BC's Ilirian Zalli Up For The Challenge After Stellar Play At Q-School
In addition to earning exempt status on next year’s European Challenge Tour at qualifying school last week, Vancouver’s Ilirian Zalli brought home some memories that will last a lifetime.
One in particular stands out for the former B.C. Junior Boys champion. It happened when Zalli and his caddie — his father Gentian — were about to begin the third round of the final stage of the DP World Tour Q-school in Spain. Standing on the first tee was two-time Masters champion José Maria Olazábal.
“He was caddying for his nephew and we were paired with him the third and fourth rounds, so my dad was really excited to meet him and pass the flagstick back and forth to José,” Zalli said with a chuckle in an interview. “That was fun for me, too. José cleaned my golf ball a few times on the greens. I didn’t even ask him. It was a little hard to believe, to be honest with you.”
“We were walking to the green and we all hit pretty good shots,” Zalli recalls. “You could see three pitch marks and there was one pitch mark very close to the hole, but there were only two golf balls. So José was getting very excited, saying ‘Ilirian, it’s in, it’s in! I know it’s in!’ And I was like, ‘I don’t know, let’s make sure it’s not in the bunker.’
So we get up there and ball is in the hole and he was really excited and he gave me this big handshake right near the cup. His face is like two feet from mine and I am looking at him and I can’t believe what is happening. It was surreal. I still remember thinking to myself like, wow, his eyes are really green. It was an amazing golfing moment.”
It was an amazing golfing week for Zalli, a 22-year-old who turned pro out of high school and honed his game on the Vancouver Golf Tour, where he won a record eight times this year. Zalli played exceptional golf from start to finish and despite a brilliant bogey-free six-under 65 in the sixth and final round, he fell one shot short of earning his DP World Tour card.
Zalli finished Q-school at 17-under par and for a time that looked like it might be good enough to be inside the top 20 and ties who earned cards. But as he waited for what seemed like an eternity for the rest of the field to finish, the number moved to 18-under. Zalli will have to be content with full status on the European Challenge Tour, the DP World Tour’s version of the Korn Ferry Tour. “I am happy to get Challenge Tour status,” Zalli said. “That was something I was hoping for at least on my first attempt at this Q-school.”
Zalli had to survive the first two stages of Q-school — in Sweden and Spain — just to make it to the Q-school finals. “I am proud of the way I played,” he said. “I think my worst stage by far was the first one where I only qualified on the number. I didn’t play particularly well that week, but I was re-assured by the fact I had qualified. So I thought I am not playing very well, but I still qualified and there was a month and half between stages and I worked tirelessly on practising every part of my game.
"I was much sharper the final two stages. I played much better, and I am very happy with the fact I didn’t hit any golf balls in the water or out of bounds the entire Q-school and I made no double-bogeys the final couple of stages. So I did everything I could to make it relatively stress-free.”
Zalli will also have conditional status on the DP World Tour, which he hopes might get him into a handful of the lesser events. But he will be focusing on making the most of his opportunity to play the Challenge Tour full-time and try to play his way onto the DP World Tour. “It’s nice to get that Challenge Tour status for next year,” he said.
“I just need to improve. As well as I played in this Q-school, I still feel like there is a lot for me to improve on. I am simply happy to have a tour to play next year. I wouldn’t say this Q- school is a failure because I came up one shot short. I have opportunities now to earn world ranking points and play a set tour.
"I feel like I do a good job when I have certainty as to what my schedule is going to be like. If I can commit to having a season of tournaments I feel like it helps me focus. . .I am going to try and play as much as I can next year on the Challenge Tour.”
That will mean lots of travel. The 2025 schedule has not yet been released but in past years it has begun in early February with a South African swing, followed by tournaments in India and the Middle East before beginning a lengthy European swing in the spring. Purses last year ranged between $300,000 and $500,000 US. “There’s opportunities for me now,” Zalli said. “I’m excited.”
PAYING HOMAGE: As he has in the past, Zalli played under the Albanian flag at Q-school. He is a dual citizen and Zalli said the decision to compete as an Albanian is in large part a tribute to his dad. “I have Albanian citizenship,” he said. “I enjoy representing the country that reminds me of my family. Quite simply, when it comes to my golf career the person who has helped me the most is my father, so this is a little bit of an homage to him.”