The news that the PGA Tour was changing its requirement for golfers to earn their PGA cards shouldn't have been a big surprise.
The system was flawed. Why should somebody who can play well for three weeks get their cards over golfers who had already proved thmselves on the professional level?
A year ago, Scott Gordon and Andres Gonzales played at the Dayton qualifier and neither made enough money to keep their PGA cards. Gordon was 237th with $28,301, while Gonzales was 192nd with $186,000 and change. Gonzales is back on the Nationwide Tour this season.
The new rule will have Nationwide Tour players going against players who are in the bottom part of the PGA money list playing for the 50 new PGA cards.
"I think it's a good decision," said Rick Vaughan, Dayton Valley's head professional. "The guys that come out of the Nationwide are used to the travel and more prepared than the guys that make it out of Q school. The Nationwide Tour is a good proving ground."
Dayton Valley will host a qualifier, but the dates have yet to be deternmined.
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This next item belongs in the annoying category. During the Carson-Damonte Ranch softball game, the contest had to be stopped at least six times because foul balls from the JV baseball field kept going onto the varsity softball field.
What's up with that?
Damonte's fields were bunched too close together when they were built, and it does create problems. I don't think Damonte should ever host four games. Even Carson's set-up isn't ideal for softball because your head better be on a swivel if you are at the JV field when a varsity game is going on because you could get hit with a ball.
Why don't teams just play at opposite sites? Oh, wait, that makes too much sense. This is Nevada, remember.
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I've never officially met Salt Lake baseball coach D.G. Nelson, but I can tell you I'm not a big fan. He comes off as arrogant by his mannerisims on the field.
Since 2008, Nelson has requested neutral umpires to work anytime his team comes to Carson City, and for whatever reason, the conference allows it. That's bogus. You either use the local umps which WNC does everytime it's on the road, or forfeit the games.
WNC coach D.J. Whittemore didn't have a lot to say on the subject when I asked him about it, but Whittemore is a class act, and he'll take the high road 99.9 percent of the time.
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The SWAC needs better leadership, and the schools need better policies when it comes to inclement weather. If a Friday or Saturday game gets rained out, the team should stay behind and play the game.
Salt Lake, as of this weekend had played tthree less games than WNC because of a rainout in Southern Idaho. What's interesting is that CSI wanted to move the series to Salt Lake, but the Bruins refused because they want as many home games as they can down the stretch.
