Door to US tour ajar for Gillespie

Wanganui pro golfer Nick Gillespie has a foot in the door of the lucrative US professional tour. Photo/File

Wanganui pro golfer Nick Gillespie is a step closer to achieving a dream of earning the right to play on the lucrative US professional golf tour.

The door eased open a little further after Gillespie defied the weather and finished inside the top 20 in the second of two qualifying tournaments on the PGA China Tour.

His 4-over total was enough to earn him a full card to play the 12-tournament China tour starting next month.

His success can be sheeted home to a two-under par 70 in the final round of qualifying school on the Mission Hills course near the city of Haikou in southern China.

"I managed to shoot 2-under on the final day in pretty average weather. But it meant I jumped 25 spots for a total of 4-over and a 17th placing," he told the Chronicle yesterday.

Gaining entry to the PGA China Tour can be a springboard to the Web.com tour which is essentially the second tier of the US PGA tour.

The leading money winner from PGA Tour China will gain exemption to play the Web.com tour in 2015.

Even if he doesn't reach those giddy heights - and if his form is good enough - finishing anywhere from second to fifth in the China tour would earn the former Wanganui High School student conditional access to Web.com.

Finishing from sixth to 10th will give him entry to play the Web.com qualifying tournaments.

The bonus there is that all players who compete in those qualifying tournaments will get access to the Web.com tour of some type.

Even finishing in the top 25 in the China tour money list would earn Gillespie a ticket to play the Canadian PGA Tour.

"So, in short, this is a tour that will get me closer to where I want to be," he said.

He will be eligible to play all 12 of the PGA China Tour tournaments which all carry minimum prize money of US$200,000 ($233,000). They will be played between April and November this year.

"The money isn't great, considering the costs of getting up there plus accommodation etc, so it's more about the chance of getting to the States than the money," Gillespie said.

"It'll also give me a full schedule for the year with a handful of OneAsia events and then the Australian summer.

"So there's a good chance this year to gain some good world ranking points and move closer to the goal of playing in America." Mission Hills Golf Club, where he qualified, was named the world's largest golf facility in the Guinness Book of Records in 2004, boasting a total of 12 18-hole courses.