A total of 19 golfers with Georgia ties advanced past the first stage of qualifying for the 2018 Web.com Tour, with nine advancing at a qualifier at Callaway Gardens.
The successful qualifiers advance to the second stage, which begins Oct. 31 and concludes Nov. 10 with three qualifiers in Florida and Texas. The final stage is set for Dec. 7-10 in Arizona.
Leading the way in the qualifier at Callaway Gardens was Dru Love of St. Simons Island, who shot 19-under 269 to tie for second, one shot behind the medalist. Love, the son of veteran PGA Tour member Davis Love III, posted scores of 68-69-66-66.
Mini-tour player Blake Palmer of Dawsonville tied for fourth at 270 with scores of 67-65-67-71. Tying for sixth at 271 were recent UGA golfers Joey Garber and Nicholas Reach. Savannah’s Mark Silvers, who finished just outside the top 100 on the Web.com money list in 2016, was eighth in the qualifier at 272.
Fayetteville’s Wade Binfield, who made five Web.com starts this season, tied for ninth at 274, with Alpharetta residents Drew Czuchry and Anthony Maccaglia tying for 14th at 276. Czuchry, who played his college golf at Georgia Tech, shot a final round 66, and Maccaglia, who had an outstanding career on the golf team at Oglethorpe, closed with a 68.
Jimmy Beck of Columbus, who starred in college at Kennesaw State, qualified on the number at 277, following an opening 70 with three straight 69s. Beck, a former Georgia Amateur champion, is playing on the LatinoAmerica Tour this year along with Silvers. Former Clemson golfer Luke Hopkins, who is living in Marietta, also advanced on the number at 277, tying for 19th with Beck. The top 22 and ties advanced.
Emerson Newsome of Dacula, who played in college at Cincinnati, shot four rounds of 70 or better, but missed advancing by two shots at 279. Missing by three at 280 was recent Georgia State golfer Nathan Mallonee of Lexington, who was tied for 20th after 54 holes before closing with a 72. Also missing by three was Shad Tuten of Savannah, who is also playing on the LatinoAmerica Tour. Tuten won the 2016 Georgia Open at the Ford Plantation outside Savannah.
Recent UGA golfer Mookie DeMoss of Duluth shot 282 at Callaway Gardens, with Chip Deason of Evans finishing with a score of 283. Also failing to advance were: Dylan Freeman of Athens, Clark Palmer of Augusta, Shea Sylvester of Johns Creek, Robert Mize of Columbus, Ryan Chitwood of Gainesville, David Van Horn of Atlanta and Jin Chung of Duluth.
Sylvester was the medalist in a pre-qualifier at Brunswick CC, shooting 68-65-70 for a 7-under 203 total to finish one ahead of the runner-up.
Atlanta resident Drew Weaver, who made 12 starts on the Web.com Tour this year, was the medalist in Kannapolis, N.C., at 21-under 263, winning the qualifier by four shots. Weaver opened with a 64 and followed with scores of 68-66-65.
Former Georgia Tech golfer J.T. Griffin, an Alpharetta resident, tied for 12th at 274, with recent Georgia Tech golfer Vincent Whaley of Fayetteville tying for 14th at 275 after a final round 68. Also tying for 14th was Augusta’s Dykes Harbin, who played in college at South Carolina. Bo Andrews was the third ex-Yellow Jackets to qualify, placing 21st at 276 to advance with a shot to spare. Andrews shot 65 in the third round.
Lilburn’s Ted Moon shot 65 in the third round to move into the top 20, but missed advancing by three after a final round 75. Former UGA golfer Michael Cromie also missed by three shots at 280, and Brad Smith of Marietta finished at 1-under 283.
Former Georgia Tech golfer James White of Acworth advanced from a qualifier in Mobile, tying for 14th at 14-under 274. White was second after opening with a 65 and followed with scores of 70-71-68.
Failing to advance were: former Kennesaw State golfer Matt Nagy of Buena Vista, recent Georgia Tech golfer Michael Hines of Woodstock, former Tech golfer Paul Haley, Trevor Smith of Brunswick and Brad Arrington of St. Simons.
St. Simons resident Cory Whitsett tied for ninth at the Woodlands in Houston to advance, closing with scores of 66-69 to finish at 7-under 281. Former Augusta State golfer Derek Chang from Alpharetta was in position to advance in a qualifier in Texas after a second round 65, but shot even par 72 the next two days and missed by four at 8-under 280.
Woodstock’s Riley Davenport and former Georgia Southern golfer Scott Wolfes of St. Simons qualified in Lakeland, Fla. Davenport was well back after 36 holes with scores of 76-72, but shot 68-65 the final two days for a 7-under 281 total to tie for ninth. Wolfes was sixth after 54 holes at 210, and advanced with a shot to spare at 284 after a final round 74.
Albany’s T.J. Mitchell, a former Georgia Bulldog, failed to advance in Nebraska along with former Dunwoody resident Dan Woltman, a 2017 Web.com Tour member, and St. Simons’ Dalton Ward.
Savannah’s Tim O’Neal, a Web.com Tour veteran, shot 66-69 the final two rounds in Utah, but missed by four shots at 4-under 276. Smyrna’s Clayton Rask and St. Simons’ Will Jones also failed to advance.
Roswell’s Bryan Fox and former Mercer golfer Hans Reimers both failed to advance by three shots in Arizona, shooting 6-under 282. Fox fired a 66 in the third round to put himself in position to move on, but shot 73 the final day.