UCLA Men's Golf on Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

SAN JACINTO, Calif. – UCLA men's golf alum Jake Knapp nearly lapped the field at last week's Mackenzie Tour - PGA TOUR Canada's USA West #2 Q-School, winning by seven strokes at the Country Club of Soboba Springs to earn medalist honors and exempt status on the Mackenzie Tour for the 2017 season.

Knapp, who had a win and six Top 10s as a Bruin, was 16-under 268 in the four rounds (March 21-24). He played in seven Mackenzie Tour - PGA TOUR Canada events last year, making a pair of cuts.

A week prior to Knapp earning exempt status for 2017, Bruin alum Preston Valder closed with a 6-under 66 to finish in a tie for second at the USA West #1 Q-School at Charlton Oaks Country Club in Santee, Calif. (March 14-17). His 7-under 281 total secured guaranteed Mackenzie Tour starts through the first eight events of the 2017 season. Valder, who had one win and nine Top 10s as a Bruin, made one cut in three Mackenzie Tour events in 2016.

The Mackenzie Tour will hold three additional Q-School events before the 2017 season begins in the first week of June.