Aldridge, 23 of Nampa, is a rookie on the Nationwide Tour who has almost no experience playing at that level. He opens the season Thursday in the Movistar Panama Championship.
"My main goal is to get on the PGA Tour," he said. " I'm going to work harder than anyone. I want it really bad. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to achieve that."
Masingill, 56 of Payette, will have to endure Monday qualifiers to get into Champions Tour events under second-year rules that prohibit players from earning a tour exemption through the Qualifying School.
He finished 104th on the money list with less than $50,000 as a Champions Tour member in 2006. He decided to give the tour another try after a year away in 2007 and is entered in the Monday qualifier for this weekend's Turtle Bay Championship on Oahu.
"Because I failed so miserably in 2006, I just didn't want to quit on that note," he said. "I still think I can be a better player and I still think I can compete at this level and the only way for me to prove that to myself is to get out there and compete."
Treasure Valley golfers rarely qualify for the major tours, much less make a significant impact.
And starting out, Aldridge and Masingill have the typical Idaho handicap - the weather. Aldridge did most of his prep by hitting balls into indoor nets; Masingill did his during spare time on business trips to warmer places.
Aldridge will play the first two events, in Panama and Mexico, then skip the events in Australia and New Zealand - giving him two months to adjust before the tour begins its U.S. schedule in late March in Louisiana.
"The first two events, I'm going to kind of see what parts I need to work on and develop, and then work on that for about a month," he said.
Aldridge earned his Nationwide Tour card by surviving three preliminary qualifying events and finishing tied for 74th in the six-round PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament.
It was his first attempt at the dreaded Q School - and just his second start in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event. He missed the cut at the 2006 Utah Energy Solutions Championship on the Nationwide Tour.
His first season on tour will be an adjustment, he knows - particularly with a pregnant wife at home. Their baby is due in August.
"I kind of know what to expect," he said, "but traveling is going to be the hardest thing to adjust to."
While Masingill has valuable experience on the Champions Tour, he faces a challenge designed to keep players like him off the tour. Masingill qualified for the 2006 Champions Tour through Q School, but the next year the rules were changed.
The top 30 players at Q School (Masingill finished seventh late last year) receive exemptions into the Monday qualifiers, along with some Champions Tour and PGA Tour veterans. The traditional open qualifier is held at least one day earlier and awards a maximum of six spots in the Monday qualifier.
Masingill expects about 60 players to tee off in each Monday qualifier, with a maximum of nine spots in that week's field available (it drops to five spots beginning Sept. 1).
Nobody was able to use the system to make a significant amount of money last year, Masingill said. Weekly qualifiers must finish in the top 10 to earn a spot in the next event, or they're back in the Monday qualifier.
"It's a hard process," Masingill said. "Some guys got into seven or eight tournaments. Two guys out of that process got into the top 75 on the money list. It's so hard to get into a string of events."
Masingill will play a limited schedule - he already plans to skip the Florida swing - because he still holds a regular job in the trucking business.
"I'm just viewing it as strictly the challenge to try to see what I can accomplish," he said. "If I make some money at it, good. It can't be something I do full time and it can't be my only source of income."
He says he's more confident in his game this time than in 2006 because of a change to his swing. He has adopted the Stack and Tilt technique that removes the weight shift to the back foot and has become a hot topic in golf circles.
"My golf game doesn't scare me as much as in the past," he said. "I'm not as wild and inconsistent. I just know that I'm good enough, if I play well, to compete with these guys - and that's all I really want to do."
HOWLAND RETURNS TO FUTURES TOUR
Meridian High graduate Janell Howland, 30, is back on the Futures Tour, the developmental tour for women's golf owned by the LPGA.
Howland won a tournament and finished 12th on the Futures Tour money list last year. She missed the cut at the LPGA Qualifying Tournament.
The Futures Tour begins play in mid-March.
