A trio of golfers who grew up playing junior golf together in Colorado are increasingly looking to Europe as their road into professional golf, with the DP World Tour's qualifying school emerging as a viable alternative to the traditional PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour routes.

Some local golfers are going a different Q-School route — through the DP World Tour — which is the journey that Aurora native Davis Bryant has taken and found success. The 26-year-old Bryant, who won the Colorado Open in 2024, has moved up to 21st in the Race to Dubai rankings, where the top 10 will be exempt onto the PGA Tour next year. He has recorded second-place finishes at the Magical Kenya Open and the Austrian Alpine Open in 2026.

Bryant's success is drawing his Colorado contemporaries toward the same path. Former CU Buffs star Hunter Swanson, who made his pro debut at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club and finished in a tie for sixth at the Colorado Open, will also be heading overseas for DP World Tour Q-School. "It's super inspiring," Swanson said about seeing Bryant's success on the DP World Tour. "I think a little bit of that sparked the idea like, 'Hey, why don't I go do that? That might be a pretty good path to at least try out.'"

Also eyeing the DP World Tour route is AJ Ott, a Fort Collins High School graduate and former Colorado State University teammate of Bryant's. "It's a great route and I've done it the last two years and haven't gotten through first but it's been great," Ott said. "It's definitely a chance to go over there and play well. It's a good route." Ott finished second at the Inspirato Colorado Open on Sunday after firing a final-round 63.

The Q-School process itself is demanding. When Bryant qualified for the DP World Tour in 2024 through Q-School, he felt it was a test of "endurance as much as it was skill." Golfers must go through 252 holes in three stages throughout countries in Europe, with just 25 cards given out at the end of the grueling stretch. Swanson and Ott did not have a definite schedule for Q-School and where they would be starting their journey. The first stage runs from Aug. 25 through Sept. 25, with sites including France, England, Belgium, Germany and Sweden.

For Bryant, the work continues on tour. "There's 11 tournaments left in the regular season for the DP World Tour," Bryant said. "I'm going to play eight of them. There's two playoff events. Then our season for next year picks up right away at the end of November." Bryant is next scheduled to compete at the Nexo Championship in Scotland from Aug. 20–23, taking a couple of weeks off and spending time in Colorado in the interim.

Whether Swanson and Ott can earn their DP World Tour cards this fall will become clear as the Q-School stages conclude in late September.