It has been a long journey for UT Permian Basin men's golfer Sangha Park, who is currently getting ready to compete in 2023 PGA Tour Q-School in North Carolina at The Club at Irish Creek.

Park arrived in Odessa in 2018 - coming from Cheongju, South Korea - to compete on the men's golf team at Odessa College. Park competed as a Wrangler from 2018 to 2021, then transferred to UTPB in the fall of 2022 to compete on the men's golf team.

"Sangha is wonderful to coach and brings tremendous value to the golf programs," said Head women's and men's golf coach Kyle Wittenbach. "He helps his teammates with whatever they need at the time and is a natural leader." 

The success Park has had at UTPB has led him down the path of achieving a dream he had prior to coming to the United States.

"My goal is to be on the PGA tour," said Park. "So, I watch a lot of PGA players and watch how they act and how they play and think about me being in their shoes." 

For the last year and a half at UTPB, Park has been working diligently with his mentor, KJ Choi, coach Wittenbach and assistant coach Troy Lopez in order  to improve his golfing skills so he can make it to the PGA tour this year.

The work he has put in will hopefully allow help him make it through qualifying school, which starts today (Sep. 20).

There are four stages to the qualifying school, pre-qualifying stage, first stage, second stage and final stage. The pre-qualifying -stage is stroke play  contested over 54 holes, while stage one to the final stage is stroke play contested over 72 holes.

Pre-qualifying stage is from Sep. 20-22, and will be at the The Club at Irish Creek in North Carolina. Stage one starts on October 10 and will go through the 13^th, with Park putting priority over playing in Maricopa, Ariz., at the Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Course.

Stage two will start on November 28 and will wrap up on December 1 - Park prioritizing competing in Valdosta, GA, at the Kinderlou Forest Golf Club. 

Additionally, while Park has set a priority of where he would like to compete for stage one and two, it is not guaranteed though until the PGA tour tells him.

The final stage will start on December 14 and will finish on the 17, and will be played in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL at TPC Sawgrass (Dye's Valley Course).

If Park makes it to the final stage he will have to declare as a professional golfer, meaning he will lose his amateurism and will no longer be able to compete on the men's golf team at UTPB.

If Park makes it through all the stages of qualifying school, He will earn status on the Korn Ferry Tour for the 2024 season based on his finish at Final Stage. 

If you'd like to follow Park along the pre-qualifying round of qualifying school click here for a live stats link.