Last four second-stage sites finish as Blaine Hale, Raul Pereda continue Q-School success
Second stage of PGA Tour Q-School is complete, as four sites wrapped up on Friday, following the first site, which ended last month.
Here is a look at each of those four sites as those advancing now prepare for final stage, which begins Thursday in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida:
Valdosta, Georgia
Kinderlou Forest GC, Par 72
Spots available: Top 16 and ties
Medalist: Samuel Anderson (-12), a 26-year-old Wisconsin alum who ended up No. 15 in points on PGA Tour Americas this year
Notables advancing: Blaine Hale, who earned a PGA Tour card at final stage last year before finishing No. 202 in FedExCup points, finished T-2 with Oklahoma State alum Aman Gupta, six shots behind Anderson. … James Nicholas earned his DPWT card for this season, though he notched just one top-10 in 19 starts and then missed out on keeping full status at final stage of DPWT Q-School. He closed in 69 Friday to advance to the PGA Tour’s final stage by four shots. … A foursome of Tennessee natives and recent college standouts – Lipscomb’s Dawson Armstrong, Tennessee’s Bryce Lewis, Clemson’s Kyle Cottam and South Carolina’s Ryan Hall – all tied for seventh. … Brett White, who nearly died of viral encephalitis in 2017, again heads to final stage, this time by two shots. … Cole Sherwood, who graduated last summer from Vanderbilt but struggled in eight KFT starts (best finish of T-18), was among a group at T-12 who advanced by one shot. … Steffen Smith, who graduated from Gardner-Webb in 2020 and has never played a world-ranked tournament as a pro, birdied each of his final five holes to shoot 5-under 67 and advance by a shot. … North Florida product Travis Trace went out in 6-over 42 but rallied with a bogey-free, 4-under 32 on the back nine to also survive by a single shot. … Former Pepperdine teammates Derek Hitchner and Luke Gifford joined Smith and Trace at 12 under. Hitchner and Gifford opened the week in 77 and 76, respectively, while Toronto’s Sebastian Szirmak had the greatest comeback, advancing by a shot after a first-round 79.
Notables missing cut: Michael Sanders, whose college career at LSU was marred by hip injuries, missed by a shot, as did fellow SEC products Scott Stevens (South Carolina) and Thomas Ponder (Alabama). … Despite being low amateur at both the Masters and U.S. Open this year, Neal Shipley’s run ends at second stage by a shot. … Taylor Funk, the son of Fred Funk, missed by three shots. … George Bryan IV, YouTube star and brother of PGA Tour winner Wesley Bryan, missed by eight, as did another brother, Ollie Schniederjans’ younger brother, Luke Schniederjans. … Jake Staiano, who overcame a gambling suspension to medal at first stage, finished nine shots back. … Among those 10 shots below the cut line was former NCAA individual champion turned LIV golfer Turk Pettit. … Josh Teater, who graduated from the Korn Ferry Tour last year, was 14 shots back. … Curtis Thompson, brother of LPGA standout Lexi Thompson, was disqualified. He was 7 over through 15 holes of his third round and 16 over for the tournament.
Dothan, Alabama
RTJ Golf Trail (Highlands/Marshwood), Par 72
Spots available: Top 17 and ties
Medalists: Owen Stamper and Ashton Van Horne (-15), mid-major products from Middle Tennessee and Belmont, respectively. Van Horne kept his KFT card in 2022 but lost it last year.
Notables advancing: John Augenstein, the former Vanderbilt standout who was runner-up at the 2019 U.S. Amateur, was solo third, a shot behind the medalists. … Long-hitting Arizona alum Chase Sienkiewicz joined recent Chattanooga grad John Houk as the only players to card two rounds of 67 or better. … Jacob Bergeron, who turned pro in 2018 after just one season at LSU, has missed 18 of his last 19 world-ranked cuts dating to early 2023, but he shot 67-69 on the weekend to comfortably advance at T-7. … Jack Maguire, the KFT veteran out of Florida State, tied for 11th. … Ryan Davis, a Penn State product who logged 19 starts between the KFT and PGA Tour Americas this season yet didn’t crack the top 100 in points on either tour, birdied four of his last seven holes to advance on the number.
Notables missing cut: Yuxin Lin, a two-time Asia-Pacific Amateur champion who completed his college career with an NCAA team title at Florida, closed in 69-68 but still missed by a shot. … Marcus Byrd, an APGA standout out of Middle Tennessee, also missed by a shot, as did UCLA product Eddy Lai, who shot a final-round 74. … Connor Black, a former AJGA standout who only recently got back into competitive golf, couldn’t overcome an opening 79 as he missed the cut by seven shots. … Harry Ellis, a former British Amateur champion, shot 6 over, 14 shots back.
Palm Coast, Florida
Hammock Beach CC, Par 72
Spots available: Top 15 and ties
Medalist: Luke Guthrie (-12), the 34-year-old Illinois product who has logged 103 career PGA Tour starts though has played just one world-ranked event the past two years.
Notables advancing: Mateo Fernandez de Oliveria, the Latin America Amateur champion in 2023, tied for second at 10 under. … Marty Dou, who spent two seasons on the PGA Tour, in 2017-18 and 2022-23, used a second-round 66 to easily advance. … Hank Lebioda, who has 120 PGA Tour starts under his belt, tied for eighth, as did 39-year-old Dan McCarthy, who is best known for his four wins on PGA Tour Canada in 2016. … Alabama alum Davis Shore double-bogeyed his last hole but still advance by a shot, while on the flip side, Charlie Reiter, the bomber out of San Diego, birdied four of his final five holes to also narrowly advance.
Notables missing cut: Former PGA Tour member Julian Suri missed by a shot, unable to overcome a first-round 76. … Another former LAAC champ, Abel Gallegos, closed in 75 to miss by three shots. … Gavin Hall, a former teammate of Scottie Scheffler and Beau Hossler at Texas, missed by six shots, as did 2018 U.S. Amateur runner-up Devon Bling and recent Florida State grad Brett Roberts. … Cristian DiMarco, the son of Chris DiMarco, missed by eight shots. … Recent Auburn grad Alex Vogelsong shot 65 in the first round to lead by two, but he followed with rounds of 71-80-76 to miss by nine shots. … Shore’s former college teammate, Canon Claycomb, finished nine shots back. … Ten shots back was recent KFT member and mini-tour legend Willie Mack III. … Adam Long, who has made over $7.6 million on the PGA Tour, shot 10 over and missed by 15 shots. … D.A. Points and Jeff Overton were among the WDs.
Valencia, California
Valencia CC, Par 72
Spots available: Top 15 and ties
Medalist: Petr Hruby (-15), who graduated last summer from Washington and finished No. 77 in PGA Tour Americas points.
Notables advancing: Takumi Kanaya, a former top-50 player in the world who is now ranked No. 133, tied for fourth at 12 under along with Raul Pereda, who earned his PGA Tour at last year’s final stage. … Germany’s Jonas Baumgartner, a recent Oklahoma State standout, shot 10 under. Also at 10 under was two-time PGA Tour winner Sangmoon Bae. … North Carolina and Pepperdine product Dylan Menante advanced by three shots at 9 under. … Jeffrey Kang, a 33-year-old USC alum, closed in 66 to advance by a shot.
Notables missing cut: Menante’s former college teammate, Joey Vrzich, birdied four of his last seven holes but still missed by a shot. … Ryo Ishikawa was among those finishing at 5 under, as was Vanderbilt product Theo Humphrey, who has played just two world-ranked events since losing his KFT card two years ago. … Whee Kim, a former PGA Tour member, bogeyed four of his last five, shot 76 and missed by two. … T.J. Vogel, the former U.S. Amateur Public Links champion out of Florida, missed by five. … Brent Grant, who played on the PGA Tour last season after graduating from the KFT, finished eight shots back, as did Illinois alum Michael Feagles, the nephew of retired NFL punter Jeff Feagles. … Maxwell Moldovan, the former AJGA player of the year who starred at Ohio State, missed by nine. … Norway’s Mats Ege, a recent star at ETSU, shot 10 over, a shot better than recent Texas grad Brian Stark, who was former teammates at Oklahoma State with Dillon Stewart, who also shot 11 over. … Anthony Paolucci, a junior-golf prodigy who played at USC but has struggled in a decade now as a pro, shot 12 over. … Rodolfo Cazaubon, a college teammate of Carlos Ortiz at North Texas, was tied for 60th, last among player who completed 72 holes.