To say I struggled to keep up with all that went down in tour golf in the year of our Lord 2023 is an understatement. There was the decision to let the rich get richer, without listening to any objections from rank-and-file golfers on the PGA Tour, through the tour's signature-events program announced in March and taking effect on the other side of the New Year. I tried to circulate a petition for the PGA Tour to rethink its plan but got crickets. There was the out-of-nowhere announcement of efforts to bury the hatchet between the PGA Tour and its "strategic partner," the DP World Tour (whatever that means), on the one hand, and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia on the other so that LIV golfers might be reintegrated into the mainstream ecosystem of golf. Again, players weren't consulted--but this time, not even the bigwigs could have their say. The U.S. Senate reacted by denouncing what they saw as a covenant with evil, and began to target the PGA Tour's antitrust exemption. The OWGR rejected LIV Golf League's application for membership, citing the shorter, 54-hole format and lack of cut; the team aspect that could compromise individual competitiveness intentionally; and the contractual system that makes it harder for promotion and relegation to be applied despite the fact that only 24 cards are supposed to be guaranteed for the following season. And there was Jon Rahm contradicting his own adoration of tradition and prostituting himself to LIV.
So much for negative news about how the world of professional golf is falling to pieces. But for every sorrow in the field, there are local and/or regional stories that remind us why we love this game. While the bigwigs continue to tussle over the future of pro golf, it was another year of progress for Umcees. For the first time in a while, we saw one not only get exempt status on the Korn Ferry Tour, but keep it in fuller measure for 2024. In women's golf, while it was another quiet year for Umcees, one of two on the Epson Tour improved her standing in the Race for the Card, reaching a best season finish of #19 in the money list. And in big-time men's golf, for the third straight year, an Umcee won a PGA Tour event. With all that in mind, this is the first part of my list of the top ten Umcees in tour golf this year. We begin with the bottom three of the list proper, along with some honourable mentions. The next post, due tomorrow (24 December), will consider the next two up the list, followed by individual profiles on each of my top five Umcees in tour golf in 2023.
The criteria for this Top Ten (plus honourable mentions) include, but are not limited to, wins in tour golf, the calibre of these victories, overall performance on various tours, the magnitude of the circuits in question and, where applicable, showings in various Q-schools.
Number 10: Angus Flanagan, Woking, England/University of Minnesota 2018-'21
Flanagan had excelled in college at the U of M. As a sophomore, he shared the Big Ten championship with Adrien Dumont de Chassart of Illinois, who has since earned his PGA Tour card by finishing 11th on this year's KFT points list. He also won four other collegiate events, most notably the Genesis Collegiate Showcase in 2021 to book tee times at Riviera Country Club for the Genesis Invitational. According to the inaugural (2020-21) PGA Tour University final standings, Flanagan was the 11th best college golf senior in Division I.
That's when it hit the fan. Poor Angus made just one cut that summer on the Forme Tour, which had been set up for non-Canadian players on the PGA Tour Canada to provide playing and promotion opportunities while Covid-19 kept the U.S.-Canadian border closed to voluntary travel and lost his card. He then bounced about in 2022...when a breakthrough happened. Flanagan was able to make it to Final Stage of the DP World Tour Q-School. He missed the cut but grabbed some Challenge Tour status. This helped set up his placement on this list, as he made event cuts consistently, albeit never finishing higher than 23rd. What really seals his place here, though, was his first Korn Ferry Tour cut made at the Club Car Championship, for which he had Monday qualified; he finished in the top 35. He didn't quite match last year's Q-school showings, falling in First Stage in Europe and Second Stage in the PGA Tour Q-School, but there is some cause for optimism in his professional career. In addition, he showed up at multiple events on the Clutch Pro Tour, which feeds into the Challenge Tour, in his native England.
Number 9: Kim Kaufman, Clark, South Dakota
Much like Flanagan, Kaufman had a decorated college career, tearing it up at Texas Tech in the Big 12. She also rocked the house as a developmental golfer, winning twice on the Symetra Tour (now the Epson Tour). But her promise that might have translated that collegiate/minor-league form to the big stage was shattered by catching mono in Japan in 2018 and falling down stairs during her rehab, injuring her wrist. She progressed through Q-Series beautifully but lost her card again the next year and couldn't get it back.
As for this year on the Epson Tour, Kaufman struggled early on but did well enough to retain her card, finishing in the top 70 (top 80 needed to retain privileges). She made Q-Series again for the second year running but missed the cut and will be back on the Epson Tour in 2024.
Number 8: George Kneiser, Oconomowoc, Wisconsin
Kneiser had a fine second season on the PGA Tour Canada, cracking the top 25 on the final order of merit for that tour before it merges with the PGA Tour Latinoamerica to form the PGA Tour Americas (albeit just barely). This was a huge improvement over year one on the tour, when he had finished a dismal 105th in the Fortinet Cup (as the order of merit was known for its last two years) and been forced to go back to Q-school. He got his career best showing on tour by tying for second at the season-opening Royal Beach Victoria Open. Though he hasn't matched that success since, Kneiser did well enough to skip First Stage of the PGA Tour Q-School. However, he did miss the Final Stage by five strokes, so he'll be playing the PGA Tour Americas in 2024.
Honourable Mentions
- Van Holmgren: Arguably the biggest Umcee beneficiary at PGA Tour Q-School finals this year, Holmgren started the year without status on any connected tour, having narrowly failed to defend his PGA Tour Canada card from last year. His T71 performance at the Sawgrass courses used for Q-school finals earned him renewed status on the PGA Tour Americas.
- Justin Doeden: That he didn't make this Top Ten in any capacity speaks to a cheating scandal that tarnished his previous 16th-placed finish in the final Totalplay Cup standings for the PGA Tour Latinoamerica. If he had but accepted his fate, he could've bounced back later in the PGA Tour Canada season and honoured his exemption to Second Stage earned in Latin America. Unfortunately, as a result of his devious deed, Doeden was apparently not only suspended the rest of the year but barred from Q-school. The "honourable" part of this designation strictly refers to his earlier portion of the year and what could have been.
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