Ollie Schniederjans, Anders Albertson and two other former Georgia Tech golfers were among 10 players with Georgia ties who earned exempt status for the 2016 Web.com Tour in the qualifying finals played Dec. 10-13.
The finals were played at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., with the Jack Nicklaus-designed Champions course that annually hosts the PGA Tour Honda Classic one of two used for the tournament. The top 45 players and ties earned exempt status for 2016, with Albertson and fellow ex-Yellow Jacket Kyle Scott among three Georgians to narrowly qualify by tying for 45th.
Schniederjans, Reid Edstrom and Wesley Bryan all tied for ninth, and will be fully exempt through the first three re-shuffles of 2016 that re-orders the priority ranking for most of the tour’s members. The seven other Georgians who finished in the top 45 will be exempt through the first two re-shuffles.
A total of 20 golfers with Georgia ties competed in the finals of Web.com qualifying, with all those who reached the finals having non-exempt status. Drew Weaver missed the top 45 by one shot, but his finish should be high enough to get him into early season events.
Schniederjans was in the top five after each of the first three rounds, and survived a shaky finish to tie for ninth at 6-under 280. After scores of 66-68-70, Schniederjans was tied for fourth at 11-under 204. He was 1-under the final day after 14 holes on the Champions course, but bogeyed the first two holes of the infamous Bear Trap and made a quadruple bogey seven on the par-3 17th. He needed a par at 18 to remain in the top 10.
In addition to playing the Web.com Tour in 2016, Schniederjans will also make some PGA Tour starts after playing in three events during the early stages of the 2015-16 season. Schniederjans, who grew up in Powder Springs, tied for 12th last year as an amateur in the British Open, and played well in his first two starts as a pro in the Canadian Open and the PGA Tour stop at Congressional, tying for 15th in the latter. He has made the cut in all three of his 2015-16 PGA Tour starts.
Edstrom, who grew up in the Atlanta area before playing on the golf team at Auburn, where he resides, also tied for ninth at 6-under 280 with scores of 68-70-69-73. This will be the fourth Web.com season for the mini-tour veteran, with his best showing 70th on the money list in 2012. He last played the tour in 2013.
Augusta resident Wesley Bryan, a recent member of the South Carolina golf team, shot a final round 70 on the Champions course to move up 19 spots and tie for ninth at 280 with a birdie on the 72nd hole. Like Schniederjans, Bryan will be a Web.com rookie in 2016.
Atlanta native Adam Mitchell will play the tour full time in 2016 after briefly giving up golf earlier this year and getting a job outside the sport. Mitchell was a member of the 2009 U.S. Walker Cup team following the completion of his college career at Georgia, but has made just 14 Web.com starts since turning pro, six of them coming in 2013. His best finish that year was a tie for 15th in Valdosta. Mitchell posted scores of 68-70-71-73 at PGA National for a 4-under 282 total to tie for 21st.
Tying for 34th at 283 were Savannah’s Mark Silvers, Jonathan Fricke of Covington and recent Georgia Tech golfer Richy Werenski, like Silvers a Big Break winner on the Golf Channel.
After opening with a 75 on the Champions course and shooting a pair of 71s the next two days, Silvers was tied for 103rd after 54 holes. He carded eight birdies in the final round on the Fazio course, playing the last 11 holes in 6-under for a 66 to make it with one shot to spare. Silvers was 105th on the Web.com money list in 2015 with three top-15 finishes. He won the Big Break Greenbrier in 2012.
Werenski completed his career at Georgia Tech in 2014 and qualified for the Web.com Tour in his first attempt, placing 79th on this year’s money list with three top-20 finishes. He was eighth after three rounds in the qualifying finals with a pair of 68s on the Fazio course and a 69 on Champions, but shot 78 the final day in windy conditions on Champions to drop into a tie for 34th at 283. He won the 2015 Big Break Palm Beaches to earn a spot in this year’s PGA Tour stop at the Robert Trent Jones Trail Grand National course in Alabama, and made the cut.
Like Edstrom, Fricke is a tour veteran with three seasons on the Web.com Tour, most recently in 2014 when he placed 107th in earnings. His best season came in 2008, when he had a pair of top-10 finishes including a tie for third and was 93rd on the money list. He was tied for 68th after 54 holes, but shot 69 the final day on Champions, including a birdie on the treacherous par-3 17th. Fricke played in college at Georgia State and won the Georgia Open back-to-back in 2012 and ’13.
Albertson was tied for fifth after 36 holes, opening with a 66 on Champions and following with a 70 on the Fazio course. A 74 on Fazio dropped him into a tie for 18th going to the final round, and he was in position for a possible top-10 finish after playing the first 11 holes on Champions in 1-under. But he played the next five holes in 5-over, including a bogey-bogey-double bogey stretch on the Bear Trap, needing a clutch birdie on the par-5 18th to secure his exempt status after finishing at 2-under 284 with a closing 74. Albertson, who grew up in Woodstock, already has a pair of wins in mini-tour events since turning pro earlier this year.
Scott, a Decatur resident who played one season with Werenski at Georgia Tech, shot a second round 66 on the Fazio course and was T17 after 36 holes. He was just outside the cut line after a 74 on Fazio and was 3-under after 10 holes on Champions the final day, enabling him to survive four bogeys on his next six holes for a 1-over 72. Scott made three Web.com starts in 2015, making two cuts.
Weaver, an Atlanta resident, won the British Amateur while he was a member of the golf team at Virginia Tech, but this will be the first time he has had status on either the PGA or Web.com Tour. He won a tournament on the PGA-affiliated Canadian Tour earlier this year and ended the season eighth in earnings. He shot 68 on the Fazio course in the final round of qualifying to finish at 1-under 285, tying for 51st after being outside the top 100 after 54 holes.
Former Tennessee golfer Rick Lamb, a St. Simons Island resident, shared the lead after an opening 65 on the Fazio course. He was tied for fifth after 36 holes at 136, but shot 77-76 the last two days and ended up tied for 79th at 289. Lamb had one top-20 finish in seven starts on the Web.com Tour this season.
Eight other Georgia golfers also were unable to gain exempt status in the finals of qualifying.
Former Georgia Tech golfer Paul Haley tied for 93rd at 290. He had a win and two runner-up finishes as a Web.com rookie in 2012, but struggled the next season on the PGA Tour and has made just four of 20 Web.com cuts the past two seasons.
Recent Kennesaw State golfer Jeff Karlsson was in good shape at 141 after 36 holes, but shot 79 the next day on the Fazio course and finished T106 at 291. Recent UGA golfer Keith Mitchell was T108 at 292, with Suwanee resident David Skinns T114 at 293. Skinns, a successful mini-tour player who played in college at Tennessee, shot himself out of contention the first day with a 77 on the Fazio course.
Atlanta resident Clayton Rask shot 80 in the third round on the Champions course and finished T123 at 294. Dawsonville’s Blake Palmer opened with a 78 on Champions and tied for 143rd at 301, with ex-UGA golfer T.J. Mitchell of Albany struggling with consecutive 79s the last two days to finish 147th in the field of 157.
Web.com veteran Scott Parel withdrew after 54 holes, but after finishing 76th on the 2015 money list, will be at the top of the non-exempt category for the 2016 season.