Regis Jesuit/DU grad Chris Korte easily advances at Q-school with third-place showing; Chris DiMarco narrowly makes PGA Tour Champions playoffs, while Brandt Jobe just misses out
By Gary Baines – 10/12/2025
Regis Jesuit High School and University of Denver graduate Chris Korte has Monday qualified into three PGA Tour events so far in 2025, plus the Korn Ferry Tour tournament at TPC Colorado.
But the next step for the former CGA Amateur and CGA Match Play champion is trying to earn exempt status onto one of those tours in 2026. And this week he began that journey on a strong note by tying for third on Friday in a First Stage Q-school event in Maricopa, Ariz.
By — with plenty of room to spare — finishing in the top 21 out of a field of 77 in Arizona, Korte advanced to the Q-school’s Second Stage, set for Dec. 2-5 at five sites.
Korte, who grew up in Littleton, carded scores of 63-66-72-69 for an 18-under-par total in Arizona, where he ended up four strokes behind medalist Tyler Leach of Spring Valley, Wis.
Meanwhile, among those who failed to advance in Arizona was former CGA Player of the Year Connor Jones of Westminster, who tied for 45th place at the site (66-72-70-73).
Also on the wrong end of the First Stage cut line on Friday was former University of Colorado golfer Dylan McDermott, who was trying to advance from a tournament in Murrieta, Calif. But with 19 players advancing from that site, McDermott tied for 20th, ending his PGA Tour/KFT Q-school run for this year. McDermott went 69-71-68-74 for a 6-under-par total.
In all, 14 First Stage tournaments are planned for this month, including six from Oct. 14-17. As noted, the five Second Stage events are set for Dec. 2-5. And the Final Stage of Q-school is scheduled for Dec. 11-14 at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
The top five finishers in the Final Stage will earn 2026 PGA Tour cards. The rest of the top 40 and ties will land some exempt status on the Korn Ferry Tour for next year, while the remaining finishers will have conditional status.
Here are the results for players with strong Colorado ties in PGA Tour Q-school this week:
First Stage in Maricopa, Ariz. Oct. 7-10
(Top 21 Finishers Advance to Second Stage)
Advance to Second Stage
3. Former Coloradan Chris Korte 63-66-72-69–270
Failed to Advance
45. Connor Jones, Westminster 68-72-70-73–281
74. Former Fort Collins resident 74-71-76-75–296
First Stage in Murrieta, Calif. Oct. 7-10
(Top 19 Finishers Advance to Second Stage)
Failed to Advance
20. Former CU golfer Dylan McDermott 69-71-68-74—282
For all the results from Q-school, CLICK HERE.
Elsewhere in high-level tour golf competition this weekend:
— With the PGA Tour Champions regular season coming to a close on Sunday at the SAS Championship in Cary, N.C., one Colorado resident narrowly qualified for the Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs, while a Colorado Golf Hall of Famer missed advancing by one spot.
With the top 72 on the season-long points list making the playoffs, Denver-area resident Chris DiMarco ended up 70th in the regular season standings to advance. But Hall of Famer Brandt Jobe finished 73rd — just on the wrong side of the line — and saw his PGA Tour Champions season end.
The playoffs begin with next week’s Dominion Energy Charity Classic in Richmond, Va., with the top 54 in points after that moving on to the Simmons Bank Championship in Little Rock, Ark., then the top 36 after that advancing to the Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Phoenix.
Joining DiMarco in advancing to the playoffs from a local perspective are former Aspen resident Justin Leonard (17th on the season-long points list), Denver-area resident David Duval (43rd) and Shane Bertsch of Parker (50th).
For the scores from the SAS Championship, CLICK HERE.
— Despite posting a victory early in the season, former Air Force Academy golfer Kyle Westmoreland fell short of regaining his PGA Tour card via his performance on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2025.
Westmoreland, who played on the PGA Tour in the 2022-23 season, needed to finish in the top 20 on the season-long KFT points list to earn a 2026 PGA Tour berth. But a 63rd-place finish at the season-ending Korn Ferry Tour Championship on Sunday French Lick, Ind., left him 34th in points.
Westmoreland claimed the title at the KFT’s Astara Golf Championship in February.
Among those who officially earned their PGA Tour cards on Sunday was Neal Shipley, who won The Ascendant presented by Blue at TPC Colorado in July and finished second in the 2023 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills Country Club.
For all the scores from the Korn Ferry Tour Championship, CLICK HERE.
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com