5 former Stanford players are still hoping to make the PGA Tour in 2013

The PGA Tour's Qualifying process has been underway for more than a month and there are now 5 former Stanford golfers still alive with a chance to earn a PGA Tour card for 2013.  A total of 10 Stanford alums began the process.  All the results thus far can be found at the PGA Tours website -- http://www.pgatour.com/qschool/.

The ten players who started the process were Zack Miller, Joseph Bramlett, Alex Aragon, Andrew Yun, David Chung, Steve Ziegler, Jordan Cox, Dodge Kemmer, Sihwan Kim and Joel Kribel.  The results of each players's qualifying efforts thus far can be found below.

All began a difficult process to try to advance to the Final Stage of the PGA Qualifying tournament to be held Nov 28-Dec 3 at the PGA West Nicklaus Course in La Quinta, CA.  At the Final Stage of qualifying, players will be competing for 25 PGA Tour cards with most of the remaining players in the Final Stage field earning some status on the important Web.com tour, the primary stepping stone to PGA Tour play.  Background info on all the Stanford players can be found at http://stanfordmensgolf.com/alumni_list_public.htm.  

 The five who still are competing for PGA Tour and Web.com Tour privileges are Zack Miller, Joseph Bramlett, Alex Aragon, Andrew Yun and Sihwan Kim.

Zack Miller, a 2007 graduate and 2-time All-American, played on this year's PGA Tour and is currently 198th on the money list with $137,112 in winnings.  As a current PGA Tour member, Zack will be exempt until the Final Stage of qualifying at PGA West Nov. 28-Dec 3.

Joseph Bramlett, a 2010 graduate and former 2nd team All-American, competed on the Web.com tour in 2012 after playing on the PGA Tour in 2011.  Joseph just missed earning his PGA Tour card this season, awarded to the top 25 money winners, as he finished 28th on the money list earning $177,973, only about $4,000 behind the cut-off to earn a Tour card.  Because of his high finish, Joseph is exempt until the Final Stage of qualifying at PGA West.

Alex Aragon, a 2001 graduate, also competed on the Web.com tour in 2012 after earning his tour card as Joseph did in 2011.  Alex also missed earning his PGA Tour card this season as he finished 33rd on the money list earning $161.544, about $20,000 behind the cut-off to earn a Tour card.  Because of his high finish, Alex is also exempt until the Final Stage of qualifying at PGA West.

Andrew Yun, a rising senior at Stanford and 2-time All-American, has not played with the team this fall in order to try to qualify and thus far he has had great success.  His process began as Andrew finished 2nd in one of the many newly created pre-qualifying tournaments around the country when he shot 67-72-66 at the PGA West Greg Norman Course in September 19-21 (the low 39 and ties moved on).  Next up for Andrew was first stage qualifying at Oak Valley CC in Beaumont, CA Oct 24-27 where again he finished 2nd with rounds of 69-68-72-70 (low 18 and ties advanced).  Next up will be 2nd stage qualifying in mid-November at one of 6 sites around the country, most likely at Bear Creek CC in Murrieta, CA.

Sihwan Kim, a 2011 graduate and former 1st team All-American, tied for 1st in first stage qualifying at Grasslands CC in Lakeland, Florida, with rounds of 64-65-68-71.  As with Andrew, Sihwan will move to one of the 2nd stage qualifying sites, likely in Florida, in mid-November.

Dodge Kemmer, a 2009 graduate, played in a first stage qualifier in Lewisville, Texas, and missed qualifying by only 1 shot after rounds of 75-77-68-70.  Next year Dodge will likely pursue play in Asia or Europe as he did in 2012 with good success.

Steve Ziegler, a 2011 graduate and 2-time All-American, played in a first stage qualifier in Dayton, Nevada, and missed advancing by only 2 shots after rounds of 67-75-69-74.  Steve will likely pursue on one of the US mini-tours in 2013.

David Chung, a 2012 graduate and 2010 All-American, played in a first stage qualifier at Florence, South Carolina, and missed advancing by 4 shots after rounds of 68-70-71-72.  David will be pursuing his professional career in 2013 on a mini-tour in a location to be determined.

Joel Kribel, a 1999 graduate and 4-time All-American, played in a first stage qualifier at San Juan Oaks, California, and missed advancing by 6 shots after rounds of 74-70-67-73.  Joel, living in the Scottsdale area, will likely be pursuing his professional career in 2013 on a mini-tour in a location to be determined.

Jordan Cox, a 2010, played in a first stage qualifier at Madison, Mississippi, and missed advancing by 8 shots after rounds of 69-71-72-72.  Jordan will likely be pursuing his professional career in 2013 on a mini-tour in a location to be determined.

Stanford stars of past shine under the sun at Pebble

San Jose Mercury News Article By JOhn Reid - Daily News Staff Writer

Posted: 02/11/2011 12:02:49 AM PST

PEBBLE BEACH -- Stanford Athletic Director Bob Bowlsby made it just in time to watch former Cardinal stars Zack Miller and Joseph Bramlett tee off at Pebble Beach Golf Links. Miller and Bramlett, who acquired their PGA Tour cards at the same Q-School in December in Orlando, Fla., were about to have themselves a special day under the bright, coastal sun at the AT&T Pro-Am.

Miller's amateur partner is Scott McNealy, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, who lives in Portola Valley. Playing with Bramlett is Jerry Yang, co-founder of Yahoo, who resides in Los Altos Hills. Miller and Bramlett were hardly yahoos on the course.

Bramlett carded a 3-under-par 69, four strokes behind co-leaders D.A. Points and Steve Marino. Bramlett registered six birdies, three bogeys. Miller, who had four birdies and four bogeys, finished an even-par 72.

They both have a chance to improve their score today on the Monterey Peninsula Country Club's Shore Course, the easiest of the three courses used in the tournament. The foursome tees off at 8:44 a.m. on the 10th tee.

Miller was a senior at Stanford when Bramlett, a St. Francis-Mountain View alum, was a freshman. That year, 2007, the Cardinal won the NCAA men's golf championship. On Thursday, they were competing against each other. Bramlett has some catching up to do. Miller won $121,000 on the Nationwide Tour last year and has a $63,000 edge over Bramlett in money earnings, their PGA careers in embryonic stages.

Miller tied for 25th at the Bob Hope Classic and tied for 29th at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.

"Joe and I are close friends," said Miller, who prepped at the Branson School in Ross, Calif. "That said, we really want to beat each other. There were a couple of times when we had conversations up the fairway. We're both focusing on what we have to do ourselves. When this event is over, we'll look back and say, 'How fun was that?'"

"It was awesome playing with Zack," Bramlett said. "We have so many special memories."

Miller had the most dynamic shots, bailing himself out of potential trouble. He holed out from 57 yards out at No. 18 to salvage par, the ball taking one hop and into the cup. It was a great up-and-down for Miller, who hit a provisional ball after his drive found the ocean. At the par-4 No. 16, Miller chipped in for birdie. After chunking one out of the trap at the par-3 No. 5, Miller took a slow walk toward the ocean to gather himself. He returned and promptly chipped in for par.

Read the complete article in the SJ Mercury News.

Zack Miller earns conditional status on Nationwide Tour in 2010

Zack Miller ('07) tied for 90th at the PGA Tour's final stage of qualifying school (Q-School) in a field of 152 players. The final stage was held at Bear Lakes CC in West Palm Beach over 6 rounds from Dec 2-7. Zack had rounds of 75-71-72-72-73-70, to finish 1-over par.

The low 25 finishers and ties earned PGA Tour cards, while the next 52 players earned fully exempt status on the Nationwide Tour for 2010 for the first 12 events. Zack was included in the remaining finishers who earned conditional status on the Nationwide Tour, also for the first 12 events. After 12 events, there will be a re-shuffling of status of the players based on 2010 play.

Complete results can be found here ---

San Rafael's Zack Miller ('07) goes for PGA Tour card at Q-school finale

The following article was written by Dave Allen for the Marin Independent Journal about Stanford's former All-American golfer, Zack Miller ('07).

Zack Miller knows he has the physical tools to compete with the best golfers in the world. Now the San Rafael native believes he has the mental focus to take his game all the way to the PGA Tour.

Miller, 25, is the closest he has been to earning his PGA Tour card - the golden ticket every professional golfer dreams of - when he plays in the third and final stage of the Q-school tournament beginning Wednesday at Bear Lakes Country Club in West Palm Beach, Fla. The top 25 scorers in the field of more than 150 golfers (which includes some big names like David Duval, Tim Herron and Jesper Parnevik) earn a 2010 card.

"My game has reached a whole new level and it has been about taking control of my emotions on the golf course," said Miller, a 2003 graduate of the Branson School. "I'm not concerned about my score out there. That takes care of itself. I'm hitting the ball great. I'm putting the ball great. These are products of my ability to control my emotions. I'm exciting to get out there and compete."

Miller tuned up for this week's showdown by challenging a couple records on a pair of Marin courses last week. Last Tuesday, he broke his own mark at San Geronimo Golf Course, shooting a 9-under-par 63. He followed that up by tying the course record at Novato's StoneTree Golf Club the next day. Miller carded a 6-under 66 to tie the mark set by Matt Dito, now the club pro at Eagle Vines in Napa.

"He is so hot right now," said Ken Maring, a former PGA caddie who played with Miller during the record-setting round at San Geronimo. "There is no question (he is good enough to play on the PGA Tour). We all knew he was dialed in (last Tuesday). You could see he was in for a special day."

To view the complete article click here.

Zack Miller advances to final stage of PGA Tour Qualifying School

Zack Miller ('07) has advanced to the final stage of the PGA Tour's grueling Q-School after making it through 2nd stage qualifying at Southern Hills Plantation Club in Brooksville, FL. Zack had rounds of 67-69-70-74 for an 8-under 280 total which was the cutline for qualifying for one of the 21 spots (plus ties). No doubt Zack was feeling the pressure of the moment as he ended up double bogeying his final hole, probably feeling as though he had missed his chance to advance.

Here you can find full results for the PGA Tour's Q-School including information about the final stage of qualifying to be played Dec 2-7 at Bear Lakes CC in West Palm Beach, FL. Zack will be one of 132 players competing for spots on both the PGA Tour and the Nationwide Tour. All players in the final stage will have some status on one of the two tours for the 2010 season.

Three other Cardinal grads made it through first stage qualifying but were not able to advance beyond 2nd round qualifying at three other sites. Jim Seki ('02) finished 6 shots back of the cutline with rounds of 75-71-75-69 while playing at Deerwood GC in Kingwood, TX. Joel Kribel ('99) was 8 shots off the 8-under cutline with rounds of 69-72-74-73 playing at Oak Valley GC in Beaumont, CA. Alex Aragon ('01), who played on the PGA Tour this season but didn't retain his card, had rounds of 74-75-76-72 to tie for 64th at Hombre GC in Panama City Beach, FL.

In first stage qualifying Rob Grube ('08) and Daniel Lim ('09) were unable to advance to 2nd stage play.

Four Cardinal Grads advance to 2nd stage of PGA Q-School

The grueling PGA Tour Q-School finds 4 former Cardinal golfers advancing to the all-important 2nd stage. Joel Kribel, Alex Aragon, Jim Seki and Zack Miller advanced from four different qualifying locations in play from Oct 27-30. Rob Grube and Daniel Lim failed to quality in their first stage qualifying attempts.

Joel Kribel ('99), 4-time All American while at Stanford shot 5-under rounds of 71-73-71-68 to tie for 13th at San Juan Oaks CC in Hollister, CA --- the cut was at 2-under par. Alex Aragon ('01) tied for 22nd on the cut-line of 6 under with rounds of 70-68-70-74 at Lantana GC in Lantana, TX. Jim Seki ('02) was 9-under versus a 7-under cut to tie for 11th with rounds of 73-70-68-68 at Grasslands CC in Lakeland, FL. Zack Miller ('07) tied for 14th at 1 over par versus the 2 over cut with rounds of 72-74-68-75 at Carlton Oaks in Santee, CA.

Rob Grube ('08) tied for 34th at 4-over par versus the 1-under cut with rounds of 75-70-74-72 at Kinderlon Forest GC in Valdosta, GA. Daniel Lim ('09) was 5-over to tie for 49th with rounds of 79-73-70-71 to miss the cut by 7 shots also at San Juan Oaks in Hollister.

Good luck to our 4 Cardinal golfers moving on to all important 2nd stage qualifying to be held Nov 18-21 at various sites across the country.

Complete scoring and second stage fields can be found at the PGA Tour's Q-School website.

Zack Miller wins again on the Gateway Tour!

Zack Miller ('07) wins again, his 2nd consecutive victory on the Gateway Tour's Desert series in Scottsdale Arizona over the summer. The latest victory was by 3 strokes at the McCormick Ranch Golf Club in Scottsdale (Aug 19-21) as he shot 69-64-67.

Zack has been on a roll since the end of April with a tie for 2nd, followed by a tie for 22nd and two victories. In these 4 events he has won about $33,000. Zack was a 2-time All-American in his days on the Farm.

His results in 2009 on the Gateway Tour can be found here --- http://www.gatewaytour.com/home/home.aspx.

Zack Miller wins first pro event on Gateway Tour with final round 63

Zack Miller ('07), two-time All-American at Stanford, has won his first professional event thanks to a blazing final round 63 on the Gateway Tour at Troon North in Scottsdale. Now in his third year as a pro, the 25-year old San Rafael California native had rounds of 65-69-63 for a 2-shot victory worth $8,500.

In a story from the Gateway Tour's website Zack relates the following:

As he states, it was perhaps some added confidence from Monday Qualifying and making the cut in last week’s Cox Classic of Omaha that gave him the boost of a winning week back on The Gateway Tour.

“There’s no doubt I think I was feeding off of the energy from (The Cox Classic, where he tied for 63rd) last week, even though I didn’t have the best weekend up there,” said Miller, “but, I definitely came back to The Gateway Tour this week with more confidence and it carried through all week, which was great.”

“I think it’s just one of those things being in the bigger events that gives you confidence because you realize those guys out there aren’t that much different from you,” he added. “It’s just that realization of being in that arena that helps you.”

In his last Gateway Tour start -- Desert Spring No. 8 (Prescott Lakes) -- Miller tied for 2nd after losing a four-way playoff to Nick Mason. With a heartbreaking loss in that event, and with another bout in contention earlier in the season -- a T3 at Desert Spring No. 6 (Vista Verde) -- he’s pleased to finally come through in the clutch with the “W.”

“It’s just a cool thing because this is my first pro win,” said Miller. “I’ve been knocking on the door a couple of times in the past, especially with (the playoff loss at Prescott Lakes), but it’s just been a great week and this feels great.”

The complete article can be found at http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=6125995822083380074.

For complete scoring results click go to http://gatewaytour.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/gway9/event/gway947/contest/1/leaderboard.htm. Note that by clicking on Zack's name in the leaderboard you can see all of his results on the Gateway Tour.

Rob Grube & Zack Miller compete at AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am

4-time Stanford All-American Rob Grube ('08) and All-American Zack Miller ('07) are competing at the AT & T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Rob's amateur partner is Mike McKee playing to a 10 handicap, while Zack is playing with Ron Tomsic who is playing to a 7 handicap.

Neither player was able to finish in the money as Zack shot 69-79-77 while Rob shot 72-72-75 to miss the cut by 5 shots. The promising first round had Zack starting with a 3-under 69 at Pebble Beach (see his individual results), while Rob shot an even-par 72 at Poppy Hills (see Rob's individual results).

You can see the results on the PGA Tour's website. | On the amateur leaderboard you can see who Rob and Zack are playing with and how they are doing.

Grube & Miller to play in the AT & T Pebble Beach Pro-Am

Recent Stanford graduates Rob Grube ('08) and Zack Miller ('07) have been invited to play in the 2008 AT & T Pebble Beach Pro-Am as was announced by the Monterey Peninsula Foundation.


Adding a local flavor to the event, Grube is a graduate of Monterey's Stevenson School and was a 4-time All-American at Stanford as well as being named Pac 10 Player of the Year. In 2007, he led the Cardinal to the National Championship while finishing third individually. In 2008, the Illinois native captained Stanford to a second place finish, losing only to UCLA by a stroke.


Miller was a two-time All-American at Stanford and captain of the 2007 national championship team. Zack has been playing professionally in Asia as well as on mini-tours in the US. For Zack after a frustrating up and down year the invitation was like a wonderful Christmas present. He is quoted in an article in the Marin Independent Journal that "It is really the pinnacle of a golfer's career: To have status on the PGA Tour, the best tour you can be on if you're a golfer," Miller said. "Just having a week out there knowing that you started this game when you were seven and it's come all this way. It's going to be amazing being able to put forth your best effort and look at the scoreboard and see your name against some of the guys you have been following on TV for so long."

The 2009 tournament is slated for Feb.9-15 at Spyglass Hill, Pebble Beach Golf Links and Poppy Hills.

Aragon and Kribel advance at PGA Tour's Q-school, Grube, Seki and Miller do not

First stage of qualifying for the PGA Tour is completed and two Cardinal golfers, Joel Kribel ('99) and Alex Aragon ('01) are moving on. Three others, Rob Grube, Jim Seki and Zack Miller failed to qualify.

Three Stanford alums, Rob Grube ('08), Zack Miller ('07), and Jim Seki ('02) competed in the first stage of PGA Tour qualifying at San Juan Oaks CC in Hollister, California. A fourth alum, Alex Aragon ('01) played in Southern California at Carlton Oaks CC in Santee, California. These are two of the 12 first stage qualifying sites being held around the country. Joel Kribel (previous post) has easily qualified earlier and moved onto the 2nd stage of qualifying.

In the four rounds Seki shot 69-71-70-75 (3-under and tied for 45th), Grube 69-72-72-71 (4-under and tied for 39th) and Miller shot 70-74-69-75 (even par and tied for 56th). It took a 7-under par score to make the low 24 and ties and move on to the 2nd stage of qualifying. Full results from San Juan Oaks can be found at: http://pgatq.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/pgatq8/event/pgatq816/contest/1/leaderboard.htm.

In his four rounds, Aragon shot 72-72-72-72 to finish tied for 11th in the Calton Oaks field with low 23 and ties qualifying for stage 2. Full results from the Calton Oaks qualifier can be found here: http://pgatq.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/pgatq8/event/pgatq814/contest/1/leaderboard.htm.

Zack Miller rededicating himself for a shot at PGA Tour

Dave Albee
Marin Independent Journal, June 1, 2008

The PGA Tour is where Zack Miller of San Rafael wants to be and he's extremely anxious to go anywhere and do anything to play on it. Even, figuratively speaking, surrendering a body part.

Miller has a will to win and a portable GPS unit to guide him there.

The former Branson and Stanford star has gone though PGA Qualifying School in California and Texas, competed in the Gateway Tour in Arizona and Florida and this month will attempt to play on the Nationwide Tour in Missouri, Ohio, Nebraska and possibly Kansas before joining the Korean Tour overseas in August. The 23-year-old golfer's goal is to make the PGA Tour as soon as humanly possible with a new attitude and awakening.

For the complete article go to http://origin.marinij.com/sports/ci_9757090. Photo by Jeff Vendsell for the Marin Independent Journal

Zack Miller Qualifies for 2nd Stage Q-School

Zack Miller, recent Stanford grad, fired a 68-66 in his last two rounds to finish 3rd at the PGA Qualifying school tournament held at San Juan Oaks. Zack now moves on to the 2nd stage where he will have a chance to earn his playing card for either the Nationwide Tour or the PGA Tour.



Posted by Bob Stevens

Stanford alums all business about joining pro tours

Ted Boscia, SF Chronicle, August 29, 2007





Like many of their classmates, Lauren Todd and Zack Miller graduated from Stanford in June with dreams of starting their own businesses.

Only these two wouldn't at all mind being in the red.
That's because the two economics majors soon will embark upon careers as professional golfers. But unlike collegiate stars in more prominent sports like baseball and football, the classmates will have to forgo guaranteed money until they prove they can survive on their respective tours.
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