It took a while — OK, a long while — but John Douma, the quintessential mini-tour player, is finally getting his shot at the big time in professional golf.
In his 11th year of going through the PGA Tour qualifying process, the Denver native and former University of Colorado golfer has advanced to the final stage of Q-school for the first time. And that’s no small matter because each contestant is guaranteed a spot on either the PGA Tour or Nationwide Tour in 2010.
“It’s a huge monkey off my back,” the 35-year-old Douma said in a recent phone interview. “I’ve always felt like I belonged, but I’ve struggled to get through the second stage (of the three stages of PGA Tour qualifying). So this is a little bit of redemption.”
Douma will be one of nine players with strong Colorado connections who will be competing in the Q-school finals, which will be held Wednesday through next Monday on two courses in West Palm Beach, Fla. The top 25 finishers and ties after six rounds will earn their 2010 PGA Tour cards, while roughly the next 50 competitors will be fully exempt on the Nationwide Tour. The remainder of the 170 Q-school finalists will be conditionally exempt on the Nationwide circuit next year.
Local competitors joining Douma in the field in West Palm Beach will be David Duval, Jonathan Kaye, Brandt Jobe, Shane Bertsch, Esteban Toledo, Bret Guetz, Barrett Jarosch and Dustin White.
Almost all of the aforementioned local players have regularly competed on the PGA Tour or the Nationwide Tour at some point in their careers, but Douma is an exception. In his dozen years as a pro, he’s won seven times on the Gateway Tour, and an estimated 40-50 mini-tour events overall. But he’s competed in only a smattering of PGA Tour and Nationwide events over the years. He’s played in five PGA Tour tournaments, including two U.S. Opens, and made his first cut at last year’s Frys.com Open, finishing 57th. On the Nationwide circuit, he’s played eight tournaments, placing in the top 20 three times in 2004.
Given that history, it’s understandable why Douma is relieved to finally be guaranteed a spot on one of the two biggest men’s professional tours in the U.S. But he also knows that this coming week could be life-changing if he takes the next step and earns his PGA Tour card.
“Everybody in my family was ready to drink champagne, but I know there’s a lot of work ahead,” said Douma, a Phoenix resident. “A lot of doors can open when you get to the final stage.
“I’m going to believe that I’m going to get into the top 25 (and receive a PGA Tour card). I’ve earned it. I’ve paid my dues. Sometimes golf owes you one. I’ve dealt with a lot of heartaches. This is the first year it’s crossed my mind to do anything other than play golf. It’s been a rotten economy to find sponsors (Douma doesn”˜t have one currently). It would mean more than anything to get a PGA Tour card.”
Douma admits he’s an unusual case. Not many players compete for 10 or more years on the mini tours without ever being a regular in the Big Leagues, or even Triple-A ball, to continue the baseball analogy. To make it even tougher, Douma had fallen short in the second stage of PGA Tour qualifying six times before finally breaking through this year.
Last year was particularly hard to swallow. He finished third in the first stage of Q-school, but on the eve of the second-stage tournament he suffered an appendicitis which led to an emergency appendectomy and ended his hopes of gaining a 2009 Tour card. To add insult to injury, despite appeals to the PGA Tour because of his emergency surgery, Douma didn’t receive any refund of his $4,500 Q-school entry fee.
And there have been many other close calls for Douma during Q-school over the years.
“Over 10 years, I could write a book of horrors” about Tour qualifying, he said.
Coincidentally, Douma’s success in the HealthOne Colorado Open over the last five years has helped keep his PGA Tour hopes alive. Over that stretch, he’s finished second four times and won the title in 2007, with the prize money often going toward the entry fee for Q-school. Between the entry fee, travel expenses, caddie fees, etc., Douma estimates the annual bill to go through the qualifying process runs about $10,000.
Douma credits his fiancee, Lisa Wensley, for making things work financially, thanks to income from her skin-care business. In fact, if things hadn’t worked out at Q-school this year, Douma was planning to cut back his playing schedule and start helping with Wensley’s business.
As it was, Douma took on an extra-heavy playing schedule in 2009 in an attempt to increase his money winnings. Many weeks during the year, he played two multi-day tournaments — one on the Gateway Tour and one on the Pepsi Tour. He ended up No. 10 on the Gateway money list ($57,977) and No. 1 on the Pepsi Tour ($18,450). In all, he said he’s competed in 43 tournaments this year.
But it was a new approach to preparing for Q-school that apparently paid off this year for Douma. Instead of staying in Arizona throughout the season, Douma geared up for Tour qualifying by competing in the Dakotas, New Mexico, Mexico and Iowa, getting used to a variety of conditions.
“That toughened me up,” he said. “The game plan worked out. I don’t think I’ve finished outside of the top 10 in the last two or three months.” That includes a fifth-place finishing in the second stage of Tour qualifying two weeks ago in Kingwood, Texas.
Douma said the state of his game is “fantastic” heading into the final stage. “My wind game is phenomenal and I’m striping my driver.”
He’s certainly not the longest of hitters who will be competing in West Palm Beach, but he’s straighter than most.
“Realistically, I can win it,” he said of the final stage. “There’s nothing that (the other players) have that I don’t. I’ve proven myself over and over again on the mini tours. I’m not just hoping for the Nationwide Tour; my goal is higher.”
While playing on the Nationwide circuit in 2010 would be a step up for Douma, he’d much rather take the leap up to the PGA Tour and all the possibilities it provides.
“My focus is finishing in the top 10 and not worrying about (anything other than PGA Tour status),” he said. “I know if I had a full year on the Nationwide Tour I could get into the top 25 (on the money list) and earn my PGA Tour card that way. But it would be nice to take care of it all at once.”
All told, the local contingent of players in Q-school finals is far larger than last year, when only three pros with strong Colorado ties made it. White, Kevin Stadler and Leif Olson advanced to the final stage in 2008, with Olson earning his PGA Tour card before losing his exemption this fall.
Although it’s a secondary consideration, a purse of more than $1 million will be up for grabs in West Palm Beach, with $50,000 going to the winner.
The Golf Channel will televise the final three rounds of the event, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, and from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. next Monday (Dec. 7).
