Travis Trace is finally getting a shot at getting his PGA Tour card in the Q-School National Finals — and it’s a home game for the Sandalwood High and University of North Florida graduate.
His fifth attempt in a second-stage qualifier was a charm. So was the 18th hole at the Kinderlou Forest Golf Club in Valdosta, Ga.
Trace drained a 15-foot birdie putt on his 72nd hole of the second-stage Tour qualifier on Friday to tie for 12th at 1-under-par 287 and clinch the final qualifying spot for PGA Tour Q School presented by Korn Ferry next week at the TPC Sawgrass Dye’s Valley and Sawgrass Country Club.
Trace (74 in the final round) hit the fairway and bored a 56-degree wedge through the chilly wind at the par-4 18th, setting up the final putt. It was his fourth birdie on the back nine, where he shaved 10 shots off a disastrous front-nine 42 in which he played his first two holes at 3-over, with a double at the par-5 second.
And Trace didn’t have anyone to give him a pep talk at the turn – his caddie for the week, former UNF teammate Jack Comstock, was a groomsman in the wedding for one of their best friends, Eric Havixbeck, another Sandalwood graduate, and had to leave after Thursday’s third round.
That left Trace carrying his own bag – and keeping his own counsel.
“I was a little bit shocked [at his front nine],” said Trace, who began the day 3-under, two shots inside the cut line. “It was playing very hard, cold, windy, the greens were incredibly fast and it was easy to get out of position. It all seemed like it was snowballing. All I could do was just try to take it one hole at a time.”
Well, it’s a cliche because it’s true. And Trace righted the ship with a 15-foot birdie putt at No. 10 and a two-putt birdie from 30 feet at the par-5 11th.
“It was huge to birdie No. 10 to get the monkey off by back,” Trace said. “I told myself to stay in it until it’s over.”
Trace birdied No. 14 on a 5-foot putt and wasn’t hard-pressed to par the rest of the holes on the back. He finished one shot ahead of six players who were tied at even par.
Trace also felt like he owed Kinderlou, a sprawling, stout course designed by Davis Love III. Trace played in the second-stage qualifier there last year and shot 2-over in the final round to miss advancing by two shots.
He could have picked one of the other four second-stage sites but came back to Valdosta.
“I wanted to come back and get some revenge,” he said.
Trace, 28, will play in the Q School finals Dec. 13-16 after coming up short four times. The final field will play two rounds each at Dye’s Valley and the Sawgrass Country Club, with the top five, plus ties, earning PGA Tour cards for the 2025 season.
Will that constitute a home-course advantage? After all, Trace played in The Hayt four times at Sawgrass when he was at UNF, and has player numerous rounds at the Valley.
Or will there be added pressure by trying to secure his Tour card at home?
“I don’t think it will be tough,” he said “I’m looking forward to being home. It’s two courses I’m really familiar with and my game feels like it’s in a really good spot other than one nine holes.”
By reaching the final stage, Trace will at least have PGA Tour Americas status next year. He’s been playing on that tour and in Canada since turning professional. This season, he made nine of 16 cuts and had three top-10 finishes.
“I’ve stayed super-competitive,” he said. “Last year was a pretty low point. I was pretty discouraged. But I know that my good golf is good enough to compete out here. I think I’ve got some momentum.”
Sam Anderson, a Wisconsin graduate who has established a base in Ponte Vedra Beach, was the medalist at Kinderlou at 12-under 276, six shots clear of Aman Gupta of Palm Beach Gardens and Blaine Hale of Dallas.
The qualifier at Valdosta was one of four second-stage qualifiers on Friday that completed the field for Q School.
Former PGA Tour member Luke Guthrie of Ponte Vedra shot a closing 69 at the Conservatory Course at Hammock Beach in Palm Coast to win the qualifier by two shots at 10-under 276. Also qualifying for the Q-School finals were former Florida State player Hank Lebioda (69—281), Cody Blick of Jacksonville (69—281) and former University of North Florida player Lance Yates (76—282).
Bartram Trail graduate Julian Suri of Ponte Vedra (69—284) finished one shot out of the final qualifying spot when he parred his last four holes.
Army West Point graduate Marcus Plunkett of Atlantic Beach fired closing rounds of 65-69 at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail Highlands and Marshwood Courses to finish solo fourth in the Dothan, Ala., second-stage qualifier at 12-under 276, three shots behind co-medalists Ashton Van Horne of Georgetown, Ky., and Owen Stamper of Scottsville, Ky.
Plunkett, who was the Patriot League player of the year in 2014 for Army, had six birdies in a final-round 69. He had a bogey-free 65 in Thursday’s third round. Plunkett played high school golf at Nease, then Ponte Vedra.
Jacksonville University graduate Raul Pereda, who got his Tour card at last year’s Q School, posted closing rounds of 67-68 at the Valencia Country Club in California to tie for fourth and punch his ticket back to Ponte Vedra. Pereda shot 12-under 276 and finished three shots behind Petr Hruby of the Czech Republic (68—273).
Marcelo Rozo, a native of Colombia with 10 professional victories on his ledger, opened with a 64 and went on to shoot 23-under 265 at The Landings Deer Creek Course in Savannah, Ga., in a second-stage qualifier held Nov. 19-22.
Rozo topped another veteran, 35-year-old Zack Fischer of Benton, Ark., by three shots.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Travis Trace rallies at Kinderlou to qualify for PGA Tour Q-School
