One had his PGA Tour hopes derailed by an emergency appendectomy a year ago. One competed in Tour qualifying in the midst of his senior season of college golf. And one came within two strokes of earning his 2009 Tour card.
John Douma (pictured), Tom Glissmeyer and Dustin White all will be giving Tour qualifying another try within the next week and a half. They’ll be among more than two-dozen players with strong Colorado ties who will be competing in various first-stage tournaments around the country.
In all, 13 first-stage events will be held between Tuesday and Oct. 30. Those who advance will go to stage 2 at one of six sites Nov. 18-21. The Q-school finals will be held Dec. 2-7 in West Palm Beach, Fla., where the top 25 finishers and ties will earn 2010 PGA Tour cards.
Here are some of the more compelling storylines involving the Colorado contingent:
Douma, the Denver native and former University of Colorado golfer who won the 2007 HealthOne Colorado Open, was in near peak form going into Q-school a year ago. He finished third in the first stage, but never got the chance to see if his strong play would continue in stage 2. On the eve of that competition, Douma underwent an emergency appendectomy, ending his Tour hopes for another year.
White, the Pueblo West resident who won the 2006 Colorado Open, came ever to close to successfully negotiating the Tour qualifying process in 2008. He played the six rounds of the final stage in 17 under par, two shy of what was necessary to earn a 2009 Tour card. White played on the Nationwide Tour this year, placing 97th on the money list with one top-10 finish.
Glissmeyer, the former Colorado Springs resident who played in the 2003 U.S. Open as a 16-year-old, entered Tour qualifying last year while still a senior on the University of Southern California golf team. Glissmeyer made it through pre-qualifying, but fell short of advancing out of the first stage. He resumed his USC career, capping it off with a third-place individual finish in the 2009 NCAA Championships.
Denver’s James Love won his first-stage tournament last year, but couldn’t make it past stage 2. But the former University of Denver golfer posted a very impressive victory last month, winning the Canadian Tour Championship.
Here’s the lineup of players with local ties and where they’ll be competing in first-stage qualifying tournaments this month:
McKinney, Texas Oct. 20-23 — Scott Petersen of Parker, Cody Eberl of Lakewood, former Durango resident Tom Kalinowski and former University of Colorado golfer Ed McGlasson.
Spring, Texas Oct. 20-23 — Michael Baird of Castle Rock, Dustin Mills of Arvada and former CU golfer Blake Moore.
Auburn, Ala. Oct. 21-24 — Charlie Soule of Longmont.
Dayton, Nev. Oct. 21-24 — Jason Allen of Pueblo West, Ben Portie of Westminster, Tyler Symons of Aurora, reigning Colorado Open champion Derek Tolan of Highlands Ranch and former Fort Collins resident Drew Stoltz.
Valdosta, Ga. Oct. 27-30 — Pat Grady of Broomfield, James Love of Denver, and former CU golfer Kenny Coakley.
Lakeland, Fla. Oct. 27-30 — Former CU golfer Mike Troyer.
Lantana, Texas Oct. 27-30 — Former Colorado Springs resident Tom Glissmeyer.
Hollister, Calif. Oct. 27-30 — Former DU golfer Barrett Jarosch.
Santee, Calif. Oct. 27-30 — Zen Brown of Arvada, Darrin Hall of Denver, Dustin White of Pueblo West, former Littleton residents Brian Guetz and Bret Guetz, and former Coloradans John Douma and Heikke Nielsen.
Several Coloradans had to advance through pre-qualifying to make it this far, including Allen, Eberl, Grady, Hall, Tolan, Symons, Brown and Baird. Since pre-qualifying, Allen finished 10th early this month in the national PGA Assistants Championship in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
Generally speaking, 19 to 21 players from each first-stage site will earn spots in stage 2.
