Chase Parker, Sepp Straka, Seth Reeves among qualifiers.
Seven players with ties to Georgia finished among the top 45 in the finals of qualifying for the 2017 Web.com Tour to earn exempt status on the tour for the early stages of next season.
Two others finished one shot out of the top 45, which should get them into early-season events, with two others having some hope of gaining entry into a tournament or two. Three of the Georgians in the 155-player field finished well back in the pack.
Leading the way was Dan Woltman, who has lived in Atlanta in recent years and played on the European Tour in 2015. Woltman was tied for first after 36 and 54 holes over two courses at Orange County National in Winter Garden, Fla., but shot 74 in the final round and wound up tied for eighth at 9-under 277. Woltman made six starts on the Web.com Tour in 2016, placing fourth in the event in Chicago and finishing the year 113 on the money list. He will be exempt for the first 12 of 22 regular season events on the 2017 schedule.
Augusta’s Chase Parker tied for 14th at 278, playing his last seven holes in 4-under to shoot a final round 68. Parker, who has played on mini-tours since completing his college career at Kentucky in 2013, qualified for this year’s U.S. Open, making the cut and playing well for three rounds. He and the other players who finished between 14th and 45th, are exempt for the first eight tournaments in 2017 and subject to a re-shuffle based on earnings after that.
Atlanta area resident Jamie Arnold, a native of Australia, tied for 19th at 279, opening with a 67 and shooting a final round 69. Arnold has been one of the top plays on the Open Golf Atlanta tour the past two years.
Recent UGA golfer Sepp Straka qualified for the Web.com Tour in his first attempt, tying for 23rd at 280. Straka was tied for 44th after 54 holes, but carded seven birdies in a final round 67 to move up 21 spots.
Former Georgia Tech golfer Chesson Hadley, who won a PGA Tour event as a rookie in 2014, will be on the Web.com Tour this year after finishing outside the top 150 in the FedExCup standings in 2016. Hadley would have had non-exempt status on the Web.com Tour this year, but improved his position in the priority rankings by tying for 35th at 282 in the qualifying finals. Hadley was outside the number midway through the final round, but played his last seven holes in 3-under to move into the top 45. Hadley earned a spot on the PGA Tour by finishing third in earnings in his only Web.com season in 2013, winning two tournaments and placing in the top-3 five times.
Two Suwanee residents made the top 45 on the number at 283, tying for 42nd at 283. Recent Georgia Tech golfer Seth Reeves was tied for 10th after consecutives scores of 69, but closed with scores of 73 and 72. Reeves birdied all four par-5s on the Crooked Cat course the final day, offsetting four bogeys.
Veteran mini-tour player David Skinns also tied for 42nd, closing with back-to-back scores of 70. Skinns, a native of England who played his college golf at Tennessee, had 11 birdies on his scorecard over the final two rounds. Skinns played respectably in limited schedules on the Web.com Tour in 2012 and ’14, and has played on the Canadian Tour the last three years after being one of the top players for several years on the defunct Hooters Tour.
Two players who already had status for next year missed the top 45 by one shot each. Atlanta resident Samuel Del Val, the 2011 Georgia Open champion, earned his status by placing fifth on the LatinoAmerica Tour. He scored his first win in four seasons and enjoyed a consistently successful season, placing 16th or better 11 times in 18 starts. Del Val also placed second in his last of six events on the Canadian Tour, losing a playoff in Ottawa. Del Val, a native of Spain, played his college golf at Berry in Rome.
Del Val had a wild final round, which began with bogeys on his first two holes. After birdies on three of his last five holes on his first nine, Del Val eagled both pars on his second nine, capping a 9-hole stretch of 7-under. But he bogeyed three of his last five holes, including the 18th, to tie for 52nd at 284 after a 70.
Tour veteran Casey Wittenberg, who has lived in Atlanta in recent years, also tied for 52nd at 284. Wittenberg shot a pair of 70s the final two days, but hurt himself with poor finishes the first two rounds. After shooting 5-under on his opening nine of the tournament, he shot 4-over that day coming in and was 3-over on his final nine the next day. Wittenberg has played seven full seasons on the Web.com and two on the PGA Tour in 2009 and ’13. He was the leading Web.com money winner in 2012 with a pair of victories and was 76th last year, missing an exempt spot and a chance to return to the PGA Tour via the Web.com Finals, by less than $2,000.
Atlanta resident Michael Hebert, who played his college golf at Auburn, tied for 72nd in the qualifying finals after placing 90th on the money list. He was 84th in his rookie season in 2015. Hebert shot a final round 68, but missed the top 45 by three at 286.
Recent Georgia State golfer Damon Stephenson, a native of Australia, tied for 89th at 288, and will struggle for starts. Atlanta resident Drew Weaver and former Georgia Southern golfer Aron Price both tied for 134th at 295.
Weaver, who won the British Amateur while he was a member of the Virginia Tech golf team, was 97th in his first season on the Web.com Tour in 2016, following a strong showing in 2015 in Canada, which was highlighted by a victory and eighth place finish on the money list. Price played either the Web.com or PGA Tours for 10 straight seasons from 2006-15, but made just one start on the two tours last year, and is without a tour again for 2017. Price, a native of Australia, won a Web.com event in ’08 to earn a spot on the 2009 PGA Tour, and spent three seasons there before returning to the Web.com in 2012.
Alpharetta’s Billy Kennerly, a recent Clemson golfer, managed just four birdies in 72 holes and shot 11-over 297. Kennerly placed 14th last year in his first ever tournament on the Web.com and competed a few weeks later in the Canadian Open, earning a spot in the field after winning the 2015 Canadian Amateur. He competed in the PGA Tour event in Greensboro in 2011 just prior to beginning his college career, earning a spot in the field by winning an AJGA event there.
Joining the qualifiers on the 2017 Web.com Tour are veterans Jonathan Byrd of St. Simons and Blake Adams from the Lake Oconee area, along with Anders Albertson and Keith Mitchell, who were Web.com rookies in 2016. Albertson, a recent Georgia Tech golfer from Woodstock, and UGA’s Mitchell, joined Byrd and Adams in the top 75 on the money list to earn exempt status for 2017.
Also having Web.com status this year are former Augusta State golfer Henrik Norlander and ex-Georgia Bulldog Erik Compton, who both played the PGA Tour in 2016. Reid Edstrom, who grew up in the Atlanta area before playing his college golf at Auburn, also has limited status after placing 91st in earnings in 2016.
The 2017 Web.com Tour begins with two tournaments in the Bahamas in January, with no events in Georgia after tournaments in Valdosta and Athens dropped off the schedule several years ago.