Shane Bertsch is no stranger to PGA Tour Q-school, having gone through the strenuous, nerve-racking event more than 10 times in his career.
And after successfully negotiating the second stage of qualifying earlier this month, the Parker resident will take another crack at the 108-hole finale this week and early next. The tournament runs Wednesday through Monday (Nov. 28-Dec. 3) at PGA West in La Quinta, Calif.
Meanwhile, the third and final stage of LPGA Tour qualifying also is on tap this week, with the five-round tournament set for Wednesday through Sunday in Daytona Beach, Fla. There, the competitors with Colorado ties include Kelly Jacques of Longmont, former University of Denver golfers Stephanie Sherlock and Sue Kim, and former University of Colorado standout Emily Talley. More on that event later.
And, to complete the trifecta, the final stage of European Tour qualifying is wrapping up this week. After Monday’s third round of the six-round tournament, Colorado resident and former CU golfer Matt Zions is tied for 118th place out of a 156-man field after rounds of 74-73-74 for a 211 total in Girona, Spain, where the top 25 finishers will be fully exempt next year. A cut to the low 70 and ties will be made after round 4. Zions, winner of a 2011 event on the European Tour, is trying to improve his 2013 status after finishing 146th on the money list this year.
As for Bertsch (pictured above in a USGA photo), he’ll join onetime Golden resident Andrew Svoboda in the finals of PGA Tour Q-school. Svoboda already has a 2013 Tour card secured by virtue of finishing 21st on the 2012 Web.com Tour money list, but he’s hoping to improve his status with a strong showing in La Quinta.
Bertsch, a PGA Tour veteran, knows how it feels to finish just inside or outside the cut line in the finals of Q-school. (The top 25 finishers and ties earn PGA Tour exemptions, while the rest of those in the field have to settle for Web.com Tour status.)
Bertsch, the 1998 Colorado Open champion, has snuck in by three shots or less twice in his career at the finals of Q-school (1996 and 2009). Conversely, last year’s qualifying finals were a heartbreaker for the now-42-year-old Evergreen High School graduate.
Going into the final hole of Q-school last December, Bertsch put himself in position to be fully exempt by playing his previous 35 holes in 8 under par. All he needed was a par on his 108th hole to regain his full status on Tour. But a shot into the water and a closing double bogey left Bertsch with conditional standing on Tour in 2012, and though he still got into 17 Tour events, that was probably 10 fewer than he would have if he finished strong in Q-school.
And this year, there’s even more on the line in the qualifying finals for Bertsch. After he finished 215th on the Tour money list this year, he’d be relegated to playing Web.com events for most of next season if he failed to finish in the top 25 in La Quinta.
Bertsch has won more than $2.3 million in his PGA Tour career, but even though he’s played professionally for more than 15 years, he’s had only five seasons (1996, ’97, 2006, ’08 and ’11) where he’s competed in at least 20 Tour events. His best finish out of 172 starts on the big circuit is a fourth-place at Frys.com Open in the fall of 2011. He’s won twice on the Web.com Tour.
As for the situation in this week’s LPGA Tour qualifying finals, the top 45 finishers and ties after 90 holes will earn 2013 Tour cards (with the top 20 getting preferred status), while the rest of the field will receive Symetra Tour exemptions. Sherlock has earned LPGA Tour status each of the last two years, but lost her card each time, including by finishing 139th on this year’s money list. A seven-time winner individually at DU, Sherlock recently notched her first professional victory in a SunCoast Ladies Series Tournament in Daytona Beach. The win was worth $3,000.
While Sherlock was exempt into the final stage of qualifying this year, Jacques, Kim and Talley made it there after strong showings in stage II of Q-school. Jacques, a U.S. Women’s Open qualifier this year, finished third out of 157 players there, while Kim was 20th and Talley 28th.
At this week finals, the field will be cut from 122 to the low 70 players and ties after four rounds.
