Nick Flanagan, Bradley Iles, David Lutterus, Rod Pampling and Ben Pisani will face the starter. Pampling is playing the PGA Tour event in Orlando this week but needs at least a top three finish there to avoid Stage 2 and a top two finish to avoid qualifying altogether.
In Brooksville in Florida Stephen Dartnall, Terry Pilkadaris and Grant Waite tee it up at the Southern Hills Plantation Golf Club.
In Seaside California, Steve Alker, Steve Allan, Adam Bland, Matthew Griffin, Scott Hend and Luke Hickmott play the demanding Bayonet Course there. Hickmott and Griffin played last week’s Western Australian PGA Championship where Griffin finished runner up and Hickmott finished 4th after leading into the final round.
