Former Coloradan Tom Kalinowski easily advances to final stage of PGA Tour Champions Q-school
By Gary Baines – 11/19/2021
Former Durango resident Tom Kalinowski is headed to the final stage of PGA Tour Champions Q-school for the second straight time.
The former Fort Lewis College golfer was a model of consistency at the first-stage tournament that concluded on Friday in Nipton, Calif., south of Las Vegas. He shot four consecutive rounds in the 60s, going 66-68-68-69 for a 13-under-par total of 271, which gave him a tie for second place in the 72-player event.
The tournament at Primm Valley is one of three first-stage of Champions Q-school events being held this fall. It’s expected that 51 players in all — roughly 17 from each site — will advance to the final stage of Champions Q-school, set for Dec. 7-10 in Lutz, Fla. There, the top five performers will be exempt on the Champions circuit in 2022.
Kalinowski, winner of the 1993 Rocky Mountain Open and a fourth-place finisher in the 2019 CoBank Colorado Senior Open, made five birdies and three bogeys in the final round. He ended up two strokes behind medalist Mark Walker. Also tied for second was David Berganio Jr., runner-up in the 1996 Nike Colorado Classic.
Among those joining Kalinowski — who finished 36th in the final stage of Q-school in 2019, the last time it was held — in moving on to the final stage of Q-school on Friday was Harry Rudolph, winner of the last two Colorado Senior Opens. Rudolph placed fifth as a final-round 70 left him at 274.
Here are the round-by-round scores for players with strong Colorado ties:
2. Former Durango resident Tom Kalinowski 66-68-68-69–271
19. Former Durango resident Bob Kalinowski 73-70-69-69–281
For all the scores from Nipton, CLICK HERE.