“It’s become more of a holding tank for PGA Tour veterans"
Jim McCabe takes a tough look at the Nationwide Tour's eligibility rules and wonders what can be done to give younger players the developmental opportunity that defined the tour's original purpose.
Trouble is, it’s tough to get out there when the eligibility is so stacked against newcomers. For proof, Hambric pointed out that of the 26 categories for “Nationwide Tour” eligibility, nine of them (No. 6, 7, 13, 14, 15, 19, 20, 21, 22) start with the words “PGA Tour.”
No wonder so many see the Nationwide Tour not as a young man’s playground, but a PGA Tour veteran’s second home.
“But everytime the PGA Tour meets to change the rules, it becomes less of a developmental tour,” Hambric said.
And...
In the days following the second-stage heartache, disappointment has worn off and reality has taken hold for talented players such as Stanley, Lovemark, Van Sickle, Woltman, and Chappell. Where do they go from here? The multitude of Nationwide Tour categories are not theirs; they are for the PGA Tour veterans. Instead, they must turn to an assortment of options – the minitours, Monday qualifiers, Canada, sponsor exemptions, even overseas, or maybe a little of everything.
“In essence,” Hambric said, “you’ve got to build your own tour.”
That’s because the one the PGA Tour built for them many years ago is broken.
Thursday, November 26, 2009 at 08:40 AM
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Reader Comments (12)
http://www.pgatour.com/players/02/66/79/
AND his win his not mentioned on his PGAT profile.
https://pgatourmedia.pgatourhq.com/Tour/WebTemplate/media.nsf/2c47cc31e412bc4985256e6e00287832/c005d7471ff0bc128525752800641c0d/$FILE/reshuffle-090101-n.pdf
Am I correct that the only avenue into a Nationwide event for a non-member (of PGAT or Nationwide) is either being one of 14 monday qualifiers (cat 8) or one of four sponsor invites (cat 10)? Otherwise you have to have made it to at least the finals of the previous qschool or have various Nationwide or PGATour member qualifications?
It does look like a very stacked deck - essentially requiring most players without some kind of previous PGAT or Nationwide experience to battle it out for 14 spots in Monday qualifying every week.
Surely PGATour can do better than this - can't it ??????????
Is this just a random event, or have there been recent changes to the exemption criteria that give more senior members of the tour better access to events than the younger players? Does anyone know?
Player, Age, Year Turned Pro
Michael Sim 25 2005
Matt Every 25 2006
Alex Prugh 25 2007
Chris Baryla 27 2003
Derek Lamely 29 2004
Josh Teater 30 2001
Henrik Bjornstad 30 1997
Chad Collins 31 2001
Garth Mulroy 31 2003
Steve Wheatcroft 31 2001
Justin Bolli 33 1999
Blake Adams 34 2001
Roger Tambellini 34 1998
Jerod Turner 34 2000
Rich Barcelo 34 1998
Cameron Percy 35 1998
Garrett Willis 35 1996
Chris Tidland 37 1995
Jeff Gove 38 1994
Mathias Gronberg 39 1990
Tom Gillis 41 1990
Craig Bowden 41 1989
Kevin Johnson 42 1990
Vance Veazey 44 1990
Fran Quinn 44 1988