They Got Their Cards in Soboba
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SAN JACINTO, California—Trailing by four shots with eight holes to play at PGA TOUR Canada’s fifth Qualifying Tournament, Charlie Reiter rallied on the back nine at Soboba Springs Golf Course on Friday, overtaking 54-hole leader Kyle Karazissis to win the tournament. He birdied the 72nd hole to Karazissis’ bogey, leaving him at 15-under. With the triumph, Reiter earned the right to play in every open PGA TOUR Canada tournament on the 2023 schedule. Despite the disappointment, Karazissis joined eight others who are exempt into every tournament in the first half of the season. The Tour still has one Qualifying Tournament to contest, in Courtenay, British Columbia, Canada, in early June prior to the start of the Fortinet Cup season. Here is a look at the 10 most recent players to earn their membership cards.
Charlie Reiter (United States)
Qualifying Tournament Finish: Won
Career PGA TOUR Canada Starts: 0
Career PGA TOUR Starts: 4
Something Worth Knowing: In 2022, he made it into match play of the California State Amateur, tied for 28th in the 153-player field in Palm Desert. From there, he got hot. Reiter won his first three matches, none of them ever reaching the 18th hole. In the semifinals, he survived a 1-up victory over stroke-play medalist Kuanga Chen. In the 36-hole championship match, Reiter coasted to a 5-and-4 win over Kevin Huff.
Kyle Karazissis (United States)
Qualifying Tournament Finish: Second
Career PGA TOUR Canada Starts: 0
Something Worth Knowing: At a Dakotas Tour tournament in Marshall, Minnesota, in 2014, Karazissis shot a 12-under 59 in the second round at Marshall Golf Club. Karazissis made two eagles, eight birdies and eight pars.
Tyler Falk (United States)
Qualifying Tournament Finish: Tied for Third
Career PGA TOUR Canada Starts: 0
Something Worth Knowing: A collegiate player at Northwest Christian University, graduating in 2014, Falk became the head men’s and women’s golf coach at Bushnell University in Eugene, Oregon, a position he still maintains today.
Devon Bling (United States)
Qualifying Tournament Finish: Tied for Third
Career PGA TOUR Canada Starts: 0
Career PGA TOUR Starts: 2
Something Worth Knowing: At the 2018 U.S. Amateur at Pebble Beach Golf Links, Bling won his first five matches after qualifying for match play in the stroke-play portion of the tournament. He took down Caleb Ramirez, Shintaro Ban, Noah Goodwin, Davis Riley and Isaiah Salinda in his first five matches before losing in the 36-hole final to Viktor Hovland, 6 and 5.
Austen Christiansen (United States)
Qualifying Tournament Finish: Fifth
Career PGA TOUR Canada Starts: 0
Career Korn Ferry Tour Starts: 1
Something Worth Knowing: In his lone career Korn Ferry Tour start, at the 2022 Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank, Christiansen fired four under-par rounds at Oakridge Country Club to tie for 47th.
Jordan Costello (United States)
Qualifying Tournament Finish: Sixth
Career PGA TOUR Canada Starts: 0
Career PGA TOUR Latinoamérica Starts: 6
Something Worth Knowing: The Wyoming native and University of Utah graduate built a 4-foot-by-16-foot platform in his room where he practiced putting when he was a teenager. His goal each winter when it was too cold outside to play was to make 10,000 10-footers, 5,000 15-footers and 15,000 five-foot putts.
Nick Cunningham (England)
Qualifying Tournament Finish: Seventh
Career PGA TOUR Canada Starts: 0
Something Worth Knowing: Cunningham, a Bedford, England, native, won his first PGA EuroPro Tour title, the 2022 World Snooker and Jessie May Championship, a one-shot victory over Northern Ireland’s Dermot McElroy and England’s Benjamin Jones.
a-Kento Yamawaki (Japan)
Qualifying Tournament Finish: Tied for Eighth
Career PGA TOUR Canada Starts: 0
Something Worth Knowing: Yamawaki’s father, Koichi, while working as an executive for Taylor Made Golf, started both of his sons playing golf. Kento began when he was three, practiced at Morgan Run Club and Resort in Rancho Santa Fe, California, and he won his first junior tournament at age five.
Jonathan Walters (United States)
Qualifying Tournament Finish: Tied for Eighth
Career PGA TOUR Canada Starts: 0
Something Worth Knowing: In 2017, while a senior at Canyon del Oro High School in Arizona, Walters shared Golfer of the Year honors with Jake Goode.
Ryann Ree (United States)
Qualifying Tournament Finish: Tied for Eighth
Career PGA TOUR Canada Starts: 6
Career PGA TOUR Latinoamérica Starts: 3
Career PGA TOUR Series-China Starts: 26
Something Worth Knowing: Ree played two full seasons on PGA TOUR Series-China, his final year coinciding with the Tour’s concluding season. In his last official round, at the Macau Championship in 2019, Ree fired an 8-under 63.