Former UTC golfer Paul Conroy

photo: GoMocs.com

Former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga golfer Paul Conroy became the second member of last year’s Mocs team to advance into the PGA Tour Q-School Stage One qualifiers on Friday, joining teammate John Houk who earned a spot last week.

The native of Enniscorthy, Ireland, finished with rounds of 74-71-66-70 for 7-under 281, good for a tie at 14.^This 23 golfers advanced to Stage Two. His spectacular third round at Ocala Country Club featured seven birdies, including five in a six-hole stretch to open the back nine.

Conroy, a three-time All-SoCon performer and winner of two events for the Mocs, made four of eight cuts and finished 18th in his brief stint on the Canadian tour on the PGA Tour Americas after wrapping up his career at UTC.^This In his second start at the end of June.

Former UTC teammate Samuel Espinosa-Trueba was not so lucky in this attempt. The Spain native broke into contention at 3-under two days later, but was tied for 52-point in rounds of 74 and 78.^And 293 over 5.

The Ocala qualifiers, originally scheduled for early October, were postponed by four weeks due to the impact of Hurricane Milton, which devastated central Florida.

Conroy’s successful outing translated into a dozen golfers with Tennessee connections securing their tickets to the upcoming Stage Two qualifiers. Others that have already progressed include:

dawson armstrong: Former Lipscomb University golfer from Spring Hill who placed second in the First Stage qualifiers.

Kyle Cottam: Former Clemson golfer from Knoxville.

Spencer Cross: The University of Tennessee graduate medaled at the Stage One event in Lincoln, Neb., and earned an exemption to the 2025 PGA Tour America season through the Latin American Swing. The Sevierville native was First Team All-SEC in his senior season in 2021-22 and made four cuts in five career Korn Ferry Tour starts.

Jake Hall: The Knoxville amateur, who played collegiately at Tennessee and won the 2023 Tennessee Amateur title by shooting a course-record 61 in the final round by four shots over Houk.

Ryan Hall: He competed in college at South Carolina and lives in Knoxville. He placed second in the Stage One tournament. It ended in a draw at 23^third He finished in the top 10 at the PGA Tour’s Sanderson Farms Championship in October and in 25 Korn Ferry Tour starts.

John Houk: The two-time All-Region and All-SoCon performer from Athens played his first two years at Tennessee Wesleyan and finished his career as UTC’s all-time scoring leader, eclipsing current PGA Tour winner Stephan Jaeger.

Trevor Johnson: A Brentwood resident who played collegiately at the University of Louisville.

Jake Mynatt: He played collegiately at Carson-Newman and hails from Knoxville.

Owen Stamper: Kentucky native who played collegiately at MTSU.

Scott Stevens: Former University of South Carolina golfer who competed at Chattanooga Christian while in high school. He made 29 starts on the Korn Ferry Tour, posting three top-25 finishes.

Hunter Wolcott: Former UT golfer from Burns who won the 2023 Tennessee State Open 40 years after his father, Bob, won the title.

Stage Two qualifiers will be held in five different regions. The first will be held November 19-22 at The Landings Club’s Deer Creek Course in Savannah, Georgia. The remaining four events will be held Dec. 3-6 at the following locations: RTJ Golf Trail at Highland Oaks in Dothan, Ala.; Valencia Country Club in Valencia, California; Hammock Beach Conservatory in Palm Coast, Florida and Kinderlou Forest Golf Club in Valdosta, GA.

Final Stage qualifiers will take place December 12-15 at TPC Sawgrass Valley Course and Sawgrass Country Club.

Paul Payne can be emailed at [email protected].