Upper Midwest Connection of the Week Ending 19 May 2024

 Having started a YouTube channel affiliated with this blog, I recently got clearance to add community posts, including polls. To that end, I decided to run a viewer/reader poll on people's opinion of who should be crowned Upper Midwest Connection of the Week. Although the poll is still running, I decided to cut off consideration for the "people's choice" alongside my own opinion.

Since YouTube limits polls to five choices but more than four Umcees made the cut at their respective tournaments (at least seven did), I took a representative sample of Umcees, basing my selections on the principle of one per event. In the end, Tom Hoge at the PGA Championship, Van Holmgren at the Korn Ferry Tour's AdventHealth Championship, Kim Kaufman at the Epson Tour's Copper Rock Championship and Thomas Longbella at the PGA Tour Americas' Inter Rapidisimo Golf Championship made the poll. By popular vote (if one vote counts as such, since that's how many I got), Van Holmgren was people's choice for the week. To his credit, unlike the other three finalists, Holmgren lacks full membership on the tour he primarily plays on these days but made the cut and finished in the top twenty and ties. This sufficed to get him into this week's Visit Knoxville Open in Tennessee, which is the third event in this reshuffle period. After next week's UNC Health Championship in Raleigh, North Carolina, the reshuffle falls again, and players will be ordered for priority reasons according to their points-list position. Holmgren is in a very good position to get more starts on the Korn Ferry Tour this year.

However, this is a time when expert or semi-expert opinions trump those of the crowd. See, I don't even consider Holmgren's performance the second-best of the week in tour golf. Two golfers from the Dakotas top my list. Kaufman had the better rank and moved up in the Epson Tour's Race for the Card with her simple T10, but given that she played just three rounds (the length of most Epson Tour events), she just loses out to...

Tom Hoge finished T23 at Valhalla (Fargo Forum).

Tom Hoge.

Hoge has made the cut at every PGA Championship since Harding Park 2020, and this year fit the bill as well. His finish of three-way T23 at Valhalla Golf Club was his second-best major finish ever only to a T9 at Southern Hills in 2022, also at the PGA Championship. He moved up to #21 in the FedEx Cup, and his OWGR remained at the minimum #60 to enter the U.S. Open, no qualifiers needed.

Speaking of U.S. Open qualifiers, another Umcee, Erik van Rooyen, secured his exemption straight to the event at Pinehurst as the fifth-leading FedEx Cup placement among those not yet exempt by any other category, including world rankings, after the PGA Championship. His T53 at Valhalla got him 10 FedEx Cup points, which enabled him to edge out Patrick Rodgers by about six points for the final spot for now.

Anyway, this week's action revolves mostly around the PGA and Korn Ferry tours. The Inter Rapidisimo wrapped up the Latin American Swing on the PGA Tour Americas, and a series of Q-school events follow to help fill fields for the North American (mostly Canadian with one U.S. event) Swing. As for the Epson Tour, it has the rest of the month off, both for Memorial Day and the week of the U.S. Women's Open, two weeks before the men's version (Kaufman did qualify for the former). Three Umcees--Hoge will be joined by Troy Merritt and Zach Johnson, both of whom are struggling to keep PGA Tour membership--will contest the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial National in Fort Worth, Texas. The aforementioned Visit Knoxville Open involves two more, as Holmgren is joined by Frankie Capan III, who missed the cut last week but remains in the top 30 of the KFT points list. The only other Umcee of note is O.J. Farrell, former Wisconsin Badger, who is on the Clutch Pro Tour in his native England. Farrell competed in European Q-school last winter but missed the 72-hole (out of 108 holes) cut, losing access to DP World Tour events and having few opportunities to play the Challenge Tour.

Edward the Scop

PGA Championship Week Part II: Upper Midwest Connections

 For those coming to the Devilish Rake blog via my YouTube channel, one of the quirky topics I cover is connections to the Upper Midwest. There is a glossary on the blog defining the region and what constitutes a connection to it.

Anyway, the PGA Championship had three Upper Midwest connections, often abbreviated at "Umcees." Tom Hoge, Erik van Rooyen and club pro Ben Polland--the latter this year's PGA club-pro champion--were present at Valhalla in Louisville. Polland, despite his credentials, missed the cut by one stroke with a bogey to close his second round on even par overall. However, the two Umcee tour pros--Hoge is from Fargo, North Dakota, and EVR went to the U. of Minnesota--both made it with room to spare against the -1/141 cut. Van Rooyen eventually finished -5/279, going even-par or better his last three rounds to finish T53 and gain just enough FedEx Cup points to qualify for next month's U.S. Open (per the "top five players not otherwise exempt in the FedEx Cup standings" criterion). Meanwhile, Hoge secured a T23 with a final score of -10/274, doing well enough to clear the OWGR threshold (top sixty after the PGA Championship).

While no major is run by any tour, the PGA Tour (along with the DP World and Japan Golf tours) includes all four majors as part of its calendar. Hence, it is prudent to go through the tour pyramid and scour for Umcees who made the cut. The circuit immediately below the PGA Tour is currently known for sponsorship purposes as the Korn Ferry Tour, and this past week's Advent Health Championship in the Kansas Cities featured two Umcees--Frankie Capan III of North Oaks, Minnesota, who enjoys full KFT membership; and Van Holmgren of Plymouth, Minnesota, who achieved conditional membership via Q-school last fall and slotted well thanks to his performance at the Argentina Open back in February. FCIII missed the cut (badly), but Holmgren made it on -4 through two rounds and threatened to break through before settling for T20. He still climbed into the OWGR top thousand.

On the women's side, there are no Umcees on the LPGA Tour, but the developmental Epson Tour has a couple of them. Kate Stroh (nee Smith) of Detroit Lakes, Minnesota finished 19th in the Race for the Card, which is pretty good for a second-year pro. But she has stumbled so far this year, making the cut just twice, and that didn't change this week at the Copper Rock Championship in Tucson. On the other hand, Clark, South Dakota native Kim Kaufman, who played on the LPGA Tour as late as 2021, tied for tenth in the 54-hole event with a cut, posting consecutive -3/69 rounds to earn $5234 and jump to seventh in this year's R4C. It looks at this point like she'll be back on the big tour next year, as the top fifteen R4C finishers will earn LPGA Tour status.

Finally, five Umcees--Thomas Longbella, George Kneiser, Derek Hitchner, Sam Anderson and Matthew Walker--were involved in the Inter Rapidisimo Championship in Bogota, Colombia on the PGA Tour Americas. None of the four impressed in the end, but three of them did make the cut. Longbella and Hitchner--the latter of whom went to the Blake School for high school near the Twin Cities--both finished -5/283 for the week. Kneiser, who hails from Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, showed promise but fell apart at the weekend. Anderson (homegrown Wisconsin Badgers alumnus) and Walker both missed the cut. At the end of the Latin American phase, Longbella didn't do quite well enough to get even conditional status on the Korn Ferry Tour yet, but he is fifth in the Fortinet Cup, and the current top five will receive exemptions into four Latin American KFT events next year: the Panama Championship, the Astara Championship in Colombia, the Argentina Open and the Astara Chile Classic. Anderson also finished the Latin American swing in the top ten. Hence, he and Longbella are on track to receive KFT cards in 2025.

Whom do you think was the Upper Midwest Connection of the Week this past week? Offer up your opinion in the comments, whether on Blogger or on YouTube.

Edward the Scop

Update on the Blog and Kindred Activities

I know it's been a while since I wrote last, but there have been some developments here. Firstly, I now have a YouTube channel. On it you can find announcements in short-video form as to whenever I put out a new blog post, usually in advance of the same. From time to time, I'll put out longer-form content, but it's mostly going to consist of videos lasting no more than one minute each. It's taken some time to figure out a direction for the channel, but I plan to mostly use it to get people to read the Devilish Rake. There's still some sawdust, but it's coming along.

Anyway, to get you up to speed, the first Upper Midwest Connection of the Week I missed was Frankie Capan III. He secured the honours twice, at the LECOM Suncoast Classic and the Veritex Bank Championship, both on the Korn Ferry Tour. He set an official course record of -13/58 in his first round! Though he was unable to hold on in the face of Sweden's Tim Widing, who played this week's PGA Championship and made the cut at Valhalla (more later), FCIII still kicked ass, as this was his third straight finish in the top ten on the Korn Ferry Tour. It also secured his status as Upper Midwest Connection of the Month for April 2024.

The next week on the PGA Tour Americas, Thomas Longbella won the KIA Open in Quito, Ecuador for his first win that counts in the world rankings. Longbella is from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, and attended the University of Minnesota, playing alongside Angus Flanagan and current Gopher star Ben Warian, among others. He sank an eagle at No 17 to take a one-stroke lead heading into the final round...which was cancelled due to rain and unplayable conditions. On the PGA Tour, they would have tried to play the final round and would've extended it to Monday if necessary. On developmental circuits, though, where the players are often stuck for money, the threshold for Monday finishes is stricter. Since so few were able to start that Sunday, the tournament was curtailed on 54-hole scores, which sufficed for Longbella to secure the win.

Last week, Erik van Rooyen secured Upper Midwest Connection of the Week honours for the first time since the Masters Tournament with his tie for fourth at the inaugural Myrtle Beach Classic. It was his third finish in the top ten on the PGA Tour this year. (For the record, the tourney was won by Chris Gotterup, who had previously been in the reshuffle but earned a trip to this past week's PGA Championship as a result.)

The next post deals with various tidbits on the week that was in tour golf, including (but NOT limited to) the second major of the year.

All-Umcee Team for 2024 Q1

With one-quarter of 2024 in the books, I thought I would release an All-Umcee Team based on the first three months of the year. Unlike the year-end All-Umcee team, there won't be a second team. The same goes for the midyear team, which will be released around the anniversary of the blog (early July), though that will feature honourable mentions. Furthermore, those named to the quarterly All-Umcee teams will be given with shortened criteria as to why they were named. With that said, here is my All-Umcee Team for the first quarter of 2024:

• Erik van Rooyen. Heading into this week's Texas Open, van Rooyen had missed the cut just twice in three months. He earned three Upper Midwest Connection of the Week honours for his efforts this quarter at the Sentry, the Mexico Open and (especially) the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches (all PGA Tour). He was also Upper Midwest Connection of the Month for January.
• Tom Hoge. The Upper Midwest Connection of Q1 for 2024 and also of the Month for February, Hoge got his first UMCOW honour at the American Express, then followed it up with back-to-back plaudits at Pebble Beach and the Phoenix Open. As if that weren't enough, Hoge also did well at the first two signature events of the year with a cut, although the week of the Genesis featured too few Umcees to warrant an Upper Midwest Connection of the Week, while maintaining strong iron play.
• Kim Kaufman. The only female golfer on this All-Umcee Team and Upper Midwest Connection of the Month for March after two top-ten finishes on the Epson Tour (the women's Korn Ferry Tour). On both occasions, she was Upper Midwest Connection of the Week. So far in 2024, she is off to a much better start than a year ago as she strives to make it back to the LPGA Tour for 2025.

Tom Hoge is my Upper Midwest Connection of Q1 for 2024. (AP)

• Derek Hitchner. The Minneapolis Blake School alumnus and former Pepperdine Wave has moonlighted on the Korn Ferry Tour, but it's on the third-tier PGA Tour Americas that he has made his biggest impact. The final Upper Midwest Connection of the Week for Q1 of 2024, who earned his plaudits by way of the Totalplay Championship in Guadalajara, Mexico, is off to an 11th-place start in the Fortinet Cup standings--the tour's points-based order of merit.
• Thomas Longbella. Between the former Minnesota Gopher from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin and Frankie Capan III of North Oaks, Minnesota, who competes on the Korn Ferry Tour, it was a pretty tough decision as to whom to include and whom to leave out. In the end, FCIII's three MCs in four mainland Latin American starts were too much to overcome. Meanwhile, Longbella has quietly built a 17th-place start in the Fortinet Cup. While his performance at the aforementioned Totalplay Championship was overshadowed among Umcees by Hitchner's showing, it's expected that if Longbella keeps it up, he'll get to skip the first stage at Q-school this fall.

Edward the Scop

Upper Midwest Connection of the Week Ending 31 March 2024

Last week in tour golf treated Umcees much better than the week before or the week before that. Though only seven Umcees were part of eligible fields, four made the cut and did so to the tune of top-20 finishes across the board. Two of these, in turn, recorded top 10s and moved into the top 1000 of the OWGR. In fact, we were close to having as many as SIX Umcees make the weekend, as Wisconsinites George Kneiser (Oconomowoc) and Emily Lauterbach (Hartland) MC by just one stroke each at the Totalplay Championship in Guadalajara, Mexico on the PGA Tour Americas and the Ford Championship near Phoenix on the LPGA Tour, respectively. Another Wisconsinite was also among the unlucky at the PGA Tour Americas event, as Harrison Ott of Brookfield missed out due to a ruinous Friday +5/76.

Of those who made the cut, Tom Hoge was the only one playing the PGA Tour's Houston Open. Playing in the same state (Texas) where he went to college (TCU), Hoge opened his week with a poor +1/71 Thursday. It was his third straight over-par round, dating to the Players two weeks before. But then Hoge put together his best round of the week, carding a -4/66 to make the cut with ease. Though to be fair, an even-par round would have sufficed to get him to the weekend. He then broke 70 again the next two days with rounds of 68 and 67. When the dust settled, Hoge had finished T14, inching up to #13 in the FedEx Cup. Unfortunately, the good showing wasn't good enough to make this week's OWGR top fifty; and since he isn't playing this week, his chances of a third straight Masters appearance are dead. Try again next year, I guess.

As for the Totalplay Championship, Matthew Walker of Ottumwa, Iowa was the least satisfactory, but he still mustered a T17 and moved up to #35 in the Fortinet Cup standings. A +1/72 Friday definitely kept him from doing even better. That leaves the two top ten finishers. Thomas Longbella had an improved finish, going under par all four days (even Thursday, when he was merely -1/70). But he only climbed to #17 in the Fortinet Cup. That means the final Upper Midwest Connection of the Week for March 2024 is...

(Golf Channel)

Derek Hitchner.

The Minneapolis Blake School product and Pepperdine alumnus has yet to win a PGA Tour pyramid event but had one of the best finishes of his short pro career so far, tying for third despite a rough final round of E/71. Indeed, had he even parred No 8 Sunday, he would have had his outright best finish ever as a professional. Of course, it is unlikely he would have beaten Jose de Jesus Rodriguez, who has established himself as the King of Atlas Country Club this decade, dating back to the PGA Tour Latinoamerica 2022 season. Even so, Hitchner's finish enabled him to soar to 11th in the Fortinet Cup standings (up from T59 coming in) and jump to #910 in the OWGR. It's too bad he won't have another chance for a couple weeks, as the circuit doesn't reconvene until the Brazilian Open the week after the Masters.

This week is a bit quieter, at least as far as the developmental tours are concerned. However, the PGA Tour will have three Umcees competing in the same event--the most since the Players three weeks ago--at the Texas Open. Though Hoge has eschewed his last opportunity for this year's Masters Tournament, Erik van Rooyen returns after a fortnightly hiatus, while Troy Merritt and Zach Johnson (both of whom took last week off) return to competing as well. In fact, Johnson is a past champ in San Antonio, having won in consecutive years (2008-09).

As for the developmental side of things, the Korn Ferry Tour finally awakens from its post-Latin American hiatus with the Club Car Championship. Only Frankie Capan III made the field, as Van Holmgren still hasn't benefited from the reshuffle that will follow the LECOM Suncoast Classic two weeks out.

Edward the Scop

Upper Midwest Connection of the Week Ending 24 March 2024

 It was another underwhelming week for Umcees on tour. Of the nine such players across three events--the PGA Tour's Valspar Championship, the PGA Tour Americas' Bupa Championship and the Epson Tour's Atlantic Beach Classic--only two (Thomas Longbella in the Bupa and Kim Kaufman in the Atlantic Beach) made it with room to spare. Two other PGA Tour Americas Umcees--Derek Hitchner and Matthew Walker--didn't know they'd be playing the weekend until Saturday because the second round was interrupted by darkness. Only when the cut reached +5 did they have assurance that they'd play on. The other five Umcees--Troy Merritt and Zach Johnson, both playing the Valspar; Wisconsinites George Kneiser and Harrison Ott, both at the Bupa; and Kate Smith-Stroh at Atlantic Beach--missed out on prize money. It's especially been a slow start for Smith-Stroh. She finished 19th in the Race for the Card last year, although she finished short of an LPGA Tour card in both that regard and Q-Series. But this year, she has made just one cut out of three events.

Of the four Umcees who did make the cut, the two who made it by the skin of their teeth failed to impress that much at the weekend. Thomas Longbella, native of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin and a former Minnesota Gopher, showed up in the final round in particular, posting by far his best round of the week (-4/68) to surge 26 spots to a T21 finish. This sufficed to help him climb to #1034 in the OWGR, though he will still likely have to enter local qualifying for the U.S. Open, if not the Open Championship. But it's clear that he was outshined by none other than...

(Source: Epson Tour)

Kim Kaufman.

For the first time in Devilish Rake history, a woman repeats as Upper Midwest Connection of the Week! The Clark, South Dakota native and thrice winner on the Epson Tour almost pulled off a fourth win on the circuit in her career. She got off to a fast start with rounds of -4/67 and -2/69 Thursday and Friday, respectively. Even Saturday, when she bogeyed twice in her first four holes, Kaufman held in there and got back to hovering around even par the rest of the day. Only a missed birdie at the last kept her from forcing winner Briana Chacon into a playoff. As it is, Kaufman is fifth in the Race for the Card now on 404 and two-thirds points, and she has jumped to #565 in the women's world rankings! While it's too early to say she'll be back on the LPGA Tour in 2025, things are definitely looking up for Kim Kaufman as we speak.

This week is a bit quieter on the tour scene. The Korn Ferry Tour is reaching the end of its March hibernation, while the Epson Tour goes into a hibernation of its own starting this week. Moreover, on the PGA Tour, Tom Hoge is the only Umcee participating in this week's Houston Open, as he returns to competition after the disappointment of TPC Sawgrass. He likely needs at least a third-place finish to reach Augusta National for the third year running or a win at next week's Texas Open, according to the Associated Press, for such a finish would get him into the top-50 OWGR category set for the Masters. Troy Merritt and Zach Johnson are sitting out this week, while Erik van Rooyen has no incentive to participate either, having won last November's World Wide Technologies Championship to qualify.

The PGA Tour Americas, though, will roll on to the Totalplay Championship in Guadalajara, Mexico at the Atlas Country Club, and the same five Umcees who played last week on the tour will also be involved in this week's event. The tour was originally supposed to go into hibernation as well until the Brazilian Open the week of the Masters, followed by the Termas de Rio Hondo Invitational in Argentina the next week, but unrest in Argentina forced the PGA Tour group to substitute a backup event. Lastly, Hartland, Wisconsin native Emily Lauterbach passed her open-qualifying test for this week's Ford Championship with a birdie at the first playoff hole. It will be her LPGA Tour debut.

Edward the Scop

Upper Midwest Connection of the Week Ending 3 (actually 4) March 2024

 It was a busy week not only for Umcees in tour golf, but also for sports in general. The NFL Scouting Combine again took up residence at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana, and two Minnesota Gophers--safety Tyler Nubin and tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford--were among the participants. Even though he didn't do much in the way of workouts after his Senior Bowl injury, I expect Nubin to be a second-round selection, perhaps the first safety off the board who isn't primarily a cornerback. If that's not a teaser for next month's Draft Day Party Hangover blog, I don't know what is.

But back to golf. This past batch of events involved seven Umcees playing two events on the PGA Tour pyramid, as the Korn Ferry Tour commenced a brief resumption of activity with the Argentine Open. The winner, Mason Andersen, got a trip to play the Open Championship at Royal Troon this July. Meanwhile, back in the States, the event formerly known as the Honda Classic and now as the Cognizant Classic again took over PGA National. Compared with recent years, the course was relatively easygoing, even with the Bear Trap of holes 15-17. With these two events in mind, how did the seven Umcees fare?

Three of them played in Argentina. It's well-known that the election of Javier Milei as president of Argentina has anticipated austerity measures, which have sparked protests throughout the country. Incidentally, this led the PGA Tour Americas to cancel the Termas de Rio Hondo Invitational and replace it with an event at Atlas Country Club in Guadalajara, Mexico. It also gave reason for pause to many KFT players, who may have been uncertain about their safety and ability to get accommodations they could afford. Two Umcees, Dakotas Tour legend Andre Metzger and former Iowa Hawkeye Alex Schaake, may have pulled out over these concerns despite being invited. They have both joined Frankie Capan III, Van Holmgren and Thomas Longbella--all of whom did participate in the Argentine Open--in Chile this week for the Astara Classic.

Of the actual participants, two--FCIII and Longbella--missed the cut, but Holmgren excelled. He was -16/194 with one round to play and leading, but then disaster struck with two bogeys in his first three holes Sunday. Perhaps the pressure got to him, and he couldn't get back to par for the day. Still, he tied for fifth, which was an excellent showing for a second cap on the Korn Ferry Tour, and he should get more starts going forward.

As for the Cognizant Classic, all four Umcees--reigning UMCOW Erik van Rooyen, reigning Upper Midwest Connection of the Month Tom Hoge, Troy Merritt and Zach Johnson--made the weekend. Merritt, as usual, barely registered, finishing T47. At least he cracked the top fifty. Tom Hoge also missed the top 25, albeit by just one stroke (-9/275). Zach Johnson reached the top 25 but failed to convert the tricky closing par-5 for a par breaker, settling for T21. It's clear who was the top Umcee last week...

Erik van Rooyen.

Heading into Sunday, it didn't seem like anybody other than Holmgren would win Upper Midwest Connection of the Week honours. But van Rooyen rattled off six straight birdies to open his final round, along with two more in the next five holes and no bogeys and taking a one-shot lead. That's when Mother Nature decided to intervene, leading to a rain delay of three and a half hours. Van Rooyen did finish his round where he had resumed it--on -8/63 for the day and -14/270 for the tournament. Meanwhile, as mentioned before, Holmgren lost his mojo in Argentina. In the end, PGA Tour sophomore Austin Eckroat prevailed by three strokes, but van Rooyen finished jointly second with Aussie phenom Min Woo Lee (Minjee's little brother). For EVR, the implications were massive, as he jumped to #59 in the OWGR and #19 in the FedEx Cup. He's also #15 in the Presidents Cup standings for the International Team and is the top-rated South African in the OWGR, meaning he's on track for the Paris Olympics after narrowly missing out on Tokyo three years ago.

This week features TEN Umcees! In addition to van Rooyen, Hoge and Merritt, the number of KFT Umcees, as mentioned above, grows to five in Chile. Lastly, the Epson Tour--the women's Korn Ferry Tour equivalent--tees off Friday at the Florida's Natural Charity Classic, and two more Umcees--Kate Smith-Stroh (yes, she got married in the offseason) and Kim Kaufman will figure there.

Edward the Scop

Top Ten Upper Midwest Connections of 2023, Part II: #6 and #7

 This second part of my top ten Umcees of 2023 may be seen as capping off the "second team All-Umcee" portion of the list. Yesterday I posted the first three members of the list--Angus Flanagan, Kim Kaufman and George Kneiser--and by adding two more today, that not only leaves five to go for my first team, but rounds out my second team nicely. So, without further ado, let's cap off the All-Umcee Second Team!

Number 7: Derek Hitchner, Blake School alumnus, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Two years ago, Hitchner was a good, but fairly obscure, junior at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. Then, in summer 2022, he made it all the way to the final four of the U.S. Amateur, coming within a single match win against Ben Carr of free exemptions to the U.S. Open and Masters and a second triumph (over Sam Bennett, who shined at said Masters) of the Open Championship. He lost 3 and 2 to Carr, but his confidence was greatly boosted by his deep run, and he finished his senior year 14th in the PGA Tour University rankings after qualifying for the NCAA finals. This awarded Hitchner a PGA Tour Canada card, and he finished higher than any other Umcee in the Fortinet Cup (23rd, just edging out Kneiser), earning an exemption to Second Stage of the PGA Tour Q-School. It's too bad he missed out on Final Stage by one measly stroke, or he might have placed higher on the list, even making First Team All-Umcee. Speaking of Final Stage qualifiers...

Number 6: Thomas Longbella, Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin/University of Minnesota '21

If Hitchner came into his own out of nowhere as a college upperclassman, Longbella needed a bit longer to blossom. Having been overshadowed at the U by Flanagan, Longbella nevertheless kept the faith and won his PGA Tour Canada card in 2022 in a playoff (along with Kneiser). He went on to a 23rd place finish in the Fortinet Cup but, for lack of Q-school experience, fell short of Final Stage. This year, he fell short of the top 30, let alone the top 25. Otherwise, he would have definitely been a First Team All-Umcee laureate based on what followed.

In October, Longbella went down to Muskogee, Oklahoma and managed to advance to Second Stage. At first that seemed the best he'd do, but he took off in round 3 with a -6/66 at Valencia Country Club in California. He didn't have enough to assure himself of Korn Ferry Tour starts in 2024, but he did secure a trip to Final Stage by tying for second, three strokes adrift of Jeffrey Kang. Once there, he fell short of improved status, but he now has access to PGA Tour and KFT Mondays without necessarily having to go through prequalifying for 2024 (slots #48 among conditional KFT members in the Q-school category).

With that said, each of the next five posts will be published daily if possible, and in any case, each will feature one Umcee from the First Team. Tomorrow's pick, I will say, may be a bit controversial in some aspects...

Edward the Scop

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

Q-School Primer 2023: Final Stage Criteria with Commentary

 Well, this is it. We've made it to the final serious week of golf for Anno Domini 2023. In case you're living under a rock, it's PGA Tour Q-School Final Stage Week!!!

When I reported the Second Stage criteria, I made a mistake. I reported that all Final Stage entrants would get to start on next year's PGA Tour Americas Latin American phase, no questions asked. It turns out the minimum reward is only conditional PGA Tour Americas membership, which may warrant participation in Monday qualifiers for such events. The potential to get to Korn Ferry Tour and even PGA Tour events via Mondays remains, though.

Of the 166 players still entered into the event, five--Frankie Capan III, Van Holmgren, Thomas Longbella, Andre Metzger and Alex Schaake--qualify as Umcees in some capacity, with FC3 already having done well enough this past KFT season to advance directly to Final Stage. As mentioned in earlier posts, the top five and ties will receive low-level PGA Tour exemptions, comparable to the top ten DP World Tour players who weren't otherwise exempt or the top thirty KFT finishers. The next forty and ties will receive Korn Ferry Tour status, with anybody finishing in the top 25 and ties among those finishers garnering twelve guaranteed KFT starts and the rest having eight to start the season. Finally, the twenty and ties after that will receive guaranteed starts throughout the PGA Tour Americas' Latin American portion. In total, a minimum of 65 participants will receive some starts in the pyramid of the PGA Tour, and the number is often more than that.

Normally, qualifying consists of 168 players, so where did two go? Shad Tuten, whose two-stroke penalty at the KFT Championship in southern Indiana cost him a PGA Tour card, had to withdraw because of a heart condition. As for Chinese riser Carl Yuan, he benefited from Jon Rahm getting banned from the PGA Tour for defecting to LIV Golf.

So, how did the field get here? Seventy-nine golfers qualified from earlier stages of Q-school. Of these, only Caleb Hicks and Wes Homan participated in prequalifying back in September. Hicks, a former UT-Arlington star, finished T9 in Gunter, Texas, while Homan went T6 in Chardon in his home state of Ohio. The remaining 77 had some sort of exemption, including all four Umcees who had to qualify for Final Stage. (They all started in First Stage in October.) It will be interesting to see if any of those six or their 73 cohorts can beat out the 87 players who met one or more of these exemption criteria:

1. The top forty eligible golfers in the 2022-23 FedEx Cup (including FedEx Cup Fall) among the top 200 but not top 125. The aside above shows an example of what can happen if a bigwig player like Rahm becomes ineligible for, say, LIVing it up. In that case, any player who moves into the leading 125 eligible PGA Tour golfers can drop out of Q-school and keep his card. (39 players from Henrik Norlander of Sweden to Kevin Chappell)
2. Nonmembers equivalent to the top 150 on said list but not top 125. Unlike members who fail to keep top-125 placement but stay in the top 150, nonmembers who crack the top 150 but not top 125 don't have the safety net of conditional status for the 2024 PGA Tour or Korn Ferry Tour status, unless they already had KFT membership beforehand. The only way to gain any exemptions is via a sufficient finish at Final Stage. (Ryan Gerard, Peter Kuest)
3. The second thirty on the KFT points list. Straightforward Nos 31-60 on the Korn Ferry Tour order of merit. (28 players, including one Umcee, Frankie Capan III; Curtis Luck of Australia sitting out)
4. The top five PGA Tour University Class of 2023 finishers. As with Second Stage exempt entries, this is based on a metric derived from the WAGR. (Fred Biondi of Brazil, Ross Steelman and Sam Bennett; Adrien Dumont de Chassart opted out, while Ludvig Aberg was already exempt via his RSM Classic win this year)
5. Top five Totalplay Cup finishers. This year's order of merit for the PGA Tour Latinoamerica was the last before the PGA Tour Americas era commences next year. (Chandler Blanchet, Myles Creighton of Canada, Walker Lee, Austin Hitt and Daniel Hillier of New Zealand)
6. Top five Fortinet Cup finishers. The final order of merit in PGA Tour Canada history will give its name to next year's PGA Tour Americas point list. (Hayden Springer, Sam Choi, Davis Lamb, Etienne Papineau of Canada and Cao Yi of China)
7. Top five PGA Tour of Australasia OOM finishers. This is based on the 2022-23 list since the 2023-24 edition hasn't been finalized yet. (David Micheluzzi, Tom Power Horan and John Lyras, all of Australia; Andrew Martin of Australia and Michael Hendry of New Zealand sitting out)
8. Top finisher in each of the Japan Golf Tour and KPGA orders of merit. You would think that the biggest tour would take more players from Japan, but the JGTO has a partnership with the DP World Tour, with the top three JGTO players making the following year's Old World circuit. Hence, only Keita Nakajima, who had already clinched the title before the season-closing JT Cup, is awarded a Final Stage exemption via JGTO qualifications. The same may be said of Ham Jeong-woo of South Korea, who won the KPGA OOM title for 2023.

As for where it goes down, it's the same complex as the Players Championship has occupied since 1982--the Sawgrass area in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Only, they won't use the Stadium Course used by the Players, but Dye's Valley and Sawgrass Country Club. Good luck to the 166 players who are competing this week and weekend!!!

Edward the Scop

Upper Midwest Connection of the Week Ending 3 December 2023

 The so-called "challenge season" is upon us in PGA Tour golf. It's also known as the "silly season," with the only such event offering official rewards being last week's Hero World Challenge, which has long offered OWGR points (such as the system is). Most of the stateside rank and file will hang it up until January, when two events in Hawai'i--the Sentry, which is limited to last calendar year's winners and top-50 finishers in last year's FedEx Cup Playoffs; and the Sony Open, which is the first full-field event of the calendar year--will awaken the cycle from its annual one-month slumber. The only Umcee participating in the challenge season is Tom Hoge, who won the QBE Shootout alongside Sahith Theegala last year; as defending champions of what has been reimagined as the Grant Thornton Invitational for mixed-gender teams of PGA Tour and LPGA Tour golfers, both were invited to the first edition of that incarnation. The only event that follows is the PNC Championship, which I regard even less serious than the Grant Thornton.

But in the Southern Hemisphere, it's a different matter. Already, four events have been played on the 2024 DP World Tour season--two each in South Africa and Australia, with one event in each country each of the last two weeks in concurrent fashion. Although no Umcees were involved in any of these events, it's worth noting the stakes at play. Dean Burmester, having taken his talents to the blood megabucks of LIV Golf, garnered some serious OWGR points by his standards by winning both the Joburg Open and the South African Open. His fellow defector, Joaquin Niemann of Chile, won the golf Aussie Open last week, and I tried to watch to the end Saturday night (Twin Cities time). Unfortunately, technical difficulties emerged on Golf Channel, and I turned my fake T.V. off. (I have YouTube TV for my subscription T.V. service.) Four others who hadn't already made next year's Open Championship at Royal Troon in Scotland also qualified via Joburg and the Aussie Open.

And it's not just overseas golf that was serious last week. The final week of eliminations for Q-school transpired as well. When the dust had settled, 79 golfers took their place alongside 89 others who were already exempt to Final Stage. The latter category includes one Umcee, Frankie Capan III of North Oaks, Minnesota, who doubled as last year's Q-school darling by making the Korn Ferry Tour with guaranteed starts despite starting in prequalifying. Three other Umcees--Van Holmgren, Andre Metzger and Alex Schaake--earned their way to Final Stage in mid-November, and five more had a chance to join the quartet. Four of them, though, fell short of Final Stage, including Matthew Walker, who had won a medal in First Stage to guarantee PGA Tour Americas starts. The most painful shortfall, however, belonged to Derek Hitchner of Minneapolis. The Blake School grad and Pepperdine Waves star, who had helped lead his team to the NCAA meet in May, fell a single stroke short of qualifying out of Valencia, California despite a -4 final round. One fewer bogey and he would have joined nineteen others making it to TPC Sawgrass next week for Q-school finals, including this week's Upper Midwest Connection of the Week...

Thomas Longbella.

The former Minnesota Gopher from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin finished joint-second only to Jeffrey Kang at the same site. It seemed he wouldn't make Final Stage either, but he turned it around in the last thirty holes, doing more than enough to comfortably advance to finals on -8/280. If all else fails, he will at least have PGA Tour Americas status next year.

This week's Upper Midwest Connection of the Week has (for now) two finalists, as Kim Kaufman missed the cut at LPGA Q-Series, while Kate Smith made it. In addition, Erik van Rooyen tees it up for the first time since losing his BFF Jon Trasamar to melanoma. At the funeral mass last Friday, van Rooyen read the lesson from I Thessalonians about the Second Coming. The stream was on the funeral home's website. Now, he is refocusing for the Alfred Dunhill Championship in his native South Africa, and he tees off at 11pm tonight Central (10pm Mountain). I hope he wins another or otherwise kicks ass for his "Gipper."

Edward the Scop

Q-School Primer 2023: Second Stage Part II (CA, GA-2)

This is the final batch-style preview for Q-school sites in 2023, as my LPGA Q-Series and PGA Tour Q-School Final Stage primers will take a different format with regards to Umcees participating at each site. That is, I will give more detailed information regarding each Umcee.

Four Umcees have already qualified to Final Stage in the PGA Tour's Q-School. In addition to the three who got in a week ago as of this writing, Frankie Capan III of North Oaks, Minnesota is exempt to Final Stage by virtue of finishing in the top 60 of this year's Korn Ferry Tour points list, while still falling short of the top 30. Potentially six more could follow suit, depending on who cracks the top fifteen or so at their respective sites.

Note: This post will be updated as first and second round tee times become available. A marker of (PQ) means a player started in prequalifying, while (I) means he started in First Stage.

UPDATE: As of Sunday, 26 November 2023, Second Stage week 2 tee times are up. As before, the California site is quoted in Pacific Standard Time, while the Georgia site is in Eastern Standard Time. The first two rounds are given, with each tee time for Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.

Four of this week's six Umcees will tee off at Valencia Country Club in Valencia, California.

California: Valencia Country Club, Valencia, par 72, 7300yd

71 players. Umcees: Derek Hitchner, Minneapolis, MN (8:48am on 1/10am); Thomas Longbella, Chippewa Falls, WI (I; 8:12am on 10/9:24am); Ben Sigel, Deephaven, MN (I; 8:24am on 10/9:36am); Matthew Walker, Ottumwa, IA (I; 10:12am on 10/9am)

Georgia: Kinderlou Forest Golf Club, Valdosta, par 72, 7780yd

66 players. Umcees: Hunter Eichhorn, Chattanooga, TN/Marquette University (I; 10:48am on 1/9:48am); George Kneiser, Oconomowoc, WI (9am on 10/10:12am)

Edward the Scop

Q-School Recap 2023: Second Stage

 This is the third and final dynamic post in this year's series concerning the resurrected PGA Tour Q-School. The next recap, which will drop in December after Final Stage, is not considered dynamic since there's only one site for the finals held at TPC Sawgrass, headquarters of the PGA Tour. At all Second Stage sites, the top fifteen and ties advanced or (in the case of Week 2 of Second Stage at November's end) will advance to finals. As with previous recaps, I list each site with medallist or medallists, as well as a rundown of any Umcees who played each site.

Players marked with (PQ) started in prequalifying. Those marked with (I) started in First Stage.

Week I: AL, FL, GA-1

Highland Oaks Golf Club/Marshwood Course, Dothan, Alabama, par 72, 7632yd

Medallists: Connor Burgess, Richmond, Virginia and Mark Goetz, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, both -19/269 (Burgess 66-68-67-68; Goetz 69-62-71-67)

Burgess played a more defensive game to get to the top billing for this site, leading the field in bogey avoidance (67/72 holes). Goetz, meanwhile, played a more aggressive game, leading in par-breakers with 26 but suffering bogey to share plaudits with Burgess. Both now receive guaranteed Korn Ferry Tour starts in 2024.

Umcees advancing to Final Stage

T8: Alex Schaake, Omaha, Nebraska/University of Iowa alumnus (I) (-9/77-70-66-66=279)

Despite a ruinous opening 77, Schaake wasted little time in the interests of atonement, carding back-to-back -6 rounds.

Umcees who missed out: Tripp Kinney, Des Moines, IA (I); Brady Madsen, Raymond, MN (PQ); Harrison Ott, Brookfield, WI (I)

The Tesoro Club/Palmer Course, Port St Lucie, Florida, par 72, 7316yd

Medallists: K.K. Limbhasut, Thailand and Danny Walker, Jacksonville, FL, both -11/277 (Limbhasut 72-70-67-68; Walker 69-72-68-68)

Limbhasut co-led the field in bogey avoidance, suffering only six bogeys or worse, and a closing birdie secured his share of the honours. Walker had the best par-5 score (-13).

Umcees advancing to Final Stage

T3: Van Holmgren, Fort Myers, Florida/formerly of Plymouth, Minnesota (I) (-9/72-71-66-70=279)

He failed to hold on to his share of top spot, but he is still headed to TPC Sawgrass with PGA Tour Americas status secured. The key was his third round, which got him into the lead heading into the final eighteen holes, as he had seven birdies against just one bogey.

Umcees who missed out: Angus Flanagan, Woking, Surrey, UK/University of Minnesota '21; Will Grevlos, Sioux Falls, SD/University of Minnesota '21

The Landings Club/Deer Creek Course, Savannah, Georgia, par 72, 7185yd

Medallist: Bryson Nimmer, Okatie, South Carolina (-15/72-71-68-62=273)

He saved his best for last, as he was just -5 heading to the final round. Then he went a bogey-free -10/62, finishing with six birdies on the back nine. This included a birdie at the last, which entitled him to the only outright medal of the week.

Umcees advancing to Final Stage

T9: Andre Metzger, Sioux Falls, SD (part-time resident) (I) (-9/72-74-68-65=279)

A second-round +2/74 seemed to render him toast, but the next day, he got under par with a -4/68 before surging in the final round enough to advance. He had the third-most birdies of the week with 22.

Umcees missing out: Zach Burry, Appleton, Wisconsin (I); Jack Ebner, Edina, Minnesota (PQ)

Week II: CA, GA-2

Valencia Country Club, Valencia, California, par 72, 7300yd

Medallist: Jeffrey Kang, Los Angeles, California (-11/66-71-67-73=277)

Despite an underwhelming +1 final round, Kang led in all major scoring metrics with the most par-breakers and best bogey avoidance of anyone at the site. Now, despite making only six starts on this year's PGA Tour Canada--which probably cost him exemption into Final Stage off the bat--the USC alumnus can look forward to guaranteed starts on next year's Korn Ferry Tour.

Umcees advancing to Final Stage

T2: Thomas Longbella, Chippewa Falls, WI/University of Minnesota '21 (-8/73-71-66-70=280)

One of only three players to finish in 280 or fewer strokes (along with Kang and Christian Banke of Scottsdale, Arizona), Longbella keyed in on progression in particular during the third round. He tied for the most par-breakers on that round with seven--six birdies and an eagle--and was the only Umcee to advance to finals on week 2 of Second Stage, a year after missing out. Not bad for a guy who actually regressed in the final Fortinet Cup standings relative to last year!

Umcees missing out: Derek Hitchner, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Ben Sigel, Deephaven, MN (I); Matthew Walker, Ottumwa, IA (I)

Kinderlou Forest Golf Club, Valdosta, Georgia, par 72, 7780yd

Medallist: Aldrich Potgieter, South Africa (-13/67-69-68-71=275)

His 23 par-breakers were the most of any player at this site, and he also had the lowest score on par-5s (-10).

No Umcees made it to Final Stage from this site. Those missing out: Hunter Eichhorn, Chattanooga, TN/Marquette University (I); George Kneiser, Oconomowoc, Wisconsin

Umcees making it to Final Stage: Frankie Capan III (exempt); Van Holmgren (I); Thomas Longbella (I); Andre Metzger (I); Alex Schaake (I)

Q-School Recap 2023: First Stage

In September, I opened a dynamic post recapping prequalifying for the resurrected PGA Tour Q-School. This time, we continue with First Stage results, diving into both who won each site (and, as a result of their medallist honours, secured a Latin American leg exemption for next year's inaugural PGA Tour Americas season) and the performances of Umcees involved. As with the first recap post, I invite you to bookmark this post and check back for weekly updates as First Stage sites conclude.

Players marked with (PQ) started in prequalifying.

Week I: AZ, FL-1, NE, OK

Ak-Chin/Southern Dunes GC, Maricopa, AZ, par 72, 7546yd

Medallists: Tanner Gore, Farmers Branch, Texas; Jonathan de Los Reyes, Ripon, California (both -17/271; Gore 66-67-66-72, Los Reyes 70-69-62-70)

Neither player had any status on any level of the PGA Tour pyramid, so both will welcome a chance to play the Latin American swing in 2024. As you can tell from the round-by-round scores, Gore had the steadier rise to his share of the medallist plaudits, but Los Reyes had the most impressive round of the eight between them, going -10 in the third round, and he secured his PGA Tour Americas exemption via a closing birdie to tie Gore.

Total progressions: 21 (one overhang)

Umcees advancing to Second Stage:

T9: Angus Flanagan, Woking, County Surrey, England, United Kingdom/University of Minnesota '21 (-11/72-71-65-69=277)

Flanagan had better bogey avoidance (only six suffered) than either medallist! He was especially impressive in the third round, carding a bogey-free -7/65. Good on him to wash out the bad taste from narrowly missing out on Second Stage at last month's Q-school site for the DP World Tour.

T16: Andre Metzger, formerly of Sioux Falls, SD (-7/68-74-67-72=281)

The star of the Dakotas Tour, who made it all the way to Final Stage a year ago when only Korn Ferry Tour status was available, made it on the number despite a closing bogey. Especially impressive on par-5s, as he went -11 in those situations. If I could critique one aspect, it would be to work on par-3s, as he went +5 on those.

Umcees missing out on Second Stage (alphabetical): Emmet Herb, Middleton, WI (PQ); Austin Rene, Jamestown, ND (PQ)

Championsgate GC I, Championsgate, FL, par 72, 7243yd

Medallist: Michael Sweeney, Port St Lucie, FL (-18/71-63-72-64=270)

He had the most birdies or better of any player at the site with 23. He even had two aces on the week, both at the par-3 No 2!

Total progressions: 24 (four overhangs)

No Umcees advanced to Second Stage.

Umcees missing out on Second Stage (alphabetical): Austin Kendziorski,* Germantown, WI (PQ); Taylor Sundbom, Duluth MN

*As a result of his top-50 finish, Kendziorski is exempt to First Stage in 2024.

Wilderness Ridge CC, Lincoln, NE, par 71, 7106yd

Medallist: Alex Scott, Traverse City, MI (-14/69-62-70-69=270)

He made more birdies or better on the week than anybody else at the site and rallied for the medal past Tripp Kinney (see below).

Total progressions: 20 (no overhangs)

Umcees advancing to Second Stage:

2: Tripp Kinney, Des Moines, IA (-10/64-66-68-76=274)

Despite a horrid +5 final round that cost him medallist plaudits, Kinney actually suffered the fewest bogeys or worse with just six in the field. Not that he needed a share of the honours, as he collected a fair amount of Korn Ferry Tour points this year and should at least have PGA Tour Americas status to some degree in 2024.

T4: Ben Sigel, Deephaven, MN (-6/68-69-74-67=278)

Sigel was especially adept on the par-5s, tying for second best on those holes with -7. He also had the low round on the last day with -4/67.

T7: Harrison Ott, Brookfield, WI (-5/69-70-71-69=279)

Though he struggled on his last nine holes, Ott made it to Second Stage with two strokes to spare. He also tied second-most birdies or better on the week with eighteen.

T7: Jack Ebner, Edina, MN (PQ; -5/67-64-73-75=279)

Nothing fancy, but he did rank top 10 in both par-4 scoring and par-5 scoring. Not bad for coming out of prequalifying.

T10: Brady Madsen, Raymond, MN (PQ; -4/68-68-69-75=280)

He survived a double bogey at the last to advance with a stroke to spare. Especially good on par-3s, tying for third in that regard (-2 for the week).

Umcees missing out on Second Stage (alphabetical): Jack Hiemenz, Blaine, MN (PQ); Tyler Leach, Spring Valley, WI (PQ); Ross Miller, Minneapolis, MN; Lucas Scherf, Pleasant Hill, IA (PQ); Zach Sklebar, Fargo, ND (PQ)

Muskogee GC, Muskogee, OK, par 70, 6702yd

Medallist: Luis Gerardo Garza, Guanajuato, Mexico (-10/69-68-63-70=270)

He had the joint-lowest score on par-4s on the week (-6). The key to his medal was the third round, where he went -7 and tied the fewest bogeys with just one (at No 11).

Total progressions: 22 (two overhangs).

Umcees advancing to Second Stage:

T7: Will Grevlos, Sioux Falls, SD (-6/68-71-69-66=274)

Grevlos was one of four players to have more birdies or better than Gerardo Garza, recording twenty. His closing round -4/66 was the best of those making Second Stage from this site and second best overall.

T12: Thomas Longbella, Chippewa Falls, WI (-4/70-66-69-71=276)

While not as impressive as his fellow University of Minnesota alumnus, Longbella played fine defensive golf, suffering only ten bogeys on a small course. He also went under par on the par-4s, enough to crack the top ten and ties in that regard. All this enables him to advance to Second Stage for the second successive year.

Umcees missing out on Second Stage (alphabetical): Sterling McIlravy,* Solon, IA (PQ)

*As a result of his top-50 finish, McIlravy is exempt to First Stage in 2024.

Week II: CA, FL-2, MS, NM, TX-1

Bear Creek GC, Murrieta, CA, par 72, 7188yd

Medallists: Adam Navigato, Solana Beach, California; Riley Elmes, Lake Oswego, Oregon (both -14/274; Navigato 63-73-71-67, Elmes 68-68-70-68)

Elmes would have been the sole medallist if not for a closing double. As it is, he had the joint-best par-4 score (-7) for the week. Meanwhile, Navigato impressed with an opening 63, only to stumble to a midweek crisis. However, he had the joint-fewest bogeys in the closing frame, only slipping up on 16, while carding half a dozen birdies.

Total progressions: 24 (four overhangs).

No Umcees advanced to Second Stage.

Umcees participating (alphabetical): Taylor Koser, Rice Lake, Wisconsin

The Falls Club, Lake Worth, FL, par 71, 6735yd

Medallist: Jimmy Hervol (local; -23/66-67-64-64=261)

His thirty par breakers were the most in the field, and he also led in par-3 scoring (-7). What made his performance even more impressive is the fact that he bogeyed the closing par 5.

Total progressions: 22 (two overhangs).

No Umcees advanced to Second Stage.

Umcees participating (alphabetical): Evan Long, Naples, Florida/University of Minnesota

Lake Caroline, Madison, MS, par 70, 6835yd

Medallist: Zander Winston, Scottsdale, Arizona (-23/67-63-67-60=257)

He would have broken 60 in the final round if not for an opening bogey. As it is, he was able to leapfrog 54-hole leader Thomas Giroux of Canada for the honours while breaking par 29 times.

Total progressions: 20 (no overhangs).

Umcees advancing to Second Stage:

Van Holmgren, Ft Myers, Florida (-12/66-71-66-65=268)

Heading into the final round, the Plymouth, Minnesota, native was T26 and on the outside looking in for Second Stage. Then he eagled the opening hole and followed it up with two birdies before suffering his first of two bogeys. He would record three more birdies before the other dropped shot to make Second Stage with a stroke to spare.

Umcees missing out on Second Stage (alphabetical): Andrew Israelson, Bemidji, Minnesota*

*As a result of his top-50 finish, Israelson is exempt to First Stage in 2024.

UNM Championship Course, Albuquerque, NM, par 71, 7555yd

Medallist (and leading Umcee!): Matthew Walker, Ottumwa, Iowa (-14/67-68-67-68=270)

He posted not one but two bogey free rounds and was the only player to break 70 all four days. Those three birdies in the final round were the difference over three other players.

Total progressions: 25 (five overhangs).

Other Umcees advancing to Second Stage:

Zach Burry, Appleton, Wisconsin (-6/70-69-67-72=278)

Basically secured his progression via a strong third-round performance, going bogey free with four birdies, which enabled him to absorb some ups and downs at the last.

Rockwall Golf and Athletic Club, Rockwall, TX, par 72, 7414yd

Medallist: Luke Long, Fayetteville, Arkansas (-21/69-69-66-63=267)

His 25 birdies led the field, as did his scoring on par 3s and par 5s. He had the third-best bogey avoidance (only six suffered all week) and closed with a bogey free -9.

Total progressions: 24 (four overhangs).

No Umcees advanced to Second Stage.

Umcees participating (alphabetical): Trey Fessler, Hanover, Minnesota

Upper Midwest Connection of the Week Ending 10 September 2023

 With day one of PGA Tour Q-School 2023 in the books, it's time to turn back to my usual grind of selecting the Upper Midwest Connection of the Week. Last week, there were seven Umcees involved on significant tours the world over. Tom Hoge and Erik van Rooyen teed it up at the Horizon Irish Open on the DP World Tour. The former did so ahead of his participation this week at the BMW PGA Championship, which has historically been the most prestigious event in the British Isles for tour golf outside the Open Championship. He gets to participate this year for having nailed down a top-fifty finish in the FedEx Cup, which entitles him to tee times in next season's bigwig "Signature Events." Meanwhile, van Rooyen took advantage of a fortnightly stretch of decent-profile golf before he begins his purgatory for a second straight disappointing PGA Tour season at the Fortinet Championship this week.

Not to be confused with this week's FedEx Cup Fall opener, the PGA Tour Canada had its much-anticipated swan song at the Fortinet Cup Championship in Calgary. Three Umcees qualified as a result of their good performances on the PGA Tour Canada's final season before it merges with the PGA Tour Latinoamerica to form the PGA Tour Americas next year: George Kneiser, Thomas Longbella and Derek Hitchner. Lastly, Kate Smith and Kim Kaufman took on the Black Desert Resort Championship with its unprecedented purse (for the Epson Tour) of $375K.

So, how did everybody do? Kaufman missed the cut at the Black Desert, so she was eliminated by default. Ultimately, Smith wasn't much better, finishing 72nd--dead last--among those who did make the cut. Hoge and Longbella showed up during the workweek but fell apart at the weekend, while Kneiser fell apart in the final round. Kneiser avoided the heartbreak of losing his bye to Second Stage by .79 Fortinet Cup point! Longbella wasn't so lucky. Needing a good week to replicate last year's feat of making Second Stage right off the bat, he imploded for a T55, finishing 33rd in the Fortinet Cup. Hoge, who battled allergies in Ireland, finished outside the top eighty despite making the cut.

That leaves two candidates: Hitchner and van Rooyen. The South African, who is an Umcee by virtue of his University of Minnesota education and playing Gopher golf, saved his best for last by carding a -5 Sunday to rise to a T16 in County Kildare's K Club at Adare Manor. He's even back in the OWGR top 200 (such as it is) for the first time since his 3M Open MC. However, he didn't even have the biggest jump of anybody in that tourney, won by Sweden's Vince Norrman (who, you will recall, also won the Barbasol Championship on the PGA Tour to gain membership through 2025). You know who did in his?

Derek Hitchner.

Unlike van Rooyen, he unfortunately didn't save his best for last, as he slogged to a +2 Sunday to finish the weekend on -16, good for a third-placed tie with Jeffrey Kang. What he did do was jump from #45 to #22 in the final Fortinet Cup standings, as well as get nearly 200 places closer to the top thousand in the OWGR. Admittedly, his placement in Second Stage in late November was already secure, seeing as how he finished top-20 in the PGA Tour U standings this year. Still, it was great to see Hitchner crack the top 40 every time he made the cut this year. Not bad for a guy who skipped two events this PGA Tour Canada season and missed two other cuts!

This week, as mentioned above, the FedEx Cup Fall kicks off with the Fortinet Championship. (Gee, all these mentions of the same corporate sponsor for two different events on two different PGA Tour-sanctioned tours! I personally miss when it was the Safeway Open.) In addition to van Rooyen, Troy Merritt will be teeing it up as part of his efforts to keep his PGA Tour card. Again, Hoge will be in England, participating in the BMW PGA Championship. The winner of that gets an invite to next year's U.S. Open and the next three Open Championships.

Edward the Scop

Upper Midwest Connection of the Week Ending 3 September 2023

 For the first time since the week of Scottish Open, there were multiple Upper Midwest connections in tour golf playing in Europe, and both made the cut at their respective events. But before we get into Umcees abroad, I'd like to recap what happened at the CRMC Championship in Pequot Lakes, Minnesota with special attention given Upper Midwest connections in action there.

With the PGA Tour on its fortnightly hiatus following the Tour Championship and the Korn Ferry Tour taking another week off beyond that stretch until its Finals resume with the Simmons Bank Open, I was able to shine my stateside spotlight on the CRMC pretty brightly, especially since it is the final regular-season event in the history of the PGA Tour Canada. Chinese prospect Yi Cao ran away with the title by eight strokes (-22), soaring from #55 to #9 in the Fortinet Cup and having a legitimate chance at a double bye in Q-school proper (that is, excluding prequalifying, which begins next week at three sites with five more over the following two weeks).

For the Umcees in the field, it wasn't nearly so rosy. Among players who didn't withdraw, Matt Boldy of the NHL's Minnesota Wild finished dead last on +19 at the cut; but he was just doing it for fun, I guess, since he was on a sponsor's exemption. Tom Lehman Jr fared better, but his +4 didn't cut it either. Blaine, Minnesota's Caleb VanArragon, who plays collegiately for the Valparaiso Crusaders (unless they changed their nickname), fared even better but missed the cut by a single stroke on +1. The most heartbreaking finish for any Umcee was reigning Upper Midwest Connection of the Week Thomas Longbella, whose streak of seven straight cuts made ended when he failed to break par on the closing par 5, also finishing +1, and he fell just outside the top 25 to #26 on the points list.

That left four for the weekend. Harrison Ott had a chance to secure his status for 2024 on the new PGA Tour Americas, but mediocre +1 rounds on Thursday and Saturday meant even a final-round -3 couldn't save him from having to go back to Q-school this fall. A double bogey on 15 Sunday also didn't help. George Kneiser may have seen his hopes of direct entry into Final Stage die with a poor final-round +2. He should have enough points to make Second Stage, though. Derek Hitchner had impressive middle rounds of -4 on Friday and Saturday, but a moribund 70 on the par-70 course actually dropped him to #45 on the list (from #38). Still, he has PGA Tour U privileges to fall back upon, assuring him of playing Second Stage, too. The tragic irony of the best performance from an Umcee at the CRMC, though, was that it wasn't enough to secure a spot in Calgary this week. Jordan Hahn of Janesville, Wisconsin, who in fact is a former Wisconsin Badger, tied for 15th and jumped from #86...to #63. Only four points shy of making the final Fortinet Cup Championship! What one shot can do.

The only other Umcees in tour golf last week played in Europe. Angus Flanagan, who played collegiately at Minnesota, made the cut at the Indoor Golf Group Challenge in Sweden. Unfortunately, the break from playing that proved his ally at first--a long break due to a waterlogged course--ultimately proved his enemy, as he suffered six bogeys against only one birdie on Sunday, as he played 25 holes each of the last two days of the tournament. At least he can say he's four for four on the Challenge Tour. But there was one Umcee who not only made the cut, but truly showed up at the weekend, to post his second-best European Tour result of the 2023 season. As one of the current "big three" Umcees along with Tom Hoge and Troy Merritt, this week's Upper Midwest Connection of the Week needs no introduction...

Erik van Rooyen.

The former Minnesota Gophers golf captain from South Africa captures his second such honour after a T8 at the Omega European Masters in Crans-Montana, Switzerland. (Yes, that's the crazy outfit he wore for his final round Sunday.) Even his worst round, which went down Friday, broke par with a -1 on 69 strokes, and he made the cut with two strokes to spare. Again, though, the weekend saw him truly kick butt with eight birdies Saturday to move from 33rd to 16th on the leaderboard. Then, on Sunday, he had his best round of the week with a -5, suffering only one bogey at No 2. He even got an eagle at 14 and closed with a difficult sand shot to find the green in regulation within a few feet of the hole. I saw the latter shot on the NBC Sports website since the linear Golf Channel was covering the Walker Cup (whose previous edition had involved Flanagan during his time with the Gophers, as he played for the British Isles). It was a much-needed top-ten showing for van Rooyen, who had slipped to #235 in the world rankings and is now #211, and he climbed to #149 in the Race to Dubai. He joins Longbella as the only two-time recipients of the Upper Midwest Connection of the Week plaudit.

This week is the final week before the PGA Tour commences its first true fall series since 2012, the year before it adopted the short-lived wraparound schedule that expired with this year's Tour Championship. In the meantime, though, we have the PGA Tour Canada's swan song in Calgary at the Fortinet Cup Championship to follow. Three Umcees made it in Kneiser, Longbella and Hitchner. Meanwhile, on the European Tour, the Irish Open takes over the K Club in County Kildare, Ireland, with van Rooyen and Tom Hoge as the Umcees at that event. Finally, as of this writing, Flanagan has an outside chance at making the Challenge de Espana. He was a high alternate, but he is also playing a Clutch Pro Tour event in his native England, which might create a scheduling conflict for him. Stay tuned.

Edward the Scop

Upper Midwest Connection of the Week Ending 27 August 2023

 Originally, I was going to post this yesterday, as I usually need some time to assess the candidates for Upper Midwest Connection of the Week, but I had a long day yesterday and needed some rest. As I write, I just got done helping livestream the third episode of Ahsoka. I told you I'm a nerd!

Anyway, it was a bit feistier last week than the previous two weeks, as the PGA Tour Canada returned to action for the final three weeks of its existence. Even so, there were only seven men Umcees eligible for last week's honour, along with Kate Smith and Kim Kaufman, winners of the plaudit the last two weeks. A pittance by normal standards, but let's run down the list.

Three of the Umcees--Frankie Capan III, Will Grevlos and Derek Hitchner--missed the cut. Capan is in danger of having to play a second season on the Korn Ferry Tour, though he shouldn't have to compete against the reshuffle, and he might even have to start in Second Stage of Q-school, the way things are going for him. Grevlos will have to First Stage to get any privileges on so much as the PGA Tour Americas for next year, but Hitchner is guaranteed Second Stage because of his PGA Tour U finish (#14). All three were out of the running for Upper Midwest Connection of the Week.

Of the six who made it, Kaufman wasn't that impressive at the Circling Raven Championship in Worley, Idaho, near Coeur d'Alene, only mustering a T63 and pocketing $749. Her final-round 75 was her worst of the week. Back on the men's side of things at the Manitoba Open in Winnipeg, George Kneiser of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin broke 70 the first two days but settled for par Saturday and suffered a +1 Sunday to finish T37. He remains 16th in the Fortinet Cup. His fellow-Wisconsinite Harrison Ott of Broomfield had a similar weekend showing, although his first two rounds were each one stroke better than Kneiser's corresponding performances, earning him a T28 and improving his Fortinet Cup standing to #62 with one last chance to retain his card this week at the CRMC Championship in Pequot Lakes, Minnesota. Returning to the ladies' side, Kate Smith wasn't so lucky, improving each round of the aforementioned Circling Raven Championship from 71 Friday to 70 Saturday and 68 Sunday, but she slipped to #17 in the Race for the Card somehow.

That leaves two Umcees who reached the top 15 at the Manitoba Open to vie for the weekly plaudit. These guys were the tie for 11th. They both hail from Wisconsin--one from Chippewa Falls, the other from Janesville. Both went to Big Ten schools for university, as one left the Dairyland for Minnesota, while the other stayed home and made the short jog to UW-Madison. One reached the top 25 in the Fortinet Cup, while the other gave himself an outside hope of making it to next week's PGA Tour Canada swan song. But when it came to choosing an Upper Midwest Connection of the Week, I knew I had to pick the more milestone-based achiever. Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for...

Thomas Longbella.

With all due respect to Jordan Hahn, who also tied for 11th, Longbella figures to carry more weight in Q-school when that rolls around and going forward. The reason? Longbella's performance lifted him into the top 25 at #22, and since he was all but guaranteed to make the grand finale in Calgary, he'll have two opportunities to consolidate a first-stage bye for the second year running. The CRMC Championship is just a few hours' drive from his alma mater, and the Fortinet Cup Championship doesn't have a cut. To make a long story short, Thomas Longbella has truly merited to become, in the short history of this blog, my first two-time Upper Midwest Connection of the Week.

This week, in addition to the Pequot Lakes event, both European Tour Group top-two tours will feature Umcees in their respective fields, and both are former Minnesota Gophers. Angus Flanagan tees off at the IGG Challenge in Sweden at 7:30 local time Thursday (12:30 Twin Cities/11:30pm Wednesday western Dakotas), and Erik van Rooyen follows suit an hour later at the Omega European Masters in Crans Montana, Switzerland (8:30 local/1:30 Twin Cities/12:30 W Dakotas). This will give fans of these golfers something to get up for during the fortnight in which both the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour are off. Are y'all insomniac enough?

Edward the Scop

Upper Midwest Connection of the Week Ending 6 August 2023

 First off, apologies for not posting earlier this week. My Mondays have become increasingly hectic with driving range and other practice, and I had been shorted on sleep the night before. Perhaps the desire to play D&D again has cost me some rest, as I haven't been able to indulge in it since 20 April. The NFL Draft was a week later, followed by my trip to see one of my best friends in Philadelphia for a few days the week after that. Also, I was following the Leagues Cup last night, as Minnesota United won a second straight penalty shootout, this time over Toluca. I told you I like soccer as well as golf! The Loons are now only two wins away from next year's Concacaf Champions Cup, one of which would have to come over Nashville. In any case, at least until the end of my league season, I will probably post more often on Tuesdays than Mondays.

But back to golf. Last week was the conclusion of the FedEx Cup regular season, and as expected, (at least) two of the big three Umcees are going to the FedEx Cup Fall, which starts next month with the Fortinet Championship. Erik van Rooyen missed the cut by two strokes, and Troy Merritt, who did make the cut but stumbled on Sunday, saw his streak of five straight playoff qualifications come to an end--and not just because of the stricter criteria for qualifying. On the Korn Ferry Tour, Monday qualifier Andre Metzger, who has some connection to the Sioux Falls area, missed the cut despite a -3 Friday, while Frankie Capan III failed to improve in the order of merit, remaining at #38.

It was at the Windsor Championship on the PGA Tour Canada in its last week before a fortnight's hiatus, then, that top-level Umcee performances were to be found last week. We start with Monday qualifier Van Holmgren. Originally from Plymouth, Minnesota and a graduate (I think) of Wayzata High School, Holmgren went to North Dakota State for a few years before transferring to Florida Gulf Coast University. Did you know that, at 6'8", he is the tallest player in PGA Tour Canada history? He started out strong, posting -5 and -2 rounds on the workweek before struggling with a +4 weekend. Next, Jordan Hahn (no relation to James) hails from Janesville, WI and went to the nearby University of Wisconsin. He broke par all four days but only mustered -1 Sunday and finished T44.

Two other Minnesota connections finished much higher up the leaderboard Sunday. Derek Hitchner, native of Minneapolis and alumnus of Pepperdine, was a PGA Tour U third team laureate this past spring by finishing 14th on that list. This ensures he'll start Q-school in the second stage rather than the first regardless of where he finishes this season. He broke 70 all four days, highlighted by a 6-under 65 Friday. But given a Fortinet Cup rank of 35th, it's unlikely over the last three events of the season that he'll crack the top five to skip second stage, which renders a top-25 finish in the list irrelevant for this season. Fortinet Cup placement is relevant, though, for this week's Upper Midwest Connection of the Week...

Thomas Longbella at the Windsor Championship.

Thomas Longbella.

Moving to #26 in the Fortinet Cup and to the cusp of the top thousand in the world rankings, the Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin native and University of Minnesota product saved his best for last, carding a bogey-free -7 Sunday, including five birdies on the back nine. He could have cracked the Fortinet Cup top 25 if he'd taken better advantage of the par fives, as he missed birdies on two of the three, but he's still got time to secure a second straight first-stage bye, as he has made six successive cuts on PGA Tour Canada. He'll look to keep working toward that goal over the last three events--the Manitoba Open in Winnipeg, the CRMC Championship in Brainerd, Minnesota (yes, PGA Tour Canada runs an event stateside) and the Fortinet Cup Tour Championship in Calgary.

As for next week's honour, there'll only be four Umcees up for it, two of whom--Tripp Kinney of West Des Moines, Iowa and the aforementioned Andre Metzger--got in via open qualifying. There are also two regulars: Tom Hoge, who returns to action after sitting out the last two weeks, his spot in the FedEx Cup playoffs secure, and Frankie Capan III, who resumes his quest for a PGA Tour card at the Pinnacle Bank Championship.

Edward the Scop

Upper Midwest Connection of the Week Ending 30 July 2023

 As the 2022-23 PGA Tour regular season gives way to the FedEx Cup playoffs, it bears repeating five things:

1. The field for the playoffs from this year is only seventy strong, which will impact plans for less highly achieving players.
2. Missing the playoffs isn't necessarily a death sentence, as 125 players will still retain their cards on account of FedEx Cup points. Fifty-five players who miss the playoffs, of course, will do so via the seven FedEx Cup Fall events, and that's before other forms of exemption like the multiyear reprieve given to winners on tour.
3. If one does miss the playoffs, he will need to earn his way into the next designated event the hard way, either by winning a FedEx Cup Fall event or by performing well enough otherwise during that "sprint" to earn his way in.
4. But even if the same player does make the playoffs, it's not a guarantee of qualification because only the top fifty after the quarterfinals--the FedEx-St Jude Championship--get into the designated events all next season. Otherwise, the third consideration applies.
5. Major criteria concerning event victories are unlikely to change. The Players Championship, which the Tour runs, will still admit all remaining 2023 winners, as will the PGA Championship, which the PGA of America (not the PGA Tour) runs. Furthermore, with the last opposite-field event having taken place at the Barracuda Championship (the technically surviving WGC-HSBC Champions is effectively dead, or the Bermuda Championship would have been an opposite-field event), Augusta National will likely admit all remaining winners this year for next year's Masters, and the USGA is bound to count them towards the multiple-wins criterion for exemption into next year's U.S. Open.

It's a lot to digest, but even for those who fail to qualify for the playoffs, there is still much to play for. I bring this up because for the first time since 2019, when Troy Merritt stood alone as an Upper Midwest connection among playoff participants, I anticipate only one Umcee making the playoffs this year, and that is Tom Hoge. As a result of his tie for 20th at last week's 3M Open, Hoge moved up to #41 in the FedEx Cup standings. He won't compete this week at the Wyndham Championship, and it's possible he'll drop out of the top fifty by week's end, leaving him with work to do to reach the designated events for next year. Even so, he was one of only five Umcees to make the cut anywhere in the world this past week. The other four were Frankie Capan III, also at the 3M, and Thomas Longbella, Will Grevlos and George Kneiser at the Osprey Valley Open in Caledon, Ontario (near Toronto) on PGA Tour Canada. Except for Longbella, who finished T17 to move up to #28 in the Fortinet Cup, none of the four was sufficiently impressive to warrant consideration for the honours. Even then, Longbella has some way to go to secure a placement in Q-school comparable to last year, when he finished 23rd in the Fortinet Cup to enter directly at Second Stage.

Showing up at TPC Twin Cities again.

Hence, the new Upper Midwest Connection of the Week is Tom Hoge, simply because he has secured a shot at the new series of designated events on next year's PGA Tour. His performance at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine, Minnesota, coupled with a good showing at the Renaissance Club in Scotland two weeks earlier, also puts him in contention for Upper Midwest Connection of the Month of July 2023. Will it be enough? Stay tuned.

Edward the Scop