The European Tour Qualifying School Final Stage is set with 156 golfers, including former Ryder Cup players and European Tour champions, all looking to secure one of the 30 cards available at the end of a testing six round examination at the San Roque Club, Cadiz, Spain.
Only after those six rounds, to be played over San Roque’s Old and New courses, will the 30 leading players, and those tied for 30th place, be rewarded with a place on The 2006 European Tour. The field of 156 players is made up of 75 exempt players and the 81 successful pupils from last week’s three Second Stage venues at Costa Ballena Club de Golf, Emporda Golf Club and the PGA Golf de Catalunya.
The Final Stage of the Qualifying School brings together vastly experienced professionals such as former Ryder Cup players Peter Baker of England, Jarmo Sandelin of Sweden and Ireland’s Philip Walton and pits them against relatively inexperienced players who are trying to reserve a seat for themselves at golf’s top table.
One man determined to succeed this week is Scotland’s David Drysdale, who, due to a cruel twist of fate, found himself in arguably the worst European Tour Order of Merit position possible at the end of a season. After being sidelined by injury, Drysdale finished the year in 117th place, just one agonising place away from retaining his playing privileges for next season.
The 30 year old Scot is still numb from the experience, but is confident that he can find the required form to survive San Roque’s demanding 108 hole test. “Losing my card still hasn't really sunk in yet,” he admitted. “I didn't expect to lose my card until it actually happened. It’s a weird feeling. But I have to pick myself up and get on with it.
“It was a shock. If you’d told me after The Cadillac Russian Open in mid-August that I wouldn’t keep my card, I’d have laughed at you. The way I was playing then, and with six events to go, I was confident.”
Drysdale will share a rented home near San Roque Club with his coach, Gary Nicol, and his fellow Scot, Raymond Russell, a former Tour champion. Russell, who finished the season in 119th place on the Order of Merit, is full of optimism about the Final Stage.
“I see all of this as a wake-up call,” he said. “The hard thing is not losing confidence in your ability to play golf well. I haven't performed this year, that's all. But that doesn't suddenly make me a bad golfer. Going from keeping your card one year to having a bad season doesn't make you a bad player overnight. It's unfortunate it's happened, but I just have to get my head down, play well at the Tour School and go from there.
The Scot also pointed to the outstanding example of Englishman Paul Broadhurst as the inspiration for his visit to the Qualifying School.
“Three years ago Paul lost his card and had to go back to the school. Since then he's got his card back and won a tournament. Also, a year ago, my fellow Scot Gary Orr was in the same position I'm in at the moment. Yet he finished 69th on the Order of Merit this year after only getting into 15 events. So it can be done.”
