Irish pair fail in bids for tour cards
Irish former US collegians Peter O’Keeffe and Niall Turner came up short on their respective bids for major tour cards this week.
Both from Cork, O’Keeffe reached the European Tour Qualifying School finals in San Roque, Spain, but missed out on the necessary top-30 finish to a full tour card in a field stacked with experienced pros.
And it was a similar story for Turner at the PGA Tour Q-School second round qualifier in Florida.
O’Keeffe had played on the University of Southeastern Louisiana men’s golf team for three years until this May, and he was still playing as an amateur as he made it through to the final 156-man field after starting out as one of 876 European hopefuls.
But having upset the odds to make the final stage, Douglas GC member O’Keeffe never got into contention over four rounds on San Roque’s Old and New courses in Andalucia.
Rounds of 74, 78, 76, 75, for a total 303 left the Corkman 15-over-par, 14 strokes adrift of the cut for the final two rounds.
Just reaching the finals, however, gives O’Keeffe an exemption to play the first half of the 2008 season on the European Challenge Tour.
Turner, who graduated from the University of Minnesota in May, needed a top-20 finish in his second stage qualifier for the final round of the PGA Tour Q-School at Lake Jovita Country Club in Dade City, Florida.
But it was not to be as a disastrous third round put paid to his hopes of a full tour card.
Turner carded rounds of 71, 68, 78 and 73 for a two-over 290, and a tie for 51st place with a score of six-under good enough to progress to next week’s final.
Turner was in good company though, as among those going home were former European Ryder Cup star Per-Ulrik Johansson and PGA Tour regulars Ted Tryba, Arjun Atwal, Tripp Isenhour and Robert Damron.
Still with collegiate golf on their minds, Irish student golfers in the States rounded out their Fall campaigns to head into the winter break.
Walker Cup player Jonny Caldwell of Belfast led his University of South Alabama team home in La Cruces, New Mexico with a ninth-place finish in the Herb Wimberley Intercollegiate tournament.
Caldwell, a senior at USA, fired a three-under-par 210 as the Jaguars finished the event in 11th place, a collective 57 strokes back on team winners Texas Tech. Caldwell was eight shots adrift of individual medalist Sergio Franky of Texas Tech.
In Texas, Donegal’s Thomas Kearney led the University of Texas-San Antonio to a tie for fifth place as his team hosted the UTSA Intercollegiate at the Comanche Trace Golf Course.
Senior Kearney shot a one-over-par 217 to tie for 15th place individually.
Dublin’s Dawn-Marie Conaty rounded out her Fall campaign in Florida as the University of Memphis competed at the FIU Pat Bradley Championship in Fort Meyers.
Conaty shot 82, 76, 79 to finish 39th.
