This is a list of the Fall 1976 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates. The tournament was held at Rancho Viejo Resort and Golf Course in
Brownsville, Texas. It was known for its "miserable weather."
Tournament summary
A number of notable players did not graduate onto the
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...
. They included
Curtis Strange
Curtis Northrup Strange (born January 30, 1955) is an American professional golfer and TV color commentator. He is the winner of consecutive U.S. Open titles and a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame and Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. He sp ...
, then considered by some the top amateur in the country. Strange finished with three consecutive bogeys to miss qualifying by a shot. It was considered "the most stunning development" of the event. In addition, "sure-fire bets"
Phil Hancock
Phillip Ranson Hancock (born October 30, 1953) is an American professional golfer who formerly played on the PGA Tour.
Early life
Hancock learned to play golf growing up in Greenville, Alabama from his father, a local dentist.Charles Newborn, P ...
and
Wayne Levi
Wayne John Levi (born February 22, 1952) is an American professional golfer.
Early life
Levi was born in Little Falls, New York and attended high school in Herkimer, New York. He enrolled at Oswego State University for two years and then the ...
were also unsuccessful.
A number of notable players were successful, however. Strange's teammate from
Wake Forest,
Jay Haas
Jay Dean Haas (born December 2, 1953) is an American professional golfer formerly of the PGA Tour who now plays on the PGA Tour Champions.
Early life and amateur career
Haas was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and grew up in Belleville, Illinois ...
, did graduate. In his third attempt,
Mark Lye
Mark Ryan Lye (born November 13, 1952) is an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour.
Early life
Lye was born in Vallejo, California. He attended San Jose State University, where he was a three-time All-A ...
qualified for the
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...
. After several successful seasons abroad, Australian
Graham Marsh
Graham Vivian Marsh MBE (born 14 January 1944) is a retired professional golfer who was one of the leading Australian players of his generation. During his career he won more than 70 tournaments around the world, including 10 on the European ...
earned his
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...
card for the first time.
Lye and Marsh tied for third place.
The newly turned professional
Keith Fergus
Keith Carlton Fergus (born March 3, 1954) is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour, the Nationwide Tour and the Champions Tour.
Fergus was born in Temple, Texas. He started playing golf at age 8. In high school, he pla ...
earned medalist honors by a sizable margin defeating
Mike Sullivan by ten shots.
List of graduates
Source:
References
{{PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates
1976 2
PGA Tour Qualifying School Graduates
PGA Tour Qualifying School Graduates