When I was a young boy I didn’t dream about being Sam Snead or Arnold Palmer, I dreamed about being Brooks Robinson the third baseman of the Baltimore Orioles. I couldn’t wait for the game of the week on Saturday, which seemed like it was always the New York Yankees and now and then the Baltimore O’s. That’s right, unlike the 500 cable channels we have today, there was only one game a week on one of three television channels, but that’s another story.
My idol, Brooks Robinson, had a magic glove and a rocket arm and a cool name, just the thing that dreams are made of. I dreamed of playing professional baseball and being the next Brooks Robinson. In the end I simply wasn’t good enough. No one told me I wasn’t good enough, but as the players around you get bigger, faster and more athletic you eventually know. Dreams die hard, but life goes on and I take solace in knowing that I still have more hair than Brooks Robinson, but that’s also another story.
The week before Thanksgiving 450 dreams continue, 78 of them at one of the second stages of Q-School being held at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas, not far from where I live. I’ve never attended a Q-School event, but I think I’m going to pull on my old Brooks Robinson hat and get out to the course. Tiger Woods won’t be there; maybe the next Tiger will, but that’s not why I plan on attending. Sport is about great skill, but it is also about great theater. You know, the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat stuff, and with so many dreams on the line, I can’t imagine it not being thrilling to watch.
Now, I’m not a fan of the NASCAR car wreck theory of sport, so I won’t be there to see someone’s dreams destroyed. I want everyone to play their very best because that’s how you ought to find out if you’re good enough. And, if you are good enough, at the end of this gut-wrenching opportunity a handful of players will advance from the TPC Craig Ranch and the other locations, to the finals at Bear Lakes Country Club in West Palm Beach, Fla., in December to do it all over again.
Then things get serious. The field size will be based on 156 players plus ties from the Second Qualifying Stage. But there’s more: The following applicants shall be eligible to start at Final Qualifying Stage:
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Those applicants among the top 25 finishers immediately after the 125th position on the final 2009 Official PGA TOUR Money List (as defined in the PGA TOUR Tournament Regulations).
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Those Special Temporary members of the PGA TOUR whose combined official money and money earned in official money World Golf Championship events is equal to or greater that the 150th place finisher on the 2009 Official PGA TOUR Money List (as defined in the PGA TOUR Tournament Regulations).
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Those applicants among Major and Minor Medical Extension category members (as defined in the PGA TOUR Tournament Regulations) whose Official Money earned in their Available Tournaments, when combined with the amount of Official Money in their Tournaments Played, equals or exceeds the amount of Official Money earned by the member who finished last in the 25 finishers beyond 125th place on the Official PGA TOUR Money List for the preceding calendar year shall be exempt into Final Qualifying Stage in that year provided that the Official Money earned in his Tournaments Played is less that the 150th finisher on the Official PGA TOUR Money List in the year of the applicant's injury.
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Those applicants finishing 26th through 40th on the final 2009 Official Nationwide Tour Money List (as defined in the Nationwide Tour Tournament Regulations).
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The leading 1st, 2nd and 3rd available players, to a floor of 10th position, on the PGA European Tour and Japan Golf Tour respective Official Money List as of the Qualifying Tournament entry deadline, September 23, 2009 and the Australasian PGA Tour final Official Money List from the 2008 season.
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Those applicants among the top 50 on the Official World Golf Rankings as of the Qualifying Tournament entry deadline, September 23, 2009.
If you’re going to dream you might as well dream big and if you make it through Q-School you deserve all the accolades and respect that the world’s best golfers receive, because you are one of the world’s best, and being part of that my friend is worth the price of admission.
So, if the Baltimore Orioles call, tell them they can reach me at the TPC Craig Ranch where I’m watching history being made by all those dreamers.
