After suffering a couple of devastating blows — one to his body and the other to his psyche — during the last 13 months, Shane Bertsch of Parker finished 2009 on a very positive note Monday when he regained his fully-exempt status on the PGA Tour by placing 15th at the final stage of Tour qualifying in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Meanwhile, also in Florida, former University of Denver golfer Katie Kempter experienced similar elation Monday in earning her LPGA Tour card for 2010 by finishing second in the qualifying finals in Daytona Beach. Kempter, who turned pro a little more than six months ago, ended up two strokes behind Q-school champion Amanda Blumenherst.
Kempter, a resident of Albuquerque, N.M., shot a 4-under-par 68 in the final round to post a 7-under 353 total for five rounds. It was just 6½ months ago that Kempter helped DU finish fifth as a team in the NCAA Championships and placed 39th individually.
“I don’t think (the reality of earning a spot on the LPGA Tour) has sunk in yet,” said Kempter, whose swing coach caddied for her most of the tournament, until her dad took over on Monday. “It has been a dream and a goal since I picked up a club competitively. To actually think (playing on the LPGA Tour) is going to happen, I don’t think it has hit me yet.
“”¦ Just the whole week, I had a blast. My whole goal this week was to come out and win, and let’s enjoy the experience, because you never know if you’re going to get this chance again.”
A DU teammate of Kempter’s also competed in the LPGA qualifying finals, but Dawn Shockley of Denver failed to make the 72-hole cut and finished 76th. She’ll have status on the Futures Tour in 2010.
The top 40 finishers earned 2010 LPGA Tour cards, with the top 20 being fully exempt.
As for the PGA Tour qualifying, nine players with strong Colorado ties competed, but only Bertsch earned fully-exempt status for 2010 by finishing in the top 25. The former Colorado Open champion fired a 7-under-par 65 in Monday’s final round to vault up the leaderboard and end up at 11-under-par 421, 11 strokes behind champion Troy Merritt. After starting the day in 57th place and with 22 holes to play because of earlier weather delays, Bertsch made eight birdies and no bogeys on Monday.
“I was searching for it all week,” Bertsch said on the Golf Channel. “I was working all week to get comfortable. I couldn’t get comfortable. But I kept plugging. I told my wife (Sunday) night that if I made eight birdies and no bogeys I could get it done. It”˜s crazy how things turn out.”
The comeback Bertsch made on Monday was much-needed after what he’s gone through in the last 13 months. In 2008, he entered the final week of the PGA Tour season in 124th place on the season-long money list, but until just before the tournament started he incorrectly thought he was fully-exempt for 2009 by virtue of meeting the standards of his medical exemption. But in reality, that had only allowed him to keep his card for the remainder of 2008; he would have to finish in the top 125 to remain fully exempt for 2009.
As it turned out, Bertsch missed the cut in the 2008 Tour finale and former Colorado State University golfer Martin Laird pushed him out of the top 125 (to No. 126) on final money list.
To add insult to injury, Bertsch broke his foot late last year and didn’t return to tour golf until September of 2009. He ended up playing two PGA Tour events and four more on the Nationwide circuit. But thanks to his performance at Q-school, the 39-year-old can look forward to playing a full schedule on the PGA Tour for the fifth time (he previously played a full slate in 1996, 1997, 2006 and 2008).
“It was just an unbelievable year,” Bertsch said. “I thought everything was against me. I knew I’d be back out (on the PGA Tour) sometime, but you never know when.”
Three other PGA Tour veterans with local ties fell short Monday in their bid to regain their fully-exempt status. Former University of Colorado golfer Jonathan Kaye, a two-time winner on Tour, finished in 34th place, while Kent Denver High School graduate Brandt Jobe placed 64th, and David Duval of Cherry Hills Village was 90th.
Duval, a former No. 1-ranked player in the world, will still be conditionally exempt on the PGA Tour in 2010 thanks to finishing 130th on this year’s money list. That probably will get him into approximately 20 tournaments.
By virtue of his past-champions status, Kaye likely will land berths in a smattering of PGA Tour events next year. But thanks to their finish among the top 75 at Q-school, Kaye, Jobe and former DU golfer Barrett Jarosch will be fully exempt on the Nationwide Tour in 2010, as will Castle Rock”˜s Esteban Toledo, who finished 29th on this year”˜s Nationwide money list. The rest of the finalists with strong Colorado ties — John Douma, Dustin White and Bret Guetz — will have less-desirable conditional status on the Nationwide Tour next year.
Here’s the rundown on where all nine players with strong Colorado connections finished at the final stage of PGA Tour qualifying:
Shane Bertsch of Parker 71-71-69-75-70-65–421 (15th place); Denver native and former University of Colorado golfer Jonathan Kaye 73-69-70-71-69-73–425 (34th place); Kent Denver High School graduate Brandt Jobe 73-70-69-76-69-72–429 (64th place); former University of Denver golfer Barrett Jarosch 73-66-68-72-76-74–429 (64th place); Denver native and former CU golfer John Douma 74-75-72-72-71-67–431 (78th place); David Duval of Cherry Hills Village 71-73-69-79-72-69–433 (90th place); Esteban Toledo of Castle Rock 76-69-69-73-73-73–433 (90th place); Dustin White of Pueblo West 74-74-69-76-73-70–436 (108th place); former Littleton resident Bret Guetz 73-72-74-73-74-72–438 (125th place).
All told, more than 1,300 applications were accepted for the PGA Tour qualifying process this year.
