By his own estimation, Nick Gabrelcik has played the TPC Sawgrass Dye’s Valley Course close to 100 times, and the Sawgrass Country Club around 50 times.
Consider also that in four years at the University of North Florida, he played in four 54-hole tournaments at each course, for a total of 24 competitive rounds, in weather that was sometimes cold and almost always windy. He won the Sea Best Invitational at the Valley three times and won The Hayt at Sawgrass three times.
Gabrelcik never finished outside the top-10 and was lower than second only once. That’s why the three-time ASUN Player of the Year feels confident going into the weekend of the PGA Tour Q-School, presented by Korn Ferry, being played on both courses.
Gabrelcik shot 72 at the Valley Course during Friday’s second round and is tied for 15th through 36 holes at 1-over 141. The key number is 1-under: that’s the current bubble score for the top-five players, plus ties, for PGA Tour cards for the 2025 season.
Gabrelcik and Ponte Vedra High and Army West Point graduate Marcus Plunkett (70, Valley) are both tied for 15th but only two shots out of the top-five. Alistair Docherty (66, Valley), Corey Shaun (76, Sawgrass) and Matthew Riedel (69, Valley) are tied for first at 3-under, Takumi Kanaya (70) is alone in fourth at 2-under and four players are tied for fifth at 1-under.
PGA Tour Q-School third-round tee times
“Looking at the Sea Best and the Hayt, playing these courses four years in a row in these conditions … kind of the mindset going into the next two days and the past two days and it’s worked out well so far,” he said. “I’ve had a few bad errors but hopefully we’ll get those straightened up.”
Gabrelcik was within one shot of the top-five bubble with four holes to play on Friday but double-bogeyed the par-4 sixth hole after he hit his drove into the banks of the left and found his ball deep in the rough, on a downhill lie.
But he rallied to par the final three holes, which were playing into the Northeast wind. He made a 10-foot par putt at the last.
“That was a big momentum boost for me,” he said.
U.S. Naval Academy graduate Billy Hurley became the first PGA Tour player from a service academy to earn full status in 2014.
Kyle Westmoreland (2022) and Tom Whitney (2023) went from the Air Force Academy to the Tour.
Plunkett is ready to complete the circle.
The Ponte Vedra High graduate hit only three fairways but still managed an even-par score.
“It’s cool to see … they’re an inspiration for us Academy guys,” Plunkett said. “Definitely gave me some confidence to be able to do it.”
Plunkett, who was the captain of the Army golf team and All-Patriot League, graduated from West Point in 2016 and said his duties as a transportation officer took him to Korea, Afghanistan and Fort Carson, Colorado. He said he did not touch a club for four years but during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, personnel were restricted from office duty and he began practicing at the Fort Carson course.
Plunkett got his muscle memory back in short order. He broke the Fort Carson course record with a 61 and he’s been working on getting to the Tour since.
“I was so preoccupied with being the best leader I could … making sure I was giving it everything I had,” Plunkett said of the time period where he didn’t play golf. “Golf was not even a thought. But I feel like I’ve been putting in a lot of hard work.”
The Sawgrass Country Club was a beast in the second round.
The course bordering the ocean played to an average of 75.085, 1.53 strokes higher than the Valley’s 72.56. And with the higher wind, both were more difficult than in the first round, when the Valley averaged 71.5 and Sawgrass 73.049.
The most difficult holes remained the par-5s converted to par-4s. No. 18 was the most difficult hole at Sawgrass, averaging 4.53, with only four birdies. No. 8 was the sternest test at the Valley, averaging 4.634 with two birdies.
Only one hole at Sawgrass averaged under par, the par-5 11th (4.988). The easiest hole at the Valley was the par-5 16th at 4.659.
Yes, and they’re free … but only for rounds at Dye’s Valley, since Sawgrass is a private course. Fans must register for the tickets at the tournament’s ticketmaster.com site. Upon arriving at one of the two gates to the TPC Sawgrass, fans with mobile tickets will be directed to parking.
Yes, on the weekend. The NBC Sports App will air portions of the Saturday rounds from 1-3 p.m. and Sunday from Noon-2 p.m. Golf Channel will be on the air Saturday from 3-5 p.m. and Sunday from 2-4 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: PGA Tour Q School takeaways: Nick Gabrelcik, Marcus Plunkett hold steady
