When Tyler Duncan played on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica in 2014, Michael VanDeventer was a senior in high school, helping lead Columbus North to the state boys golf championship.
Duncan worked his way up to earn full-time status on the big PGA Tour last year, and now, VanDeventer is hoping to follow the same path. VanDeventer qualified for the first half of the 2020 PGA Tour Latinoamerica season with a tie for 10th in last week’s qualifier.
“Now having status, it allows me to play a full schedule and have a lot of opportunities to play in some bigger events and earn points and try to work my way up the ladder and try to get to the PGA Tour,” VanDeventer said. “This is definitely a step in the right direction for me.”
A 2018 Ball State graduate, VanDeventer has spent the past year-and-a-half playing in pro events in the Midwest and South. He played on the West Florida Tour last year, winning a tournament in March at Lakewood Ranch Country Club and then claiming the Winter Tour championship at end of April at Laurel Oak in Sarasota.
Last week, VanDeventer took aim at qualifying for PGA Tour Latinoamerica at Weston Hills, just outside Miami. He shot 72-67-74-72 for a 3-under-par 285 to tie for 10th.
“Especially the last two days were very tough because the wind picked up, and we actually had a little bit of rain the last day, too,” VanDeventer said. “I felt like I played pretty well overall. The only kind of bad part was my opening nine holes on the third day, but I was able to bounce back and play pretty well on the back nine.”
The winner of the qualifier is exempt for entire 2020 season. Finishers 2 through 12 are exempt through first half (eight events) before first reshuffle. Finishers 13 through 35 earned conditional status.
“If you play well in a couple events, you’ll be very likely to spend the full season there,” VanDeventer said.
VanDeventer tried to qualify for the PGA Tour Latinoamerica last year, but did not qualify. He did play in three events the second half of the season by winning Monday Qualifiers and competed in two events September in Brazil and one event in November in Argentina.
This year’s PGA Tour Latinoamerica season begins March 5 in Mazatlan, Mexico. There will be one more tournament in Mexico, along with three in Argentina and one each in Chile, Dominican Republic and Ecuador during the first half of the season.
The top five at the end of the season earn exempt status to next year’s Korn Ferry Tour. Finishers 6 through 10 advance to the final stage of Qualifying School.
“Hopefully, I’ll play well enough where I can move straight up to the Korn Ferry Tour,” VanDeventer said. “Obviously, with there only being five spots, you have to play pretty well. But I have the whole season, so I’m looking forward to that.”
