The PGA Tour season, which concluded two weeks ago at East Lake, will open a new season next week with seven points-earning events scheduled before the end of the calendar year. Among those who will be at the starting line for the Frys.Com Open is Georgia Tech grad Ollie Schniederjans.
Schniederjans has already lined up three sponsor’s exemptions for the fall portion of the Tour. He’ll play the Frys.com in Napa, Calif., the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas and the Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Miss.
Schniederjans may also get an invitation to play in the McGladrey Classic, held Nov. 19-22 at Sea Island’s iconic Seaside Course.
The McGladrey is the final official event of 2015. The tournament continues to grow in popularity among the players because of its hospitality and the laid-back nature of the event.
The tournament is hosted by Davis Love III and already has commitments from former major winners Stewart Cink, Angel Cabrera and Vijay Singh. Georgians in the field include Harrish English, Chesson Hadley, Brian Harman, Charles Howell III, Chris Kirk, Kevin Kisner, Heath Slocum, Hudson Swafford, Brendon Todd and Cameron Tringale.
The McGladrey will increase the size of its field this year and will use the scenic Plantation Course during the first two rounds.
Quartet qualifies: Fifty players secured their PGA Tour playing privileges through their performance on the Web.com Tour, including Sea Island resident Patton Kizzire. The Auburn graduate led the Web.com Tour in earnings and was the leading money winner for the four playoff events. He also gets an exemption into the Tour Championship.
Also earning their Tour privileges are Georgia Tech grad Roberto Castro, Augusta State grad Henrik Norlander and Ringgold native Luke List.
The qualifying process for the Web.com Tour has already started. Among those getting through the first stage were Adam Mitchell of Atlanta, Jay McLuen of Forsyth, Drew Czuchry of Alpharetta, Jonathan Fricke of Covington, Travis Williamson of Brunswick and Scott Wolfes of St. Simons. They advance to one of five second-stage qualifiers, with the best earning a spot in the finals at Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., on Dec. 10-13.
Noll reaches final 16: Two-time Georgia Amateur champion David Noll Jr. of Dalton reached the third round of the U.S. Mid-Amateur championship before being eliminated. Noll won three matches before losing 3 and 2 to Jess Daley of Palm Beach Gardens. Four others qualified for match play. Bob Royak of Alpharetta, Mark Harrell of Lookout Mountain and Michael Pearson of Atlanta reached the second round and Rob Butler of Atlanta was eliminated in the first round.
Etc: Dario Ayala and Najae Butler represented the First Tee of Atlanta in the Champions Tour's Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach. They were selected based on golf skills, a written essay and overall character. They were paired with Scott Simpson and Carlos Franco during the first two rounds. … Chris Waters of Atlanta won the Atlanta Amateur Match Play Championship at Atlanta National. Waters defeated David Poteet of Suwanee 5 and 4 in the final. … The North Georgia All-Stars from Alpharetta won the Southeast Regional and advance to the finals of the PGA Junior League Golf Championships in Florida.
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