This week, Q-school begins for two of the major U.S.-based tours — the LPGA and Web.com circuits.

Stage I of LPGA qualifying runs Thursday through Sunday (Aug. 23-26) in Rancho Mirage, Calif. And the first of six Pre-Qualifying tournaments for for Web Q-school runs Wednesday through Friday (Aug. 22-24), with the others being Aug. 29-31 and Sept. 5-7. No players with strong Colorado connections are competing until next week in the Web qualifiers.

The LPGA qualifying procession has been tweaked for this year, with Stage I and Stage II (in Venice, Fla., Oct. 15-18) leading to an LPGA Q-Series, which replaces the final stage. There, a maximum of 108 players will compete in two 72-hole stroke-play tournaments held on consecutive weeks Oct. 22-Nov. 3 at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina. Scores will be cumulative over the two weeks.

Jennifer Kupcho of Westminster, the No. 1-ranked amateur in women’s golf who will soon be starting her senior season at Wake Forest, is exempt into the Q-Series, where at least the top 45 finishers and ties will earn LPGA Tour status in 2019. Amateurs who earn their cards can defer their acceptance of LPGA membership until July 1, 2019.

Among the 340 contestants in Stage I are at least 10 players with strong Colorado ties:

University of Colorado golfer Robyn Choi
Paige Crawford of Colorado Springs
Former CU golfer Brittany Fan
Amateur Emily Gilbreth, a former Denver resident
Samantha Stancato of Colorado Springs
Ashley Tait of Littleton
Amateur Jaylee Tait of Littleton
Hannah Wood of Highlands Ranch
Amateur Elizabeth Wang, who grew up in Colorado
Former CU golfer Natalie Vivaldi

A minimum of the top 60 finishers and ties at Stage I will advance to Stage II.

As for Web.com Tour qualifying, there’s a maximum of four stages to negotiate. Fields haven’t been released for all six Pre-Qualifying tournaments, but the three in the western half of the U.S. are likely to draw local players: Lincoln, Neb., and Lantana, Texas, Aug. 29-31, and Woodland, Calif., Sept. 5-7.

Twelve First Stage tournaments are set for various dates from Sept. 25 to Oct. 9. There are five Second Stage events from Oct. 30-Nov. 9. Then the Final Stage is Dec. 6-9 in Chandler, Ariz.
 

Though, starting this year, there’s no such thing as earning a PGA Tour card directly through qualifying school anymore, the quest for spots on the LPGA Tour and the Web.com Tour begins within the next week. And that quest includes plenty of golfers with strong Colorado connections.

Due to changes announced last year, instead of 25 PGA Tour cards being available through Q-school and another 25 through the Web.com Tour, all 50 available PGA Tour spots will be awarded through Web.com Tour performance.

That leaves the Web.com Tour as the top status that can be attained through Q-school, starting this year.

But on the women’s side, LPGA Tour berths are still directly at stake through Q-school. The number of 2014 LPGA spots that will be up for grabs hasn’t been specified, but last year the top 20 finishers at the final qualifying tournament earned fully-exempt status and another 25 and ties received conditional status.

In both the cases of the LPGA and Web.com Tours, the qualifying process begins next week.

The first of three stages of LPGA Tour Q-school will be contested over 72 holes on Aug. 27-30 in Rancho Mirage, Calif. As of Thursday, 247 players were entered in the event. Among them are three-time CWGA Stroke Play champion Melissa Martin (pictured), a former University of Denver golfer from Grand Junction; two-time state high school champion and 2012 U.S. Women’s Open qualifier Becca Huffer of Denver; former DU golfer Kimberly Kim, the 2006 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion and former LPGA Tour card-holder; former Big Sky Conference champion — and University of Northern Colorado golfer — Carleigh Silvers; and former University of Colorado golfer Emily Childs.

The top 100 players will advance to stage 2 — Oct. 8-11 in Venice, Fla. — with the top 80 finishers and ties there going to the final stage, set for Dec. 4-8 in Daytona Beach, Fla.

As for the men, there are four qualifying stages for the Web.com Tour. First up are the six pre-qualifiers, 54-hole tournaments that will be held between Aug. 28 and Sept. 13, with the first being next week’s events in Nebraska City and Hollister, Calif.

Here are the local players scheduled to compete in Web.com pre-qualifying next week:

Nebraska City Aug. 28-30 — Austin Dean of Centennial, Chris Good of Denver, Alex Gutesha of Greenwood Village, Kory Harrell of Colorado Springs, former University of Denver golfer Klinton Krieger, Bryan Kruse of Westminster, former CSU golfer Ryan Peterson Beau Schoolcraft of Denver, former Coloradan Justin Spray.

The top finishers at the pre-qualifying sites will advance to the dozen 72-hole first-stage tournaments (Oct. 8-25). The six 72-hole stage 2 events are set for Nov. 12-22, and the 108-hole final stage is scheduled for Dec. 12-17 in La Quinta, Calif.

The top 45 finishers and ties at the final stage will receive priority status on the 2014 Web.com Tour, with the other finalists being conditionally exempt.

As for the Champions Tour, regional qualifying is set for mid-fall, with the final stage scheduled for Nov. 19-22 in Scottsdale, Ariz.

The European Tour Q-school gears up with stage 1 starting Sept. 10 and concludes with the finals Nov. 10-15 in Girona, Spain.