JERLING QUALIFIES FOR PRO CIRCUIT
PORT Elizabeth’s Luke Jerling on Friday became one of only 34 players to emerge from the Sunshine Tour Final Stage Qualifying School with playing privileges for the main professional golf circuit in Southern Africa.
Jerling, 24, came through two gruelling weeks of qualifying and nine rounds of golf to earn a much sought-after professional card.
He was one of only eight amateurs to qualify nationally, and to make matters even tougher he had to qualify through two stages to achieve his goal.
Impressively, he did it with six shots to spare.
During the first stage he fired rounds of 77, 71, 69 and 70 at the State Mines Country Club, in Brakpan. He then progressed to the final stage at the Randpark Golf Club, where he returned 70, 66, 70, 72 and 71.
Q-School is probably one of the most gruelling golfing challenges for amateurs and professional players alike.
“I’m ecstatic with my performance. I wouldn’t say Tour School is enjoyable. It’s definitely a graft,” the PE Golf Club member said.
“With the new format there is a first and second stage. But the format change was to my advantage, I think.
“The consistent players will come through more often when there are more rounds to play. It was a non-stop two weeks of golf and constant pressure.”
This was Jerling’s second attempt at tour school, having missed out in 2015 when he returned from college golf in America.
“I was much better prepared this time and knew a bit more what to expect,” he said.
“After my first round at State Mines in the first stage, I shot 77 and I was lying about 100th when only 25 players and ties got through.
“So I left myself a lot of work to do.”
The former Grey pupil said is was close going into the last round and a few dropped shots on the first nine of the last round and a shank soon after the turn made it even tighter
“I knew pretty much what I had to do on the last day. Luckily, I played really solidly for the first four days and gave myself a bit of a cushion.
“But, it’s a different kind of pressure when you are playing in that last round and you know exactly what you have to do. My swing was a bit more tense on the last day.
“I made a few silly three putts on the first nine on the last day and only had three or four shots to play with coming into the back nine, which made it a lot tougher.
“On the 11th hole, from the edge of the fairway I shanked one into the trees and actually did very well to make a bogey.
“I think that gave me a bit of a wake-up call. I then made a great eagle and back-to-back birdies after that to give myself that cushion again.”
Jerling’s first event will be at the Zimbabwe Open starting on April 20. He will then play in the Zambian Open the following week. His next one is in Swaziland, but he might have to pre-qualify.
A large number of young professionals starting out feel the added pressure of financial constraints if they do not have a backer.
Jerling says he is talking to people regarding sponsorship.
“I understand the financial pressures of travelling every week to countries and it’s flights, accommodation, caddies and all of those things.
“My next thing is definitely to get financial backing. Equipment-wise I’ve got a sponsor.”