PGA Tour Q-School Always Educational

Filed under: PGA, Nationwide Tour

WINTER GARDEN, Fla. -- Although the final stage of PGA Tour qualifying returns with a familiar storyline this time every year, it never seems to get old.

Maybe that's because the fascinatingly brutal golf event was a television reality show before there were television reality shows. The process, affectionately known as "Q School," is where golf goes to watch dreams realized and wrecked, to see careers launched and extinguished. It's where youth is served and veterans can live to play another season. Or not.

"Q-School is no place for women and children," offered veteran Jason Gore (right).

It is, however, the home of long odds, frazzled nerves and aching muscles.

Wednesday morning at Orange Country National Golf Club, located in a small central Florida town just outside Orlando, a field of 166 players will begin six rounds -- that's 108 holes -- of competition. From that sizable field, only the top 25 finishers and ties are rewarded with exempt status for next year's PGA Tour schedule.

"I know what I need to do to get my job back," said James Driscoll, who lost his PGA Tour card this year after four of five seasons in the big leagues.

Qualifying comes along only once a year. And while the eventual winner collects $50,000, no one is here to play for the money. They are playing for a chance to compete next year on the big stage -- for the money.

 

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Source: http://golf.fanhouse.com/2010/11/30/pga-tour-q-school-always-educational/

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