Omelia reaps reward

Bryan Omelia's perseverance in pursuing a career as a tournament professional finally reaped some reward in California over the weekend when he successfully secured his card on the NGA Hooter's Tour for next season.

This is the same development tour which Richard Coughlan - who last week won his playing rights to rejoin the big guys on the full US Tour when emerging from final qualifying school - played for most of the past year in an effort to maintain tournament sharpness.

Omelia, a former Irish amateur international from Newlands, finished runner-up to local player John Ray Leary in the Hooter's Tour qualifying school at Moreno Valley in California when he shot rounds of 69 69 72 67 for a 72-holes total of 11-under-par 277, three shots behind the leading qualifier. With just eight fully exempt places available in California (one of four qualifying tournaments), Omelia's consistency was rewarded with a ticket that will enable him to play on the Hooter's circuit where tournaments have prizemoney ranging from $100,000 to $300,000. Last year, Omelia played on the Asian Tour and, this year, divided his time between the TearDrop Tour in the US and the Buzzgolf.com tour in Europe. While there is no direct route from the Hooter's Tour to the full US Tour, it has been used with considerable success by players seeking regular tournament play. Apart from Coughlan, other US Tour players to use such a route number Tom Lehman, Lee Janzen and Jim Furyk.