Local pro Jonas heading to Q school in Portugal

Hoping for better things after ‘ disappointing’ 2011

Phil Jonas calls 2011 one of his most disappointing years as a professional golfer, but the prominent local teaching pro is confident better times lie ahead in 2012. He hopes they start next week in Portugal, when he tees it up in the European Senior Tour qualifying school. Jones will compete at one of four first- stage sites next Thursday and Friday. The first stage is only 36 holes, so there’s no margin for error. The 72- hole final stage begins Jan. 30, also in Portugal. By his standards, Jonas, who along with North Vancouver’s Bryn Parry has dominated the local golf scene, had a lousy year. He went to the Champions Tour Q school this past fall without much confidence and missed getting through the first stage by a single shot. He thinks he finally has his game sorted out. “My bad play wasn’t because of age, it was because of other stupid things,” Jonas, who teaches out of Hazelmere and Mccleery, said this week. “I am not planning for that to happen again any time soon. I am starting to feel good about my game again.” He knows the competition will be tough in Portugal. “This year is the first year it’s not at the same time as the Champions Tour school,” said Jonas, who played the PGA Tour in 1987. “So a lot of the guys that missed will go over there. Before, you either went to that one or the U. S. school.” Two other British Columbians, Victoria’s Rick Gibson and Peace Portal pro Mark Forrest, are also heading to Portugal. If Jonas does survive Q school, he would likely only play a limited schedule. “The schedule is not going to be released until February so you don’t really know what you’ve got,” he said. “Last year they had about 18 tournaments. Unless I was to go over there and win one or something, I would just play here or there. If I was to make it, I figure it would be a better way of me getting on the Champions Tour having played some real golf tournaments rather than a lot of one- day events here at home.” Jones is being sponsored by West Coast Golf Group, which owns and operates Hazelmere, Swan- e- set Bay and Belmont golf courses, Company president Mike Stuart is making the trip and will caddy for Jonas in Portugal. HEADING SOUTH: With the Nationwide Tour not starting until mid- February, Abbotsford’s Adam Hadwin will attempt to play his way into a couple of PGA Tour events. Hadwin will try to qualify at both the Farmers Insurance Open, which goes next week at Torrey Pines in La Jolla, Calif., and the Waste Management Phoenix Open, which runs Feb. 2- 5. His first Nationwide Tour event figures to be the season- opener Feb. 16- 19 in Bogota, Colombia. Events in Panama and Chile follow that tournament and Hadwin should get to play in all three. The $ 440,000 Hadwin earned last year on the PGA Tour has him right at the top of the conditional players on this year’s Nationwide Tour. FINAL PUSH: Nanaimo’s Darren Griff, Lindsay Renolds of Christina Lake, John Shin of Burnaby and former Canadian Junior champion Rafael Lee of Vancouver are among those who have advanced to this week’s final stage of the Asian Tour qualifying school in Thailand. SELECT COMPANY: Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club finds itself in some good company following a Golf World magazine survey of more than 80 PGA Tour pros. Shaughnessy, the site of last year’s RBC Canadian Open, was ranked as the seventh best course by the touring pros. The only courses finishing above Shaughnessy in the survey were Augusta National, Harbor Town, Riviera, Pebble Beach, Colonial and Muirfield Village. Fifty- two courses received votes. St George’s ( No. 22) and Glen Abbey ( No. 40) were the other Canadian courses on the list. CHIPS SHOTS: James Lepp’s Kikkor Golf has signed LPGA rising star Ryann O’toole ... Mike Weir has been given a sponsor’s exemption into next month’s AT& T Pebble Beach tourney.