It was another quiet week for men's Umcees in tour golf. Only three such players were involved in such events worldwide. Tom Hoge teed it up at the BMW Championship (always to be regarded as the reincarnation of the Western Open) at Olympia Fields near Chicago with a very outside chance of a return to East Lake. Frankie Capan III, seeking to break out of a slump on the Korn Ferry Tour, concluded his first (and so far, only) regular season of professional tour golf at the Magnit Championship in New Jersey. As for former Minnesota Gopher Angus Flanagan, he finally got a chance to show his stuff at the Vierumaki Finnish Challenge in, well, Finland. It helped his chances of starting that the DP World Tour resumed after having been off since the Open Championship. So, how did each do?
Despite a good showing, narrowly missing a third top-20 finish in five starts, Hoge had to crack the top four (at least) with no more than two ties for the minimum finish. His season is over, though he does have the signature events to look forward to in 2024. Capan never got going in the last event before the KFT Finals, slipping to #43 on the points list. Flanagan had arguably the best week of the men, all things considered, but an up-and-down final round in Finland meant he only moved from #186 to #170 on the Road to Mallorca. He'll have work to do to improve his status on either side of the pond much, whether through any further Challenge Tour events or through Q-school.
For the second straight week, it was the women's game that provided the Umcee fireworks. Specifically, the two Umcees on the second-tier Epson Tour very much led the region at the Wildhorse Ladies Golf Classic. Unfortunately, the wildfires in the region (which are starting to be cured by rain from Tropical Storm Hillary) wiped out the final round due to heavy smoke, so the affair was cut short. Nevertheless, official money was allocated to all who had made the cut the day before. Last week's Upper Midwest Connection of the Week, Kate Smith, finished a healthy T13 with six others. However, she loses her throne this week to a more seasoned player, namely...
Kim Kaufman.
Heading into the Wildhorse Classic, the Clark, South Dakota native had made less than $10 grand on the Epson Tour, where she'd been relegated a couple years ago after losing her LPGA Tour card, in the course of the 2023 season. Well, she made almost half her prize money on the year from this event alone ($7753 to be exact) by tying for fourth. Her efforts enabled her to jump from #88 to #65 on the Epson Tour money list. This is significant since only the top eighty members by winnings get to keep their cards (provided they don't finish top ten and get promoted to the LPGA Tour or finish top-20 or so at LPGA Q-Series). Both she and Smith are guaranteed to at least crack Stage II of Q-school, having been among the top 125 in the Epson Tour as of the end of the Four Winds Invitational the week before the Wildhorse Classic. However, I'm sure Kaufman would like to join Smith in being on track to skip straight to Q-Series, which admits the top 25 Epson Tour money list finishers not otherwise in the top ten, among others.
(Before I preview this week's action, honourable mention to Smith, whose finish allowed her to climb to #14 in the money list. If she keeps it up, there's no way she'll miss out on winning in the Race for the Card.)
This week should see more action on the men's side of things. PGA Tour Canada resumes after its fortnightly hiatus at the Manitoba Open, so plenty of Umcees can be observed in action. Also, the aforementioned KFT Finals begin with the Boise Open, and Capan is expected to play all rounds in his quest for a PGA Tour card. Lastly, there's a chance Flanagan sneaks into the Dormy Open in Sweden on the Challenge Tour (he's one of the top alternates as of this writing).
Edward the Scop
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