Bangor native Jesse Speirs gave himself an early 29th birthday present last week.
In his fifth attempt to qualify for the Web.com Tour, he finally succeeded by shooting a 9-under-par 279 over four days in the second stage of qualifying at the TPC at Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas.
The Web.com is the tour just below the PGA Tour and golfers can only qualify for the PGA Tour through their performance on the Web.com Tour.
Speirs tied for 14th and the top 21 earned a spot in the third and final stage, a four-day tournament scheduled for Dec. 9-13 at West Palm Beach, Florida.
In October, he had shot a 6-under 282 to finish tied for 10th in the first stage at the Highland Oaks Golf Course in Dothan, Alabama. The top 19 qualified for the second stage in McKinney, Texas.
He had never advanced past the second stage in his four previous attempts and he said this will entitle him to play in a select number of Web.com tour events.
“If I finish 45th or better in the third stage, I will be able to play in all the Web.com tournaments,” explained Speirs. “That’s going to be tough. I’ll have my work cut out for me. There will be some guys there who had their [PGA] cards and are trying to get back on the tour.
“It’ll be a strong field. But we’re all in the same boat. I’m just going to play my game. I’m going to have to play some good golf,” said Speirs.
Speirs said by making it through the second stage, he will be able to play in the one-day PGA qualifiers on Mondays for $100 rather than the $450 he would have had to pay if he hadn’t made it through the second stage.
In those one-day events, he can qualify for the PGA Tournament that starts later that week with a good showing.
“My dream has always been to play on the PGA Tour and this is another step in the process,” he said. “I’m pretty happy for my family. They never stopped believing in me and they sacrificed a lot for me. This means a lot to them and for me.
“Now that I’ve done it, I need to keep playing well,” added the son of Donald and Deborah Speirs.
Speirs, who lives in Memphis, Tennessee, said the key to his game has been his consistency.
In the two tournaments, he had just one double bogey and that was at Dothan, where he recorded 50 pars, seven bogeys, seven birdies and an eagle. At Texas, he had 41 pars, 20 birdies and 11 bogeys.
“In the past, I’d get some double and triple bogeys and they would keep me from getting through,” said Speirs. “I didn’t play my best but I played solid.
”I felt good about what I had been working on in my game and how I had been playing all year. I never got ahead of myself. I tried to play it one shot at a time,” he added.