November 5, 2024
VGT’s ILRIAN ZALLI ADVANCES TO FINAL STAGE OF DP WORLD TOUR Q-SCHOOL (Nov.8-13th)
Dear VGT Community:
It gives me great pleasure to inform you that our 2024 VGT Player of the Year, ILIRIAN ZALLI has successfully qualified for FINAL STAGE of the DP WORLD QUALIFYING SCHOOL (European Tour) this weekend in Spain!!
Ilirian advanced through first stage in Sweden some 6 weeks ago with some really steady play, courageously birdying 3 of his last 5 holes to advance on the number to second stage!
He flew home in the 3rd week of September, and the timing was perfect, as he was able to compete in the JM MEDIA BC MATCH PLAY before heading back to Spain for the 2nd stage. He and his partner, Jackson Jacob took full advantage of the timing, and played some amazing golf over the 4 weeks to claim the 2024 BC MATCH PLAY Title!
This was was Ilrian’s 8th WIN on the 2024 Vancouver Golf Tour!!
Ilirian has had an historic run of dominance this year that we have not seen since the likes of VGT’s two most successful ALUMNI, Adam Hadwin (2009-2012) and Nick Taylor (2010-2013). In fact, this year Ilirian shattered the single-season VGT Earnings Total that was set by Nick Taylor in 2013 with his dominating 8-win season on VGT this year!
Taking an abundance of confidence from his dominating 2024 VGT season, Ilrian flew back to Spain last week to compete in the 2nd stage of DP World Tour Qualifying School. His play continued to shine as we have seen all year-long on the VGT.
His rounds of 69, 68, 66, 68 (-13) and T9th position, comfortably advanced him to DP WORLD TOUR Q-SCHOOL FINALS this week in Spain (Nov.8-13th) with the top 22 players advanced to final stage.
We are all extremely proud of Ilirian’s accomplishments on and off the VGT these past 4 years. But one thing for sure, as each week, each month, and each year goes by (seeing Ilirian’s dominance), we were not surprised to see him advance to the finals. He really has proven to our community, and to himself that the consistency in his game is definitely good enough to compete against the best players in the world.
If you have time to follow along, here is the home page for the Final Qualifying to follow Ilirian’s journey:
https://www.europeantour.com/dpworld-tour/final-stage-infinitum-golf-2024/
The event is a 6-round tournament with 156 players in the field, with the top 20+ties advancing to DP World Tour and the remainder of the players earning various levels of status to play on the European Challenge Tour (Europe’s version of the Korn Ferry Tour).
Ryan French, AKA “Mr. Monday Q” on Twitter @acaseofthegolf1, has been hired by the DP World Tour to cover Q-School Finals and profile some exceptional player stories from around the globe. Ryan will be doing a feature story on Ilirian, and this will be profiled on his social media channels as well as on DP World Tour’s social feeds and their website.
I urge you to follow along with Ryan on Twitter & Instagram as he tells some amazing mini tour and Monday Qualifying success stories from around the world. Here is his website you can click to both his Instagram and Twitter pages from: https://www.mondayq.com/author/ryan-french
You will likely see a story on Ilirian develop on the DP World Tour’s media page: https://www.europeantour.com/dpworld-tour/news/articles/
I hope you can all join me in sending Ilirian positive energy from our side of the pond as he prepares for his most exciting test of his career at DP World Tour Q-School Finals!!
Thank-you for taking the time to follow along!
On behalf of VGT, a very special thanks to Richmond Country Club & RCC member Dana Prince for their belief in (and backing of) Ilirian’s career – giving him a home and a place to practice & play this year has truly been beneficial for his career.
And to our valued VGT sponsors, especially our Tour Title Sponsor (IGA Stores of BC), to our media partners (Global BC, Jay Janower, JM Media), to our player bursary fund contributors (Stephen Ames Foundation, Kelland Ventures, Getz Prince Wells LLP), to our amazing golf course & tournament partners, and finally to our VGT staff and the 100’s of volunteers who support what we do……….
THANK YOU!!!
You are all allowing us to provide such an important platform for our local players like Ilirian to gain professional tournament experience and help them build their confidence to advance their careers to the next level!!!
ROLL ON NEXT WEEK ILIRIAN!! WE TRULY BELIEVE IN YOU!! 👍
Sincere Regards,
Fraser Mulholland
President & Commissioner, Vancouver Golf Tour
