Sandy’s Steve Schneiter and Orem’s Keith Clearwater both failed in their bids to make the Champions Tour next year at the Q-School Tournament at Panther Lake Golf Club in Winter Garden, Florida.
Schneiter finished in a tie for 34th place at 5-over-par 293, while Clearwater was two strokes back at 295 in a tie for 41st place. If either had finished in the top 30 they would have been eligible to compete for spots in Champions Tour open qualifiers. The top five players earned fully-exempt status, while the next seven earned conditional status.
One of the latter was Rick Gibson, a teammate of Clearwater’s at BYU in the early 1980s, who finished in 10th place at 286 after a final-round 68.
Ogden’s Jimmy Blair had another good round with a 1-under 71, following his 70 on Thursday. If he would have shot those scores in the first two rounds, he would have finished in the top five, but he had earlier rounds of 80 and 75 and finished at 8-over 296.
The winner was New Jersey pro Frank Esposito at 277, a stroke better than former Utah Open champion Grant Waite.