Pro gets clubs stolen, still earns Web.Com Tour status

Cody Blick made it through Web.Com Tour school despite being forced to play with a make-shift set of clubs during the final round after discovering his clubs were stolen on Sunday morning.

On Sunday morning, Cody Blick had just started to make his breakfast when he discovered his clubs had been stolen. The big problem? He needed them to compete in the final day of Web.Com Tour qualifying school, and was in need of shooting a low number.

After putting out an instagram post offering a $5,000 reward to anyone who could get his clubs back to him (no questions asked) that went unanswered, Blick was forced to look for other options. 

“Five minutes after I realized my clubs were gone, it was a panic,” Blick told the PGA Tour. “But 30 minutes after, we had to figure something out and get this going.”

He ended up teeing off with a random set of clubs which included the Whirlwind GC course superintendent’s driver, wedges borrowed from the pro shop, a “random” set of irons, and a much heavier putter than he usually uses.

It might not have been the way he envisaged his final round starting, but he admitted using the make-shift set of golf clubs took the pressure off his game as he knew the clubs weren’t going to be as good as his own, calling the wedges ‘a little weird’ and saying the putter “took some getting used to”.

He ended up getting to four-under through nine holes and made five birdies on his back nine, including three in a row on his last three holes to close out a nine-under 63 and move him up 49 places to T25. 

“This is the weirdest week of my life, hands down,” Blick said. “But a great week. It was awesome.”

His finish means Blick is now guaranteed play on the Web.Com Tour, granting him exempt status for the first eight events of the season.

“I got off to a pretty decent start. I was proud of how I stayed patient all day,” he said. “I just stuck with it. I didn’t do anything different, just stuck with it. Swing at the target and hopefully the clubs were close enough to match the swing.

“There was so much hard work that finally paid off.”

As for the stolen clubs, there is still no word on where they are – but Blick is keen to trace his Scotty Cameron putter.

“It’s kind of a piece of me,” Blick said. “I’m just trying to get that back if I can.”

Blick finished the tournament on 19-under par, eight-shots behind eventual winner Danny Walker, who also shot a final round 63 to win by one shot over fellow American Norman Xiong. 

A group of five players finished behind Xiong on 25-under, including Doug Ghim, who was runner-up at the 2017 U.S. Amateur and claimed low amateur honours at the 2018 Masters.