News >> Alumni Handle Pressures of 2009 Q-School

12 of 25 PGA Tour Cards
27 of 51 Fully Exempt Nationwide Tour Cards

Longs, SC (December 7, 2009)...The NGA Hooters Professional Golf Tour continues to prove year after year to be the #1 developmental tour in the United States for aspiring professionals to begin their careers. The National Golf Association is the 3rd largest men’s 72-hole professional golf tour in the country behind the PGA and Nationwide Tours.

This was never more evident than in the recent final stage of the PGA TOUR Qualifying School at Bear Lakes Country Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. Look at the following statistics from last week's grueling 108-hole Q-School:

·         48% (12 of 25) of those players who earned their 2010 PGA Tour Card played on the NGA Hooters Tour, including 2009 NGA Hooters Tour members Chris Wilson and Martin Flores, Jay Williamson, Brent DelaHoussaye, Kris Blanks, Michael Connell, JP Hayes, Brendon De Jonge, Spencer Levin, Jeff Maggert, Chris Riley and Brian Stuard.

·         27 of the 51 players (53%) that earned full exempt status on the Nationwide Tour have played on the NGA Hooters Tour in the past, including 2009 NGA Hooters Tour members Bronson La’Cassie, Scott Stallings, Keegan Bradley, Luke List, Andrew Svoboda, Bobby MacWhinnie, Rob Oppenheim and Joe Affrunti. Joining the 2009 members were former players Kevin Kisner, Tom Pernice Jr., Mark Anderson, Josh Broadaway, Adam Meyer, Ted Brown, Casey Wittenberg, Stephen Poole, J.J. Killeen, Chris Kirk, Major Manning, Scott Brown, Scott Gutschewski, Shaun Micheel, Ty Harris, Tommy Gainey, Nathan Smith, Dave Schultz and Matthew Borchert.

·         All told, of the 170 players that competed in the 6 round final stage, an amazing 42% (71 players) have played on the NGA Hooters Tour in the past.

Qualifying school is not the only way former NGA Hooters Tour players gained exempt status on the PGA Tour for 2010. This past season, 11 other former players earned their PGA Tour cards by finishing in the top 25 on the Nationwide Tour’s money list giving the NGA Hooters Tour 23 former players who got their PGA TOUR card for 2010

The following are the 11 former NGA Hooters Tour players who finished in the top 25 on the 2009 Nationwide Tour money list: Chad Collins, Blake Adams, Derek Lamely, Tom Gillis, Josh Teater, Matt Every, Justin Bolli, Garrett Willis, Craig Bowden, Vance Veazey and Fran Quinn.
 
Be sure to follow the action of all the Hooters Tour alumni as the PGA TOUR season starts to heat up with the West Coast Swing.
 
The NGA Hooters Tour would also like to congratulate all of our alumni as they begin to fulfill their dreams. For more information about the NGA Hooters Tour, please visit our web site, www.ngahooterstour.com. If you have any other questions concerning sponsorship opportunities or interview requests before or during tournament week please contact the NGA Hooters Tour office at 843-281-TOUR (8687).

 
2009 Hooters Tour Players
 
Martin Flores
4th
PGA TOUR
Chris Wilson
T-12
PGA TOUR
Bronson La’Cassie
T-26
Nationwide Tour
Scott Stallings
T-26
Nationwide Tour
Keegan Bradley
T-34
Nationwide Tour
Luke List
T-42
Nationwide Tour
Andrew Svoboda
T-48
Nationwide Tour
Rob Oppenheim
T-64
Nationwide Tour
Bobby MacWhinnie
T-72
Nationwide Tour
Joe Affrunti
T-72
Nationwide Tour
Jesse Hutchins
T-78
Conditional Nationwide
Kelly Grunewald
T-78
Conditional Nationwide
Travis Bertoni
T-90
Conditional Nationwide
Ted Potter Jr
T-104
Conditional Nationwide
Emmett Turner
T-108
Conditional Nationwide
Blaine Peffley
T-130
Conditional Nationwide
Andrew Dresser
T-143
Conditional Nationwide
Grant Leaver
T-149
Conditional Nationwide