By Mike Blum
Ringgold’s Luke List is among a group of Georgians who advanced beyond the first stage of qualifying for the 2010 PGA Tour. List competed in Pinehurst, N.C., in one of six first stage qualifiers played Oct. 27-30.
A number of other Georgians, including Erik Compton, Chris Kirk and Sonny Skinner, advanced from first stage qualifiers the previous week. Six second stage qualifiers will be played Nov. 18-21, with sites including Callaway Gardens and the Hombre in Panama City, Fla.
The finals are set for Dec. 2-7 in south Florida.
List, who posted a pair of top 20 finishes on the Nationwide Tour this season, tied for fifth in the qualifier in Pinehurst with a 4-under 284 total, with recent Georgia Tech golfer Cameron Tringale also tying for fifth. Tringale was outside the cutoff line for advancing after 36 holes, but a third round 67 jumped him into the top five.
Adam Mitchell, who completed his college career at Georgia earlier this year, tied for 8th at 286, shooting a final round 70 to move up from a tie for 22nd after 54 holes. Only the top 21 and ties advanced. Mini-tour player Ian Hessels, a former Duluth resident, tied for 15th at 288.
Augusta’s Cortland Lowe was tied for 11th after 54 holes, but shot a final round 82 to miss by seven strokes.
At Kinderlou Forest in Valdosta:
Rookie pro Brent Witcher of Lawrenceville and Jay McLuen, a mini-tour player from Athens, tied for fourth with 10-under totals of 278.
Witcher posted scores of 68-70-68-70 and was never out of the top five during the week. McLuen, a frequent contender in the Georgia Open, led after an opening round 65 and was also in the top five after each round.
Brad Heaven of St. Simons was 12th at 283, with ex-Georgia Bulldog Christo Greyling tying for 20th at 286 to advance on the number.
Nationwide Tour player Scott Parel of Augusta was tied for 16th after two rounds, but shot 75-75 the final two days and failed to advance, as did St. Simons residents Josh Geary and Jeff Bors, and Drew Nelson of Marietta.
Andrew Georgiou of Columbus advanced from a qualifier in Lakeland, Fla., shooting 67-66 in the second and third rounds to tie for 11th at 279. Atlanta native Ned Michaels was tied for ninth after 36 holes in a qualifier in California, but closed with scores of 75-78 and failed to advance. Recent Georgia Tech golfer Kevin Larsen also failed to advance in a second California qualifier.
In qualifiers held the previous week:
Former Georgia Bulldog Erik Compton earned medalist honors by seven strokes at PGA GC in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Compton, who has undergone two heart transplants and has made occasional appearances in PGA Tour events, shot 22-under 266 with three eagles and 21 birdies for the week. He was 16-under on the par 5s.
Atlanta’s Nick Cassini, a teammate of Compton on the UGA golf team, failed to advance from the qualifier after returning to competitive golf following an absence of several years. Kevin Durkin, who played at Valdosta State and lived for several years in the Atlanta area, shot par or better in each of his four rounds, but missed advancing by two strokes with a 3-under 285 total.
In St. Augustine, Fla.:
Woodstock’s Chris Kirk, a member of Georgia’s 2005 NCAA Championship team and a Nationwide Tour player the past two seasons, shot 12-under 276 to take second, three strokes behind the medalist. After an opening round 73, Kirk shot 66-68-69.
Also advancing was Clarkesville’s Major Manning, who played on the Augusta State golf team. Manning tied for 18th at 283, qualifying on the number. He was 30th after three rounds, but shot a final round 68 to advance. Manning’s rookie year on the Nationwide Tour was hampered by an injury that kept him out for most of the second half of the season.
Among those failing to advance was Alpharetta’s Roberto Castro, who came into the tournament off back-to-back finishes of 6th and 11th on the Nationwide Tour. The recent Georgia Tech standout also won the Georgia Open and two lucrative events on the eGolf Professional Tour this year, but missed advancing by four strokes.
After scores of 72-70-72, Castro was one shot over the cutoff line for advancing, and was 2-under for his final round and still one shot off the cutoff line with six holes to play. But two double bogeys and one bogey over the final six holes offset two birdies and left Castro with a 73 and a 287 total.
Former UGA golfers Richard Scott (287), David Denham (289) and David Miller (289) also came up short, as did Warner Robins’ Chris Wolfe (291). Denham shot 40 on his first nine of the qualifier and never recovered. Wolfe shot himself out of contention with an opening 78 and was 3-under over his last 54 holes.
In Florence, S.C.:
Two South Carolina golfers from just outside Augusta posted top-5 finishes, with several rookie pros and one Nationwide Tour player among those failing to advance.
Scott Brown of North Augusta, S.C., tied for third at 11-under 269, highlighted by a third round 61. Kevin Kisner of Aiken, S.C., who played his college golf at Georgia, put together four rounds in the 60s and tied for fifth at 271.
A third South Carolinian, former Alpharetta resident Brent Delahoussaye, also advanced. Delahoussaye tied for 13th at 275, opening with scores of 68-67. He scored a hole-in-one on his fourth hole in the first round, playing his first six holes in 4-under, and shot 5-under on his first nine the next day.
David Robinson of Sandersville, who made a limited number of starts on the Nationwide Tour this year, tied for 11th at 274. He was tied for seventh after opening scores of 65-67, but after slipping to a third round 74, got off to a fast start in the final round to shoot 68.
Also advancing was Derek Oakey of LaGrange, who shot 67-69 the last two days to move up from 38th to 20th, advancing on the number at 3-under 277. After carding 17 straight pars in the final round, Oakey birdied the 18th to just make it.
Failing to advance were rookie pros Brian Harman and Mark Silvers of Savannah and Michael Green of Augusta, along with Nationwide Tour player Jonathan Fricke of Covington.
Silvers, who recently completed his college career at South Carolina, missed by one shot at 278, posting scores of 69-70-69-70. Fricke was second after each of the first two rounds with scores of 63 and 67, but shot 78-71 the final two days and missed by two strokes at 279. Fricke birdied three of his final five holes, but four bogeys on his first eight holes the last day kept him from advancing.
Other than a third round 68, two-time Walker Cup team member Harman never got anything going and missed by seven shots at 284. Green, Harman’s teammate in Athens, shot 66 the second day, but struggled late in his next two rounds and closed with scores of 70-75 to miss by six shots at 283.
Drew Bowen of Monroe shot a final round 67, but did not come close to advancing after opening with a pair of 75s. John Saari of Lilburn also did not advance.
In Auburn, Ala.:
Six Georgians were among 25 players to advance, including Georgia PGA member Sonny Skinner of Sylvester, a veteran tour player.
Mini-tour player Hank Kim of Jonesboro led the Georgia contingent, tying for sixth at 8-under 280. Kim was in the top 10 after each round, beginning with a 69, and made just six bogeys in 72 holes.
Will Claxton of Swainsboro tied for 13th at 285, falling out of the top 10 with a final round 75. Taylor Hall of LaGrange, who recently completed his college career at Georgia Tech, shot 3-under 33 on his final nine for a 70 that enabled him to narrowly advance. Hall recovered from shooting a 40 on his first nine holes of the qualifier.
Skinner, an instructor at Rover Pointe in Albany, shared the lead after an opening 67, and advanced despite not breaking par in any of the last three rounds. He was one shot over the cutoff line with three holes to play in the final round, but birdied two of the three holes to shoot 73 for a 287 total.
Also shooting 287 to advance was former Augusta State golfer Emmett Turner, whose final round 71 moved him up from 27th to 19th.
The best clutch showing by any Georgian in the first week of first stage qualifiers was turned in by Hawkinsville’s Jon Kennedy. Going to the final round, Kennedy was six strokes over the cutoff line in a tie for 43rd, but birdies on his 16th and 17th holes gave him a 68 and an even par total of 288, advancing on the number. The top 21 and ties advanced, and Kennedy tied for 21st.
David Skinns of Atlanta was 13th after 36 holes, but shot 74-77 the final two rounds and missed by five shots at 293. Josh Bunch of Murrayville and Matt Hughes of Dalton also failed to advance.
In Dayton, Nev.:
Michael Pearson of Alpharetta, a former Georgia Tech golfer, carded four scores in the 60s and tied for 7th at 14-under 274. For the week, Pearson had three eagles and 16 birdies and made only one bogey in the final round to move into the top 10.
David Dragoo, who recently completed his college career at Tech, suffered through a wrenching mood swing in his first visit to Q school. After a third round 68, Dragoo was still three shots above the cutoff line in a tie for 35th at 210. With the help of a hole-in-one on his fourth hole of the final round, Dragoo was 6-under after 15 holes and one shot under the eventual cutoff line. But a bogey on his 16th hole and a double at the last left him with a 69 and a 279 total, two shots too high.
In Houston:
Christian Ries of Atlanta was in the top 10 from start to finish, shooting 67 the final day to finish second at 11-under 277, one shot behind the medalist. Jason Flowers of Albany birdied two of his last four holes for a final round 72 and a 287 total, advancing with one stroke to spare.
Veteran mini-tour player Steve Gilley of Newnan was 42nd after two rounds, but a 67 jumped him to a tie for 19th, barely under the cutoff line after 54 holes. Gilley was 2-under after 13 holes the final day, but made three bogeys coming in for a 73 and an even par total of 288, tying for 23rd to advance on the number. The top 23 and ties moved on to the second stage.
In Dallas:
Nationwide Tour player Josh Broadaway of Albany tied for 10th at 1-under 287 to advance. Stuart Moore of Gainesville, Michael Saari of Lilburn and James Jones of Marietta all came up short.
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