Umcees at PGA Tour Q-School Final Stage 2023

We are now just two days away from the last serious PGA Tour-related event of 2023. The finals of the PGA Tour Q-School consist of four rounds of no-cut golf at the Sawgrass complex in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Each of those who've made it--whether they started in prequalifying or progressed straight to the finals--will play two rounds at each of TPC Sawgrass' Dye's Valley Course (6850yd) and Sawgrass Country Club's East-West Course (7054yd), both of which are par-70 courses. The lack of a cut puts this Q-school in contrast to LPGA Q-Series or the DP World Tour Q-School finals, both of which have six rounds totalling 108 holes, with a cut after 72 (four rounds). This was also the format used by the PGA Tour in the previous life of its Q-school from 1982 through 2012. In my opinion, that's how it ought to be done, with maybe the Stadium Course as a third site for the last two rounds. It would be a huge tie-in to the Players Championship, which uses that course and has since 1982, succeeding...the East-West Course, which had hosted the five previous editions!

Dye's Valley.

But that's enough soapboxing. As mentioned a couple times in this blog, the 168 golfers participating in Q-school finals (Shad Tuten and Carl Yuan were apparently replaced by alternates) include five Umcees. I list them with a short capsule in alphabetical order by last name, with tee times and course and hole assignments for the first two rounds (all times Eastern), as well as BetMGM odds to grab a PGA Tour card as of this writing:

Frankie Capan III, North Oaks, Minnesota. FC3 is arguably the leading Umcee among those who've made it this far. Having finished just outside the top 50 of the Korn Ferry Tour points list (#51 to be exact), he has risen into the top 400 of the world rankings. Even if LIV events provided OWGR points, that wouldn't change. Last year, when The Landings near Savannah, Georgia hosted Q-school finals for KFT privileges only, FC3 soared all the way from prequalifying to a top-ten finish. He might need an even better performance to secure PGA Tour privileges for 2024--without his mother on the bag, of course--but has shown his capabilities of doing so. (9:02 at DV #10/10:15 at EW #1; 16-1)

Van Holmgren, Plymouth, Minnesota. In eight starts on the PGA Tour Canada, he's made five cuts. One reason for pause might be the lack of playing opportunities in the circuit's final season of operations, as Holmgren only played once, though he did make the cut at the Windsor Championship. However, he turned it on when Q-school rolled around and was Upper Midwest Connection of the Week four weeks ago. Could he do what FC3 did last year and convert a Q-school epiphany into KFT or even PGA Tour playing time? (8:41 at DV 1/9:54 at EW 10; 70-1)

Thomas Longbella, Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. This University of Minnesota product (class of 2021) is the second-most-successful player among the Umcees at Q-school finals this season. Though not quite as successful on the PGA Tour Canada this year as last year, he did one better where it mattered, finishing second at his Second Stage site to earn the first Upper Midwest Connection of the Week honour of December. Perhaps he will become the long-awaited successor apparent to Erik van Rooyen whom Gopher Nation's golf arm has sought. (8:51 at EW #10/9:54 at DV #1; 60-1)

Andre Metzger, Sioux Falls, South Dakota (part-time resident). The Dakotas Tour folk hero returns to Final Stage with more on the line than a year ago. He has lacked staying power in the PGA Tour pyramid but did flirt with some lasting status a couple years ago on the Korn Ferry Tour, shortly after Covid-19 had forced the 2020 and 2021 seasons on that circuit to be merged into a single points list. The question remains, though: Will he be able to translate minitour success into a lasting career so that he can give up his side gig as a pizza deliveryman? (8:41 at CC #1/9:54 at DV #10; 60-1)

Alex Schaake, Omaha, Nebraska/University of Iowa. Like Metzger, Schaake has never made it big on the PGA Tour pyramid, but has made some noise on minitours, especially the Asher Tour (formerly the Outlaw Golf Tour). This past season, he pocketed $7K, which helped fund his Q-school run, and he supplemented it with a couple grand from the PGA Tour Canada. He had a successful college career at Iowa, and hopes to pay off what I assume would be great debt from his travels. (9:12 at CC #1/10:26 at DV #10; 60-1)

If I were to rank these guys' chances, I would put Capan III first, which is a no-brainer since he has some experience making big-time waves. I would put Longbella and Metzger tied for second among the five Umcees, as Longbella's momentum and head-to-head edge over Metzger is likely to be offset by the fact that the latter was here last year and is much more experienced overall. Schaake edges out Holmgren for fourth on account of minitour form. Only FC3 seems to have much of a chance to get a PGA Tour card, but the other four also have a puncher's chance of improved status in 2024, whether on the Korn Ferry Tour or the PGA Tour Americas. Good luck to all the players who've made it this far!!!

Edward the Scop