Best of the North rub shoulders at PGA qualifier

Professional golf is a huge sport worldwide but occasionally it can seem a lot smaller as Northland golfers Doug Batty and Dale Clarke found out this week.
The pair found themselves playing at the same tournament in San Diego this week as they try to get through to the second stage of qualifying for the US PGA tour.
There are 12 stage-one qualifying tournaments starting tomorrow, scattered throughout the "warm weather" states of the United States. Batty and Clarke might have picked any of them to play in but ended up entering the same tournament at the Carlton Oaks Country Club in Southern California.
They haven't played together much. Batty is based in the United States and Clarke is based in Australia but they get to see each other occasionally, when they bump into each other playing at New Zealand tournaments - but this was a bigger coincidence, Clarke said.
"I saw Doug the other day, he played a mini tour event here in San Diego so I went over to catch up with him," he said.
The 31-year-old Batty has battled away as a professional golfer for several years now and won't be overawed by the tournament. He is based in Beverly Hills and shot to national attention in 2009 after he qualified for the US Open, drawing huge media attention in New Zealand and abroad - particularly after playing a practice round with Tiger Woods.
The Northland pair also will line up at the tournament with former Bay of Plenty amateur representative Jae An, who went to school with another former Northland No 1, Gary-John Hill, in Rotorua.
"Myself Doug, Jae An and Mike Hendry are the only Kiwis playing at Q-school this year but Mike's not at my venue which isn't a big surprise as there are 12 to choose from," Clarke said.
The Kiwi trio played their first practice round overnight and start their second later today (NZT), before teeing off in the 72-hole tournament tomorrow.
The 23-year-old Clarke, who has been looking forward to this moment since he turned professional two years ago, is aware of the difficulty of qualifying for the PGA tour but is still excited at the prospect.
"It hadn't sunk in until yesterday when I realised this is the first step in reaching my goal, my dream of playing on the US PGA Tour," he said.
Because Clarke plays on the Australian PGA Tour, he was exempt from the first stage of pre-qualifying but even if he qualifies in San Diego this week, there are a further two stages of qualifying to get through before life with a tour card can be contemplated.
"Carlton Oaks is a tough golf course so I'm looking forward to really competing and kicking some Yankee butt," Clarke joked.
The second stage of qualifying is held at six simultaneous tournaments in November, with the top 20 or so at each tournament going through to the final qualifying tournament in Florida at the end of November.
The top 25 players earn tour cards, while the next 50 players plus ties earn Nationwide Tour (second-tier professional tour) cards for the following year.