Michael Sims? qualification for the Nationwide Tour was being heralded yesterday as one of the greatest achievements in the history of local sport.

The 27-year-old?s Q-School heroics in La Quinta, California ? where he finished tied for 75th after a marathon six-straight rounds to earn a Tour card for the entirety of next season ? have sent the Island?s golf community into a state of euphoria, with many expressing heartfelt admiration for an extremely popular individual who has worked tirelessly in pursuit of a boyhood dream.

Since turning pro almost six years ago, it?s fair to say that Sims? career had not progressed as many expected, with the 2005 Bermuda Open champion struggling to find the consistency required to be competitive against the very best.

Capable of shooting in the low 60s on any course, quite often his tournament form has been undermined by a tendency to follow a great round with an extremely poor one ? with his results on the Canadian Tour for much of this year following that frustrating trend.

But after shaking off niggling injuries to both his wrist and foot in the last couple of months and having begun to run into some welcome late-season form, Sims delivered spectacularly in an event widely regarded as golf?s stiffest test of endurance, nerve and mental strength.

?What an incredible achievement,? said local pro Alex Madeiros yesterday.

?I get goose bumps just thinking about it to be honest. Professional golf is an enormously competitive business ? there are thousands, if not millions of talented players out there trying to make it and for Mike to be out there doing well and performing in that type of environment is absolutely sensational.

?You look at what the likes of Shaun Goater and Clyde Best achieved in football and I would have to say that what Mike has achieved must rank up there with that. This is obviously just the start for him. It?s taken him a few years to do himself justice at Q School but that?s not unusual.

?You look at some big names in golf like Tom Lehman and if you look at his record it will show that it took him some time to break out of Q School and he?s gone on to be a terrific player on the PGA Tour. In my opinion, Mike has the game and the mental strength to get better and better. It really is an incredibly exciting achievement and like everybody else I want to congratulate him and say how proud I am of him.?

Bermuda Golf Association president Bob Legere also lavished praise on Sims, whom he predicted would go on to gain his full PGA Tour card in the not too distant future.

?I?m not sure your average person would appreciate quite how difficult it is to do what Michael has just done,? he said.

?The level of competition in golf these days is just staggering. I have parents who often come to see me, who have a young child who is capable of going around their local course in par or with the odd birdie, and they ask me whether they would be good enough to get a college scholarship or if they might have the potential to make a career out of the game.

?And my answer unfortunately is no. Unless they?re capable of making four or five birdies by that stage, it?s unlikely they?re going to make it, such are the standards they have to reach.

?I?ve known Mike since was 10 years old and though he has always been very talented, he didn?t start to take the game very seriously until he was around 18.

?He?s had a lot of ups and downs over the last few years ? he?s learnt how to deal with the bad times and the disappointments and he?s dealt with those challenges and emerged the stronger for it.

?There?s absolutely no doubt in my mind that he?s got the ability to go further. And I?m rooting for him all the way.?

Former European Tour pro Kim Swan said he believed the 2005 Bermuda Open champion was one of the best ball strikers he had ever seen and was capable of winning tournaments on the both the Nationwide and PGA Tours.

The experience of five years in the golfing wilderness will stand him in good stead as his career develops, Swan added.

?What you?ve got remember is that when Michael was at college in the US he got to the quarter-finals of the US Amateurs,? he said.

?I know from my experience as an amateur that anybody who makes it through to that level has a game of the very highest calibre. Now it?s been frustrating for Mike because a huge amount was then expected of him when he turned professional.

?But it didn?t quite happen for him and he?s had to watch while many of his contemporaries have done better than him. But he reminds me a little bit of Curtis Strange, who was another top amateur in the the States who took a quite a few years to really establish himself, before going on to win two US Opens.

?I think now he?s got over that first hurdle, his game will go from strength to strength. I?m so thrilled for him ? he?s done his country proud.?