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Moe eyes Champions Tour Q-School finals

Golf notes

Sonoma’s Kris Moe is taking another crack at the Champions Tour Q-School tournament, which took place this week and ends today at Woodforest Golf Club at Fish Creek in Montgomery, Texas.

The affable Moe hopes to return to the Q-School finals, as he did last year, and make it onto the Champions Tour in 2013 for a full season – but that hasn’t stopped him having some fun and getting in shape. 

Moe traveled to Bandon Dunes on Oct. 20 and 21, for the inaugural Speedgolf World Championship. The event, which sees competitors play as quickly as possible and have a combined score of their 18-hole score and 18-hole time, got Moe’s attention earlier in the year when one of the event’s founders came to him for a golf lesson. 

The more Moe read about the event, the more he wanted to play.  Already in pretty good shape, he began the process of training for the grueling event, often running 300-yards, stopping, then running 150-yards, and repeating. 

“I’ve always been able to run, and this gave me the chance to do something new and cutting edge – I think you’ll see more people getting into this in the future,” Moe said. 

Going into the event, Moe felt that if he played solid golf, it would make up for him possibly being a little slower in the running department. He used a smaller bag and didn’t carry a full set of clubs, and said he spent a little time lining up shots, and after one round he was in contention, sitting in sixth place. 

As it turns out, Moe realized that perhaps the running portion of the event is where you can make most of your score up, considering he posted a score of 72, but had a time of 64 minutes 24 seconds, conversely, another competitor, Tim Scott, shot 81, nine shots behind Moe, but ended the round in 52 minutes 21 seconds.  By the time the event finished on Sunday, Moe had slipped to 10th place, with Chris Walker taking the title and $18,000 first-place prize with at 263.28 total (77-53.29; 76-56.29), but his excitement for the event was still there. 

“I think this tournament is only going to grow in stature, and people are going to realize that you can play golf quickly and well,” said Moe.

For now, Moe will return to playing at a more leisurely pace at the qualifying school in hopes of making it to the Q-school finals at Eagle Trace Golf Club in Coral Springs Florida.