The ultimate carrot for PGA TOUR/Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying School is one of five membership cards to the world’s top professional golf tour for males that will be handed out on December 17th in Ponte Vedra, Florida.
That is where the Final Stage of this four segment event will conclude, and determine the working fate of many aspiring (and veteran) golf professionals.
To qualify to Final Stage means some level of job security for every player in that field, be it the PGA TOUR, Korn Ferry Tour, or the newly created, third tier PGA TOUR Americas, an amalgamation of the previous Canadian and Latin American pro circuits.
The top finishers and and ties at Final Stage will earn PGA TOUR Cards. The next 40 finishers and ties at will earn exempt status through multiple reshuffles of the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour season, with the first 25 finishers and ties being subject to the third reshuffle, and any remaining finishers within the category being subject to the second reshuffle
All remaining finishers at Final Stage will have Korn Ferry Tour membership, in addition to being exempt through the Latin America Swing of the 2024 PGA TOUR Americas season.
But if you don’t through Second Stage (really a 3rd stage if you had to go through Pre-Qualifying) you get absolutely nothing. Zero. Back to square one and another season of mini-tours and Monday Qualifiers.
That is why Second Stage might impart the the most pressure possible on a golfer and their supporters. It’s an all or nothing proposition. Some players are already guaranteed a spot in Final stage due to various other criteria, but most of them already have a place to play for 2024. Not so for many of those who have made their way to second stage.
There are five Second Stage qualifying sites. Three will take place on November 14-17 in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, while two more will be conducted from November 28 to December 1 in California and Georgia.
Twelve Canadians are set to play at Second Stage. Here is who they are and where they will play.
November 14-17 Robert Trent Jones, Highlands/Marshwood, Dothan, Alabama
- No Canadians at this site
November 14-17 The Tesoro Club Palmer, Port St. Lucie, Florida
- Peyton Callens (Langton, Ontario)
- Matt Hill (Palm Beach Gardens, Florida)
- Brendan MacDougall (Calgary, Alberta)
November 14-17 The Landings Deer Creek, Savannah, Georgia
- Noah Steele (Kingston, Ontario)
November 28-December 1 Valencia CC, Valencia, California
- Jared du Toit (Kimberley, B.C.)
- Stuart Macdonald (Vancouver, B.C.)
November 28-December 1 Kinderlou Forest CC, Valdosta, Georgia
- A.J. Ewart (Coquitlam, B.C.)
- Thomas Giroux (Georgetown, Ontario)
- Michael Gligic (Palm Beach Gardens, Florida)
- David Hearn (Del Ray Beach, Florida)
- Jimmy Jones (Tampa, Florida)
- Sudarshan Yellamaraju (Mississauga, Ontario)
