Q-School success and failure a matter of perspective

• By Golf Channel Digital
• Dec 3, 2012 1:00 PM ET

LA QUINTA, Calif. – “It’s not all gloom and doom you know,” a spectator at this week’s final stage of Q-School suggested as he walked down the 18^th fairway on the Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West.

The spectator is referring to the range of emotions players will endure as this week’s final stage concludes and he explains that sometimes failure at the Fall Classic is a matter of perspective.

In 1987, Rick Vershure was an up-and-coming professional when he missed earning his Tour card by a stroke at Q-School. A few weeks later he was plying his trade on the South African Tour when a telegram arrived from Jim McLean – venerable Quaker Ridge Golf Club wanted to hire him to be the club’s head professional.

It’s been 25 years to the week since Vershure’s near miss at Q-School, but the 59-year-old had no regrets.

“If I would have made (the Tour) I would have never had a chance to get the job I got,” said Vershure, who plans to retire next year. “I would have been intoxicated by it and kept trying.”

Vershure spends the winter in the Coachella Valley and couldn’t resist a trip over to PGA West to experience the last Q-School with direct access to the Tour.

“I thought there are a lot of ironies to this year,” he said.