Bogey-Free Final Round Hands Davison Q-School Title; Fellow Canadians Du Toit, Crisologo & Hamilton Earn Exemptions

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Category: Inside Golf

Published: 2021-06-14

DUPONT, Washington — Callum Davison had nothing but pars on his first nine holes during the final round of the Forme Tour Qualifying Tournament Friday. Going bogey-free was one of his goals when the day began, but Davison knew he needed to get something going or his one-stroke lead would not hold up. Davison did his thing. He rolled in birdie putts of 10 feet, five feet and 15 feet on his next three holes, added two more—on Nos. 16 and 17—did indeed go bogey-free and coasted to a two-shot victory over fellow Canadian Jared du Toit. As medalist, Davison is exempt for all eight 2021 Forme Tour tournaments. 

Du Toit, Chris Crisologo (third), Mike Chanaud (fourth) and Blair Hamilton—Chanaud , an American, the only non-Canadian of the group—earned exemptions for the first half of the season and can remain exempt based on their play. Seventeen other players earned conditional status on the first-year Tour.  

The difference between Davison’s front nine and the back nine was his iron play and a better mindset, the Duncan, British Columbia, native explained. “I honestly didn’t strike it that good on the front (nine). I left myself with a lot of 25-footers. I didn’t have anything going.” The difference, he said, was simply turning 25-foot birdie opportunities into 10- and 15-footers. 

Davison knew he was in solid leaderboard position standing on the 17th tee, figuring he was at least one ahead, if not more. “I knew I was tied after nine. But going into the day, especially after nine, I knew if I could go bogey-free, which was the goal, then if I made the odd birdie along the way, that was a bonus.”

He obviously did better than that, with five “odd” birdies over his final nine holes. 

Perhaps the most-impressive of the bunch came at No. 17. After he deposited his drive in the bunker on the fairway’s right side, he hit what he described as his “best bunker shot of the week” (how about best shot period?), landing his ball eight feet behind the cup and spinning it to five feet below the hole. From there, he rolled in the putt for the two-shot advantage. 

“I was just trying to get it on that tier, and luckily that’s where it went,” Davison said. “I could see it landed right behind the flag. I thought it might have a chance (to go in). I was glad it didn’t spin off the green.”

So good was the shot that there was little chance of that happening. On the par-5 18th, Davison played it safe and was on the green in three. He missed his birdie putt and tapped in for par, a 5-under 67 that secured the win.

Even with a late bogey on 18 playing a group ahead of Davison, du Toit easily earned his card, as well, matching Davison’s 67. Canada’s Lawren Rowe, who tied for sixth, had the other 67. 

“I played pretty good all day. Nothing crazy. All in all, I took care of business,” said du Toit, who will board a flight Sunday for Bucaramanga, Colombia, where he will play in PGA TOUR Latinoamerica’s Holcim Colombia Classic presented by Volvo, starting Thursday. Du Toit holds membership on both Tours now, giving him plenty of playing opportunities this summer. 

The Forme Tour begins June 23-26 with the L&J Golf Championship at Jennings Mill Country Club in the Athens, Georgia, suburb of Watkinsville. 

Did you know the Forme Tour held seven Qualifying Tournaments this year? The Tour started its Q-School quest in Florida, with back-to-back events in Weston and Howey-in-the-Hills, in February and March. It moved to Alabama then traveled west to California and Arizona, for events in San Jacinto and the Phoenix suburb of Litchfield Park. The last qualifier prior to this one was in Pine Mountain, Georgia, in early April. 

Key Information 

How the Tournament Worked

Sixty-two players entered this tournament, with 60 completing all 72 holes. Below is a breakdown of the various Forme Tour membership statuses earned this week. 

Besides Callum Davison, the other six Qualifying Tournament medalists were Camilo Aguado (Florida), Luis Gagne (Florida),Keenan Huskey (Alabama), Jeffrey Kang (California), Clay Feagler (Arizona) and Patrick Cover (Georgia).

The 2021 Forme Tour membership is complete, with the addition of this week’s 22 players. Here is the 23 country/territory breakdown for the 375 players who have some sort of status this season.  

Callum Davison was the only player in the field to fire four under-par rounds, with three of them sub-70 efforts. Mike Chanaud, Hagen Fell and Tanner Kesterson were the only other players par or better all four days.

Callum Davison will travel with his parents to Whitefish, Montana, beginning Friday night. Davison will stay in Montana for a few days practicing and playing golf before he gets in the RV and begins the cross-country drive to Georgia for the inaugural Forme Tour tournament. Davison’s father, Robert, who served as his caddie all week and will continue during the season, will split driving duties with his son. 

With constant rain during the day, tournament officials asked the maintenance staff between groupings to squeegee certain greens that experienced water pooling in low spots. Despite the more than inch of precipitation that fell, officials never had to stop play. 

Chris Crisologo began the day outside the top five, but he moved in by shooting a 4-under 68 to finish third. He nudged out EricLilleboe, who was tied for second through 54 holes. Lilleboe fell into a tie for ninth after shooting a 3-over 75 Friday.

Canadian Blair Hamilton had one bad round, but in the end it didn’t cost him. A second-round 78 ended up being merely a speed bump on his way to Forme Tour membership. Friday, Hamilton parlayed his seven-birdie, three-bogey performance into the final exempt spot, his birdie on No. 17 allowing him to secure status without having to go to a playoff. Hamilton shot three 68s to go with his 78. 

Canadian Lawren Rowe had the second-biggest move Friday, jumping 13 spots on the leaderboard but missing exempt status by a stroke. He tied for sixth with Hagen Fell and Cory Mehl. Rowe improved each day after opening 74-72 in the first two rounds. In Thursday’s third round he fired a 2-under 70 followed by the strong finish. Rowe had six birdies and a bogey Friday, his only blemish coming at the par-3 14th. 

The biggest upward mover Friday was American Dru Love, who also improved his score after each round. Opening with a 3-over 75, Love shot an even-par 72 in the second round, a 71 in the third round and a 3-under 69 to finish at 1-under overall and tied for 11th.

The number of under-par rounds dropped each day. Following 21 in the opening round, 19 in the second round and 18 in the third, there were only 16 Friday. 

The toughest hole in the final round was the par-3 14th, one of the holes that required constant squeegeeing in the afternoon. The stroke average there Friday was 3.517, with only one birdie. The par-5 10th hole was the easiest, at 4.633. It gave up 24 birdies and only two bogeys, with everything else pars. 

Quotable

“It’s been a while. European Tour Q-School two years ago. It’s been that long.” –Callum Davison on the last time he played a 72-hole tournament

“It definitely frees me up to know I don’t have to go to the Monday (qualifiers) a couple of days from now. I will be able to play and do my thing. I don’t have to worry about a couple of days beforehand if I’m getting in (a tournament) or not. –Callum Davison on what being exempt for the entire season means

“It actually felt long. It’s the first time a golf tournament has felt long in a while because it was 72 holes.” –Callum Davison

“I hadn’t played in the rain this bad for about a year. We don’t get much rain in Palm Springs.” –California resident Callum Davison on the weather

“This was my first four-round event in about a year and a half. It’s nice to get the feeling of a four-round event and staying patient out there.” –Chris Crisologo

“I was shaking off the rust.” –Chris Crisologo, on his opening, 1-over 73, his worst score of the week

“I got my mojo after the first round.” –Chris Crisologo

“I struggled here and there on the greens on day one. Then I bounced back on day two.” –Chris Crisologo

“There were a lot of good players in the field, and you have to be playing good golf to get through.” –Chris Crisologo

Final-Round Weather

Rain began falling at 5:45 a.m. The rain continued the entire day. Overcast and cool, with a high of 57. Wind SSE at 2-5 mph.

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