Maginnes: West Coast Swing could have year-long impact

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Ricky Barnes is one player who needs to make a move in the next four weeks.

What is always called the West Coast Swing finally hits the West Coast this week. I know that it is a little early in the year to get nitpicky but the concept of the West Coast Swing has always annoyed me. After all, we have played four tournaments in the West Coast Swing and not a single one has been on the West Coast. Heck, only one has been played in the Pacific Time Zone.

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A legion of q-school and Nationwide Tour grads will be making their first start of the year at the Buick Invitational this week. For those guys the West Coast Swing consists of the Buick Invitational, AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, the Northern Trust Open (if they are lucky) and finally the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun on the east coast of Mexico -- in yet another time zone.

For those players those three or four events could be the most important weeks of the year. Following the West Coast Swing all the players in the q-school/Nationwide Tour category will be reshuffled and given a new priority number. That number will determine what tournaments they have access to between The Honda Classic and the Masters.

For a player like Ricky Barnes, who missed the cut at the Sony Open in Hawaii, which is his only start of the season to date, the next few weeks will be critical. Ricky knew after nabbing the last spot among "The 25" on the Nationwide Tour a year ago that he would struggle to get in events early in the year. So he actually did something that makes veteran hearts cringe. He entered the final stage of q-school in hopes of improving his priority number. Voluntarily going to q-school when you have already secured your card seems a bit sadistic to those of us who spent the first week of December every year for a decade battling for our professional lives.

However, Ricky's decision seems sound after watching what a rookie q-school grad like Webb Simpson has done in his first few starts. Unfortunately, Ricky's trip to the desert in December didn't yield the fruit that he was hoping and he is stuck with one of the last numbers for the West Coast Swing. And by the way, as an Arizona graduate Ricky knows that Scottsdale is not on the West Coast.

Kris Banks, another Nationwide Tour graduate, is in a slightly better position than Ricky, at least on paper. Kris finished 13th on the season-ending money list last year. That number was good enough to get into both the Sony Open and the 50th Bob Hope Classic hosted by Arnold Palmer. However, Kris was unable to take advantage of that extra start -- missing the cut in Palm Springs and keeping a goose egg next to his name in the earnings column. If Kris has an advantage, however, it is not because of a stellar amateur career like the one Ricky had. Kris' teacher is veteran TOUR player Hugh Royer III, who has been through this before as a player and a teacher. Hugh will make the trip from Myrtle Beach to help Kris at the Buick Invitational.

Spencer Levin, who lost to eventual winner Ricky Barnes in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur in 2002, undoubtedly was frustrated by his sluggish finish at the Sony Open -- and with good reason. The 4-over 74 that he shot dropped him to 72nd and only earned him a little more than $10,000. However, as a rookie, that one cut could be the difference of as much as 15 or 20 spots on the priority list after the reshuffle. More importantly, though, he has at least some money on the board in a system where many of the players that he is vying for spots against won't make a dime out West.

That alone could give a guy like Spencer a leg up entering this stretch where all these guys will finally get to play a couple of weeks in a row. Spencer is not in a particularly unique position. Every year talented young players find themselves in this same predicament. For Ricky and Spencer the PGA TOUR landscape is not completely unfamiliar. Both played a number of events early in their careers based on collegiate and amateur success. Both were young studs who have taken a few years to earn PGA TOUR membership.

For Kris, the road to the TOUR was a little less likely. His collegiate career didn't make headlines. Huntingdon College isn't exactly known for cranking out TOUR players. But he is here now where pedigree and history mean nothing. What you put on the scorecard and in the earnings column is all that matters. At no time in the year is that more evident than right now for the new boys on TOUR. Call it a baptism by fire. I wonder if they taught Kris when he was at Huntingdon that Arizona isn't on the West Coast. If not, Hugh can explain it to him.

John Maginnes is a columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the PGA TOUR.