PGA TOUR University offers ‘more incentive’ for Oklahoma players

We’ll take some literary license here, given that the times around which this story has played out are so extraordinary. The scene was Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Dothan, Alabama. The day was March 13, 2020. The backdrop was the final round of the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada Qualifying Tournament. Those are the facts, but here’s the liberty we spoke about, a guess at what the thought process was for Quade Cummins and Garett Reband as they walked from the 72nd green, having finished second and joint fourth, respectively: “Mission accomplished. We’re riding high. So good. We’ve qualified; we’ve got some security, a place to play pro golf this summer, while staying amateur for right now. “Life is good. So, let’s hop onto that plane for a flight to Arizona, catch up to our Oklahoma teammates for this weekend’s big tournament. Maybe win that, build some momentum, carry OU to an NCAA crown in a few months.” The story gets interrupted by a phone call from Reband’s father. Swiftly, the story turns upside down. “You’re kidding me? Our college career is over.” Had the story ended there, it would have been unfortunate. But just as the pandemic did with virtually every facet of everyone’s life, it sent the storylines for Cummins and Reband into a tailspin. It was a stretch of turbulence that tested their patience and left them wondering where they were with their golf careers. Turns out, they are not where they’d imagined they would be at this point in their careers. But nor are they as bad off as they thought they were when Reband hung up from his father after walking off the 18th green, then confirmed the rumors with Ryan Hybl, his head coach at OU. Indeed, March 13 was the day their emotions were jolted. In response to the fast-moving spread of the coronavirus, the NCAA had canceled the spring golf season, so Cummins and Reband – numb and speechless – were told by Hybl to forget the flight to Arizona. Instead, they went back to Norman, Oklahoma, trying to absorb this stunning end to their collegiate careers. Within a few days, Cummins and Reband digested the fact that not only were their NCAA dreams crushed, but that endeavor at the Mackenzie Tour Q-School had been for naught; those tournaments had to be canceled. “We had it all planned out,” said Cummins. “Then it fell apart.” They weren’t alone, of course. The entire world was in disarray and nearly every hour brought a shift in news. For Cummins and Reband, the updates soon turned positive, and came in waves. First, the NCAA granted senior golfers a fifth year of eligibility, and both Cummins and Reband were good with that. That part of the dream was back on. “My motivation will be to win a national championship,” said Cummins, whose Sooners were ranked No. 1 when the season was canceled. The next layer of news was even better. PGA TOUR University had been put in motion – a bold and intriguing initiative that plays right into the strength of both Cummins and Reband, as they were 3rd and 5th, respectively, in the Golfweek rankings when the season was rudely halted. They are 24th and 21st, respectively, in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR). While on the surface it would appear as if “PGA TOUR U” – which will reward top-ranked collegiate golfers with immediate access to the Korn Ferry and International Tours – was a reaction to the chaos created by the pandemic, but the picture deserves a wider lens. Truth is, this initiative between the PGA TOUR, the folks who conduct the WAGR and a number of other leading constituents in the game had been in the works for several years. That it was far enough along to be announced at a time when the collegiate golf picture became disjointed is pure happenstance. In contrast to an avalanche of heartbreaking news, PGA TOUR U was positive reinforcement when college golfers most needed it and PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan was thrilled to announce it. “With the level of immediate success from the top collegiate players in the last decade, our team has done extensive research over time and developed a plan to provide a pathway for those players as they begin their journeys into the professional ranks,” Monahan said. When the first PGA TOUR U class graduates next June – all having completed at least four years of college – the top five will be granted immediate status on the Korn Ferry Tour, while Nos. 6 through 15 will be given status on either the Mackenzie Tour, PGA TOUR Latinoamérica or PGA TOUR Series China. The PGA TOUR will work with WAGR to create the PGA TOUR U standings, which will be derived from all NCAA Division I competitions and all PGA TOUR tournaments, including the Masters, U.S. Open and Open Championship. The gate will go up on the rankings later this year and it appears a certainty that Cummins and Reband will be prominent names in the thick of things all year. Theirs are resumes that glitter and given the remarkable swing of emotions – from thinking all was lost on March 13 to realizing several positives were back in play just a few weeks later – it’s likely these young men from Weatherford, Oklahoma (Cummins), and Fort Worth, Texas (Reband), are going to be committed to not letting this opportunity slip by. In fact, Cummins joked that his only disappointment is that “the PGA TOUR didn’t do this last year.” That way, he likely would have been top five and possibly out playing some Korn Ferry Tour tournaments right now. But kidding aside, Cummins, like Reband, appreciates how the picture has changed and beyond the chance to fulfill his goal of leading OU to another national championship, there is the potential for a spot on the Korn Ferry Tour. That’s far better than coming out of college, writing for exemptions and chasing Monday qualifiers. “It might be one year later, but it’s worked out great,” said Cummins. “We hope to come out (of the pandemic) with guns blazin’.” “We have unfinished business (at Oklahoma),” said Reband, who, like Cummins, was a freshman when the Sooners won the NCAA title in 2017. “But (beyond that) the PGA TOUR U gives us more incentive. It’s a great idea.” Neither Cummins nor Reband were in the lineup for the title win as freshmen, but they’ve progressed nicely in their collegiate and amateur careers. Both have qualified for U.S. Amateurs; both were finalists for the Haskins Award in 2019-20; and both will be on the United States team for the Palmer Cup in December (Cummins also played on the 2019 squad that lost to the International Team). Cummins, who committed to OU when he was 13, won the Pacific Coast Amateur in 2019 and the Oklahoma State Amateur in 2016. Reband was in the process of a stellar senior season for the Sooners – co-winner of the Puerto Rico Classic and a top-10 finisher in five of six tournaments – before things came to a screeching halt. What adds to the anticipation Cummins and Reband have for the 2020-21 season is the addition of another collegiate standout – Jonathan Brightwell, a graduate transfer from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro who earned second-team All-America honors. It’s why Cummins, as much as he can’t wait to play pro golf, isn’t rushing things. “Turning pro can wait another year,” he said. “You can always turn pro; you can’t always win a national championship.” That in essence is what motivated the PGA TOUR to back this initiative. “By focusing our efforts on players who have completed a minimum of four years, PGA TOUR University will not deter from the college game, while ensuring its graduates benefit from their maturity and experience,” said Monahan.

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