The eGolf Professional Tour’s 2011 “Q-School Bonus” race came to a conclusion following last Saturday’s final round of the regular-season-ending HGM Hotels Classic at Rock Barn in Conover, NC. The top 20 tour members on the member earnings money list will have their entries into the 2011 PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament paid for by eGolf – a value of approximately $4,500 per player.
Throughout the 2011 season, the eGolf Tour has published a separate money list from the overall list, in turn highlighting only monies earned by members of the tour. The list was configured to determine the top 20 finishers in the season-long Q-School Bonus race.
“We are ecstatic that we have the ability to pay for PGA TOUR Q-School for each of these 20 players,” said tour president David Siegel. “We realize that it is in our best interest to do all we can to assure our players make it to the next level, and it is our hope that this bonus will allow all of them to do just that. Our goal is for these guys to play their way off of our tour.”
In 2010, the eGolf Professional Tour became the first developmental tour in history to pay for PGA TOUR Q-School for 20 players. Of those 20 players, eight used the bonus to play their way to the final stage of Q-School. Ben Martin, who finished 15th on the eGolf Tour money list last year after winning the Forest Oaks Classic in his second professional start, advanced from Q-School to the PGA TOUR after finishing T2 at final stage. Jason Kokrak, Tommy Biershenk, Chris Baker, Roberto Castro, Scott Weatherly, David Robinson and Martin Ureta all solidified 2011 Nationwide Tour status at final stage after finishing inside the top 20.
The 20 players who will have PGA TOUR Q-School paid for by eGolf in 2011, as well as their regular season earnings, are as follows:
1. Brice Garnett – $74,591 – Tour rookie made the most of his nine starts with wins at the River Hills Classic and Southern Open in back-to-back starts. The latter came with an exemption into the Nationwide Tour’s Price Cutter Charity Championship.
2. Corey Nagy – $70,187 – Former four-time “All American” at UNC Charlotte broke through in first full year as a professional with wins at the Swiftwick Shootout at Palmetto Hall and the Bolle Classic.
3. Clint Jensen – $65,525 – Two-time eGolf Tour winner didn’t pick up a third win, but managed to post four top-4 finishes in a five-tournament span to solidify his spot inside the top 20.
4. Phillip Mollica – $64,921 – Former Clemson University standout broke through in his sophomore campaign as a professional with a win at The El Jadida Classic in Morocco and a T3 at the HGM Hotels Classic at Rock Barn.
5. Ryan Nelson – $64,685 – Collected four top-5 finishes in his first season on tour, culminating with a win at the Scratch Golf Championship. Traveling partner of Brice Garnett also competed in the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional.
6. Fernando Mechereffe – $64,652 – Brazil native finished regular season on a tear with three runner-up finishes in his last six starts. Earned $54,564 of his $64,652 during that six-tournament run.
7. Scott Parel – $56,563 – Longtime Nationwide Tour player made 10 of 11 cuts and notched three top-4 finishes on the year, with his best being a runner-up at the Donald Ross Championship.
8. Brian Harman – $56,179 – Two-time U.S. Walker Cup team member opened the year with a playoff loss at the Swiftwick Shootout at Palmetto Hall and added two more top-3s at Pine Needles and Rock Barn.
9. Hudson Swafford – $52,525 – Former UGA star turned professional in June and finished T2 in his second start at the Cowans Ford Open. Eagled the 72nd hole of the HGM Hotels Classic at Rock Barn last week to pick up his first pro win and $30,000 to move inside the top 20.
10. Chesson Hadley – $51,826 – In his second year as a professional, former Georgia Tech standout made the most of his four top-10 finishes with a runner-up at the Samanah Classic in Morocco and a solo-third-place at the Southern Open.
11. Jerry Richardson – $46,429 – Longtime eGolf Tour player utilized a hole-in-one on the 71st hole en route to capturing his first career win at the Willow Creek Open in May. Former N.C. State golfer made 8 of 11 cuts on the year.
12. Adam Mitchell – $45,642 – 2009 U.S. Walker Cup team member broke through in his second year as a professional with four top-5 finishes and 10 of 12 cuts made.
13. Chris McCartin – $44,557 – In the tour’s first overseas venture, McCartin posted a final-round 65 with birdies on three of his last four holes to capture the inaugural Samanah Classic in Morocco for his first career eGolf Tour title.
14. Stephen Poole – $43,566 – Past eGolf Tour winner collected three top-4 finishes in 2011, highlighted by a T2 at the Willow Creek Open.
15. Peter Malnati – $42,773 – Consistency highlighted Malnati’s second year on tour with 11 of 13 cuts made and nine top-25 finishes. Posted a career-best, solo-third-place finish at the Grand Harbor Open in August to move inside the top 20.
16. Derek Fathauer – $42,416 – Former PGA TOUR player capitalized on the first of two top-10 finishes with a solo-second-place effort at the El Jadida Classic in Morocco. Earned nearly half of his 2011 tally with $21,000 runner-up check at that event.
17. Dustin Bray – $39,375 – 2006 eGolf Tour leading money winner made 13 of 13 cuts on the season with six top-15 finishes. Posted just four rounds over par in his last 37 rounds on tour.
18. Lanto Griffin – $38,359 – Former VCU standout came out of the gates quickly in his first year as a professional with three top-10 finishes in his first six starts on tour. Missed just one event – the Willow Creek Open – when he Monday qualified for the PGA TOUR’s Wells Fargo Championship.
19. Richard Scott – $32,414 – Two-time eGolf Tour winner and three-time Canadian Amateur champion made 9 of 11 cuts and recorded six top-25 finishes. Missed both July events on tour, but kept his spot inside the top 20 with T41 and T21 in the final two events of the regular season.
20. Chris Baker – $32,106 – A winner on the 2010 eGolf Tour, Baker opened his 2011 campaign with two top-5s in his first five starts before solidifying his Nationwide Tour status for the year with a T4 finish at the Mexico Open in June.
The 2011 eGolf Professional Tour season will resume with three fall series events, beginning on with the Cabarrus Classic presented by VisitCabarrus.com on September 21-23 at Cabarrus Country Club in Concord, NC.
About eGolf Professional Tour
The eGolf Professional Tour is a Charlotte, NC-based professional golf tour that has conducted 54- and 72-hole tournaments in the Southeast since its inception in 2002. The tour features approximately 18 professional tournaments annually with purses ranging from $235,000 to $250,000. In 2011, the tour conducted two events in Morocco, in turn becoming the first United States-based tour to conduct multiple tournaments on the continent of Africa. In its nine-year history, the tour has seen the likes of Will MacKenzie, Jason Bohn, Steve Marino, Tommy Gainey, Matt Bettencourt, William McGirt and others ascend to the PGA TOUR, while over 200 past eGolf Professional Tour players have gone on to play on the Nationwide Tour.
— eGolf Press Release —
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