Monday, January 27, 2014

Past, Present NGA Tour players Flood NEC Series

Fourteen 2013 NGA Tour Pro Series Members make the cut at NEC Series Sebring Qualifier

(Sebring, Fla.) - The second full season of the PGA Tour Latinoamerica season begins this year but first the newly titled NEC Series had to hold its stateside qualifier to determine the players for this season's tour. The qualifier, held at Sun N Lake Golf Club in Sebring, Fla. Jan. 21 through 25 (the event ran into Saturday due to frost delays and tee time issues), was the second of two qualifiers held by the NEC Series and the only one held in the United States.

Twenty full status memberships were handed out Saturday with another 31 earning conditional status. Among those earning full status onto this year's tour are 2013 NGA Tour Pro Series members Adam Long, Chase Narramore, Rick Cochran III, Erik Barnes, and Stephan Jaeger.

Long out of Lake St. Louis, Missouri finished in solo second while Narramore (Kingston, Tenn.) and Cochran (Paducah, Ken.) finished in a tie for 11th. Barnes (Cape Coral, Fla.) and Jaeger (Chattanooga, Tenn.) were tied for 16th. Cochran made news two years back by finishing in the final four of the Golf Channel's popular Big Break Greenbrier tv show. Narramore is known to NGA Tour fans as the 2012 Savannah Lakes Village Classic Champion in 2012. Jaeger joined the NGA Tour after a stellar collegiate career at UT Chattanooga where he earned All-Nicklaus Team Honors.

A couple of NGA Tour Winter Series members from this year also earned full status; Robert Rohanna (Naples, Fla.) T6 and Charlie Harrison (Atlanta, Ga.) T16. Rohanna grabbed a win on the Winter Series at Harmony Golf Preserve earlier this season. Other NGAers to earn full status were 2012 NGA Tour Pro Series member Peter Campbell, who earned medalist honors, 2012 NGA Tour participant Will Coleman, 2011 NGA Tour Pro Series member Diego Velasquez, 2013 NGA Tour players Andrew Mason and Sean Jacklin.

2014 NGA Tour Pro Series member and UC Davis star, Austin Graham out of Newport Beach, Cal., grabbed the top spot on the conditional membership list followed by 2013 NGA Carolina Series member Casey Johnson, and 2013 NGA Tour Pro Series members Kent Bulle, Paul Apyan, Michael Schachner, and Kevin Roy. 2009 NGA player Charlie Ford also finished near the top giving NGA alumni the top 7 conditional status spots. These seven should receive plenty of opportunities to compete on the NEC Series throughout the season.

Other NGA Tour alumni receiving conditional status include 2013, 2014 NGA Tour Pro Series member Mitchell Gregson (36th), 2012 NGA Tour Pro Series member Robbie Greenwell (39th), 2013 NGA Tour Pro Series members Barrett Kelpin (42nd), Kyle Morris (44th), Chase Carroll (46th), and Ben Klaus (50th). 2012 NGA Tour Pro Series member and 2010 US Amateur runner-up David Chung finished 43rd while 2009 NGA Tour player Bryan Bigley grabbed the last spot at 51st.

These 27 professionals join fellow NGA Tour alums who qualified onto the NEC Series a week earlier in Peru including 2013 NGA Tour Pro Series members James Vargas and Daniel Mazziotta, who both earned full status, and Eric Atsma, who earned conditional status.

For more information: www.NGATOUR.com

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