Ex-Del Oro golfer earns PGA Latinoamerica Tour card

You can bet that if there's one thing that Josh Sedeno is doing these days, it's brushing up on his Spanish. Sedeno, the Roseville native and a 2015 Del Oro High graduate, now has a specific need for the second language after recently making it through the qualifying rounds for the PGA Latinoamerica Golf Tour, which begins this April in Mexico. "One of the first things I did was call Austin Smotherman," said Sedeno about looking up his former Del Oro teammate who also has played on the Latinoamerican tour. "He said start with the basics but the Spanish will come in handy down there." Competing last week at the Estrella del mar Golf and Beach Resort course in Mazatlan, Mexico, Sedeno, who had a stellar collegiate career at Alabama, shot rounds of 69-70-70-69 to finish in a tie for 13th in the tourney where the top 35 finishers earned spots on the PGA-sponsored tour, which includes tournaments in Mexico, Central and South America. "It's pretty exciting because it's hard to qualify for," said Sedeno. "There are a lot of very good golfers out there competing for these spots." Sedeno had a brilliant high school and junior golf career in Northern California. The 2016 Del Oro graduate played on the Golden Eagles' 2015 CIF Sac-Joaquin Section-winning golf championship team as a junior but did not play high school golf as a senior as he instead chose to play junior events and hone his game with a personalized golf coach. The strategy worked for Sedeno, who went on to finish with 37 junior golf wins, was a two-time qualifier for the US Junior Amateur and in 2015 finished as the runner-up in the California State Amateur. After playing three seasons at Alabama, Sedeno graduated early with a degree in communications and a minor in business sciences. He then began the trek to get through qualifying school for the Latinoamerica tour. "It's nice to make the progress and see where I'm at," said Sedeno. "But I have a long way to go." Sedeno's tie for 13th finish makes him exempt for the first half of the Latinoamerica tour season. After that, players are shuffled into tournament qualifying by dollars earned for the tour's money list. A top-10 finish in the Latinoamerica Tour vaults golfers into the Korn Ferry qualifying school – where Smotherman is currently playing – the last level below the regular PGA Tour. "It's exciting because I'm seeing the result of hard work starting to pay off," said Sedeno. "It's a great opportunity for me."