Q-school: For every dream come true, 10 are shattered

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Dicky Pride missed the final stage of qualifying by one shot. That's the kind of disappointment that can crush players at q-school.

When you look at the field for the finals of the PGA TOUR National Qualifying Tournament, some of the names will be very familiar.

Two of the six second stage events must be played this week before the entry list is finalized. Already, though, you can see there are a lot of players with PGA TOUR experience who will be fighting for their cards again. One -- Mark Brooks -- is a major championship winner.

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Dicky Pride knows as much as anyone about trying to rekindle the fires that took him to the winner's circle early in his career on the PGA TOUR. But after another lackluster year, Dicky returned to the second stage last week in Panama City Beach, Fla. A final-round 68 gave Dicky a chance before a careful look at the scoreboard and some in-depth calculations revealed that he would miss advancing to the finals by a single shot.

While Dicky failed to advance, David Berganio Jr. shot the low round of the day to make it to the finals. David hasn't held a TOUR card in his hand and played with the best players in the world for several years. One shot in David's round of 64 made the difference and sent him to California, while Dicky went home.

Q-school is a second chance to climb back up the mountain for players like David and Dicky. There was no celebration for David in advancing to the finals, though. He wrote the check to enter q-school fully expecting to be there at the finals. At the same time, Dicky won't be on suicide watch for letting this chance slip away. He will regroup and start making a schedule on the Nationwide Tour. Dicky has been around long enough to have a fall-back position. Most of the younger players are not so lucky.

Another second stage event was held just south of Atlanta at Callaway Gardens, which used to host the Buick Challenge on the PGA TOUR. With its log cabins and quiet elegance, the resort must have been quite a contrast to the noise of q-school echoing through the players' minds. Chris Riley, Robert Damron and Carlos Franco were among the TOUR winners who breezed through the second stage. Left wanting, though, was Len Mattiace who finished two shots behind the number on a course where he lost in a playoff back in 1996.

Lenny wasn't alone among veterans who failed to advance. The list includes Billy Andrade, Jim McGovern, Michael Clark II, Trevor Dodds and Jim Gallagher Jr., as well. For some, this might have been a last-ditch effort; one more shot just to see whether they can reclaim the magic that once made them winners on TOUR. For others, it is just another in a long list of recent disappointments on the golf course. The more prominent players who missed advancing to the finals will still be able to make a living with their golf clubs. They might take a bit of a pay cut, but who isn't in this economy?

However, for a player like Greg Sonnier, getting through the second stage is in many ways more important than what happens at the finals because a trip to the finals means status. You are inside the system with an opportunity -- whether that is on the Nationwide Tour or the PGA TOUR. Greg undoubtedly knew that when he entered the final round in Kingwood, Texas, in the mix at 7 under.

The conditions Saturday must have been brutal because there were only a handful of sub-70 scores, including a 69 by Vance Veazey to slip into the finals on the number. But Greg's quest to reach the finals for the first time and -- at the very least -- become a member of the Nationwide Tour was blown away. The three-shot cushion that he held on the 20th and last spot that would advance to the finals disappeared in the first three holes in the final round.

The type of disappointment that comes with near-misses at q-school can damage the psyche and destroy careers. That is what q-school does. For every career created, countless others are destroyed. Q-school doesn't care what your name is or how many tournaments you've won. Q-school is about nerve and numbers -- and with the second stage winding down, those numbers are dwindling.

John Maginnes is a columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His opinion does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the PGA TOUR.