Constable Cruises through 1st Stage of Web.com Q-School

Donald Constable's worst score last week in four rounds at St. George, Utah, in the First Stage of Web.com Tour Qualifying was 67. Needless to say, the former Minnesota state high school champion from Minnetonka advanced to the next stage.

The only surprising thing was that he wasn't the medalist -- even though he shot 261 (19 under par) for 72 holes. That's an average of 65.25 strokes per round.

As it turned out, Constable tied for fifth, three behind the co-medalists, Californian Bio Kim and amateur Rhett Rasmussen of Draper, Utah. Kim, a former PGA Tour regular who has been as high as No. 200  in the Official World Golf Rankings, opened with a 64 at SunRiver Golf Club, and followed it with a 62, a 65 and a 67 on his way to  an aggregate of 258. Rasmussen, a junior at Brigham Young who is still an amateur (in case he doesn't make it to the Web.com Tour), shot consecutive 63's in the second and third rounds.   

Constable, a former University of Minnesota star who won the State Amateur in 2011 and the Minnesota Golf Champions in 2014, shot his 67 in the first round, then went 62-66-66.

Also advancing was Andre Metzger, who has occasionally listed Sioux Falls as his base of operations, and was the leading money winner on the Dakotas Tour a decade ago. Metzger closed with a 65 for a 265 and tied for 10th. 

It took a total of 271 (five players tied for 20th with that score) to get through to the Second Stage of Web.com Q-School, which will begin Oct. 30 and will be contested at five sites. The Final Stage will be played Dec. 6-9 in Chandler, Ariz. From there, the top 45 finishers and ties will have full status for at least part of the 2019 Web.com season. The medalist will be fully exempt for the entire season.

One of the other seven Q-School tournaments last week was played in Dayton, Nev., at Dayton Valley G.C. The scoring there wasn't nearly as low as it was in Utah, and Lorens Chen of Los Angeles was the medalist with a 271 (17 under). 

Finishing in a tie for ninth was Neil Johnson, the former Gustavus Adolphus All-American from River Falls. Johnson, a mini-tour veteran who has made it to the Q-School Final Stage and had partial status on the Web.com Tour,  He secured his spot in the next stage with a 65 in the third round and finished at 284, in a tie for ninth. The magic number in Dayton was 287 (another five-way tie for 20th). 


WEB.COM Q-SCHOOL

First Stage

St. George, Utah

At SunRiver Golf Club

Par 70

Final results (the top 21 finishers & ties advance to the Second Stage of Q-School, beginning Oct. 30 at various sites)

T1. Bio Kim, Ranch, Calif.                           64-62-65-67--258

T1. Rhett Rasumssen (a), Draper, Utah      65-63-63-67--258

3. Matthew Oshrine, Baltimore, Md.            69-61-64-66--260

T5. Donald Constable, Minnetonka         67-62-66-66--261

T10. Andre Metzger, Sioux Falls             68-67-67-63--265

What it took: 271 (5-way tie for 20th place) 

T39. Jon Trasamar, Blue Earth                67-71-67-70--275


Dayton, Nev. 

At Dayton Valley Golf Club

Par 72

Final results (the top 22 & ties advance)

1. Lorens Chan, Los Angeles              70-66-65-70--271

2. Kaleb Gorbahn, Reno, Nev.           75-67-69-69--280

T3. Jay Hwang, Fullerton, Calif.         75-68-70-68--281

T3. Ben Geyer, Arbuckle, Calif.         69-70-69-73--281

T9. Neil Johnson, River Falls         74-72-65-73--284

What it took: 287 (5-way tie for 20th) 

T70. Jack Gustafson, Greenwood  82-74-72-83--311