Passing the Test

December 18, 2013

Once again, Q-School was held in Southern California in December, as more than 150 hopefuls battled it out over six grueling rounds at PGA WEST. This year, however, with changes to the PGA TOUR entry regulations, the men were fighting for Web.com Tour cards, hoping to then do well enough in 2014 to graduate on to the real show.

A number of Southland stars sailed through Q-School with flying colors, and will be exempt for much of the 2014 Web.com Tour season. Leading the way was Max Homa of Valencia, who concluded his remarkable 2013 golf season by tying for sixth at the tournament. Homa, 23, carded a final-round, 6-under par 66 on the Nicklaus Tournament Course for a six-round total of 23-under par 409. By virtue of his top-10 finish, Homa will earn a spot in the first 12 events of the 2014 season.

Entering the event, Homa had said the event would be “a marathon, not a sprint,” and that mindset led to his success. After the first round of play, Homa sat in the back half of the leaderboard, but remembered there was still a lot of golf to play.

“It feels great,” said Homa, who will likely pick up a number of PGA TOUR exemptions this year as well. “You kind of reflect back on when college season ended and just the anxiety of what you are going to do when you turn pro.”

In addition to Homa, SCGA member Tyler Weworski of Carlsbad (pictured left) also earned a Web.com Tour spot, finishing T42, which gives him entry into the first eight events of the season. Also receiving those eight exemptions were Roger Tambellini of San Luis Obispo, who qualified for last year’s U.S. Open at Big Canyon CC in Newport Beach, Brett Lederer of Long Beach and Travis Bertoni of San Luis Obispo.