Charlie’s Corner: Why I Won’t Be Watching Q-School

Welcome to Charlie's Corner, the blog home for Golf Channel analyst Charlie Rymer. A lifelong Myrtle Beach golfer, Rymer, with his characteristic wit and unique perspective, will be weighing in on all things golf for Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday.

Even though the Majors, Ryder Cup, and Fedex Cup are behind us, there is still plenty of interesting golf being played. And it's golf that I am very familiar with.

Players are jockeying for the final spots for the 2011 PGA Tour season. On the Nationwide Tour it's the battle for the top 25. Players finishing in the top 25 earn a PGA Tour card for next season. The 25th spot can quite literally be determined on the last hole of the season. 
 

The same thing is happening on the PGA Tour as the Fall Series winds down.  Players are battling for the 125th spot on the money list.  Finish inside the top 125 and you are fully exempt for the following year.

Take it from me. That's a big deal. 

The players know it and the pressure is off the charts.  The guys near these positions aren't sleeping much  at night and aren't breathing well during the day. All the drama makes for some of the most compelling golf of the year. 

For players that finish on the wrong side of these exempt positions there is one more chance for them to keep their job.  It's the House of Horrors called The Q-School. The stories that circulate about players vomiting on the first tee are very true.

My last trip to Q-School was not a pleasant one and for that reason I have a difficult time even watching it now. I had to shoot 5 or 6 under on the last 9 holes of the 108-hole marathon. I managed to make 6 birdies and 1 bogey to shoot 5 under over those 9 holes 

The bogey was a three-putt from four feet.  It took an hour for all the scores to be posted and for me to learn I had missed retaining my PGA Tour card by a single shot.

The ensuing seven-hour car ride home with my pregnant wife and year-old son was the low point of my golf career.  And the beginning of a broadcast career. 

So if you want to see how golfers perform when they are truly backed into a corner tune in to Golf Channel for The Q-School finals.

Just know that I won't be watching it with you. It hurts too much.