Warren Pineo in the Canadian Tour
Like most youngsters, Pineo played various sports but golf quickly took hold at age 12. “A bunch of friends that played regularly invited me to go with them and I ended up beating them all,” he laughed. “I focused on golf in my sophomore year in high school and then went to College of the Desert in California. I turned pro when I was 20 and have played golf everywhere ever since.”
After bouncing around the mini-tours and Monday qualifying for the occasional Nationwide and PGA TOUR event, Pineo, 33, entered the Canadian Tour’s 2008 California Q-School. Despite being surrounded by applicants 10 years his junior, Pineo felt right at home.
“My friends say I think and act like I’m 25 or so anyway,” he answered, when asked if he felt like an old man among the fresh faced kids. “I enjoy life and love to play golf. It’s a great life to be able to do what I do.”
Still, Pineo’s goal, like everyone else that teed it up in California, is to compete against Tiger and company on a full time basis.
“I got to second stage of PGA TOUR Q-School the last two years but couldn’t get any further,” said Pineo. “My coach (Dave Woods) strongly suggested the Canadian Tour. He said the playing atmosphere is a lot like the PGA TOUR. You have scoreboards out there, you’re not riding around in golf carts or wearing shorts like on the mini-tours."
"It’s very professional. I also realized that I was spending a lot of money going all over the place and trying to Monday qualify. To get to the next level I needed a regular schedule of events and to live the life of a touring pro.”
He will get his chance in 2008. Pineo was a model of consistency at the California Q-School and easily earned his Canadian Tour card with a T-4th finish that included a low of 66 in the third round.
“I’ve played all the mini-tours but the Canadian Tour is a lot different. You can play these one-day events on the mini-tours but they don’t prepare you for the PGA TOUR the way the Canadian Tour does. Out here, you have to play consistent golf over four days – not just one day.”
“With the Canadian Tour you’re learning how to travel week-to-week and budget your time. You also have the expenses of being on the road. Those things prepare you for the Nationwide Tour and PGA TOUR. Sure, you can come in and do a one-day tournament, but it feels like a vacation rather than real tournament golf. After a while, I realized I wasn’t getting any better playing the mini-tours.”
“I’m excited about this season,” he concluded. “I’m in the California events and then plan on heading down to Mexico to play those tournaments. I’ll probably play the full schedule and then gear up for Q-School in the fall. I want to play on the PGA TOUR and the Canadian Tour is a great jumping off point.”
