Providence graduates Andrew McLauchlan and Sam Nicholson, Creekside graduate Andrew Riley and Bolles graduate Osborn Theam are among the local players entered in PGA Tour pre-qualifiers beginning on Sept. 16, the first step in the long and difficult Tour qualifying process that ends Dec. 10-13 with the PGA Tour Q-School at the TPC Sawgrass Dye's Valley and the Sawgrass Country Club.
McLauchlan, who played college golf at Wake Forest and Florida State, and Riley, a past Times-Union high school First Coast player of the year and NCAA Division II champion at Palm Beach Atlantic, will play at the Kinderlou Forest Golf Club in Valdosta, Ga., Sept. 16-18. Also in that field is former PGA Tour player Steve Wheatcroft of Ponte Vedra Beach and Matt Soucinek
of Lake City.
Nicholson, who played college golf at South Florida, is in a pre-qualifier Sept. 23-25 at the Club at Irish Creek in Kannapolis, N.C., along with Matthew Doyle of Jacksonville and Ryan Smith of St. Simons Island, Ga.
Theam, a past NCAA Division III All-American at LaGrange (Ga.) is in the pre-qualifier at the Canyon/Loblolly Course in Greenville, Ala. Attempting to advance at the Sugartree Golf Club in Lipan, Texas, is Moses Compaan of Jacksonville.
The number of players who advance to first-stage qualifying will depend on the number of players in the final pre-qualifier fields. There are 14 first-stage qualifier sites between Oct. 20-Nov. 6 (the closest is at the Country Club of Ocala Oct. 20-23), and there are five second-stage qualifiers Dec. 1-4, including one at Kinderlou Forest and another at the Hammock Beach Conservatory Course in Palm Coast.
JAGA Fall schedule resumes
The Jacksonville Area Golf Association will return from a late summer hiatus with the 44th JAGA Club Team Presidents Cup Oct. 26 at the King & Bear. The event will feature teams of four players from JAGA member clubs, with one gross and two net balls counted each hole.
The JAGA Fall Four-Ball will be Nov. 2 at the Ponte Vedra Inn and Club Lagoon Course; the 23rd JAGA Scholarship Trust Classic will be Nov 23 at Marsh Landing; and the JAGA Family Championship will be Dec. 19 at the Jacksonville Beach Golf Club.
Registration information for all four events can be found at jaxareagolf.org.
Jax Beach Invitational field set
The seventh Jax Beach High School Invitational will be Sept. 19 at the Jacksonville Beach Golf Club. The tournament combines the best four scores from boys and girls teams for an overall champion.
Defending champion Ponte Vedra High will be joined by Fletcher, Tocoi Creek, Nease, Beachside, Creekside, Providence and St. Johns Country Day. The Jacksonville Area Golf Association has taken over the operations of the event, providing registration, starting, rules and scoring.
San Jose taking entries for Crown Jewel
Registration is open for the second San Jose Country Club Crown Jewel, a 36-hole men's invitational for mid-amateurs Oct. 31-Nov. 1.
Players need to be 25 years old by Nov. 8 and have a USGA handicap of 3.4 or lower. The field will be limited to the first 60 players who apply to the committee for review. Entry forms can be obtained by emailing todd.bork@sjccjax.com. There are no digital options to register.
Players donates to JAGA Trust
The Players Championship has awarded a $6,000 donation to the JAGA Charitable Trust for its college scholarship program.
The JAGA Trust currently provides financial assistance to 63 area students. Since 1974, the Trust has generated $2.5 million in aid to nearly 500 students.
Chapter championship decided in playoff
R.J. Politan of GreatLIFE Golf defeated Hayes Farley of the San Jose Country Club on the third playoff hole to win the Chapter Championship at the Ponte Vedra Inn and Club on Aug. 24-25. Both shot 2-under-par 140. R.J. Milford of Peak Fitness and Performance was third, two shots behind. Aaron Russell of the Sawgrass Country Club won the Senior Division by three shots over Jeff Hanson of the Ponte Vedra Inn and Club at 1-over 143 and Austin Hill of the Timuquana Country Club won the assistants' division by five shots at 2-over 144. … The North Florida Junior Golf Foundation girls 13-15 team of Simryn Chokshi, Sophia Moody and Akery Paing won the Florida Junior Team Championship at the Sandridge Golf Club in Vero Beach by 28 shots. … Brady Dougan and Michael Rattigan of Jacksonville both posted 9-under 207 scores to tie for sixth in the Florida Junior Tour 16-18 Major at the Reunion Resort. They finished three shots behind winner Dan Mohap of Newtown, Pa. Keaton Fannin of Ponte Vedra Beach (208) tied for eighth and Jake Mason of Ponte Vedra and Ethan Grossman of Jacksonville (209) tied for 10th. … Sophia Moody of Fleming Island (211) was fourth in the girls division and Elize Nograbat of St. Johns (216) tied for sixth. … Christopher Grota of St. Augustine shot 2-under 214 at the Plantation Golf and Country Club in Venice to tie for sixth in the FJT 13-15 Major. … Stephanie Connelley Eiswerth, a teaching pro at San Jose, shot 72 in the final round with birdies at Nos. 16 and 18 at Carden Park in Chester, England, to help the U.S. won its fourth consecutive Women's PGA Cup by a record 30 shots over Great Britain/Ireland. The stroke play event counts the best three scores per team in each round.
Information in the Northeast Florida Golf News, published by the Jacksonville Area Golf Association, was used in this report.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Andrew McLauchlan, Sam Nicholson among area pros in PGA Tour pre-qualifiers
