Heartbreak of two different kinds punctuated the past two weeks of Matt VanCleave’s golfing life.

First, the Maryville, Mo., native ended the spring series of the 2008 Gateway Tour in Port St. Lucie, Fla., with a stunning collapse on the back nine of the final round that swept him out of the tournament lead.

Last week, he stopped in Fort Worth on his way back to his Arizona home to take in the first of the summer series of tournaments in the Dallas-Fort Worth segment of the tour. But VanCleave was robbed of his practice round by a thunderstorm and never got comfortable on The Links at Waterchase in Fort Worth. As a result, he missed the cut by one stroke, not playing the final round for the first time in the past six starts.

That hurt, but his collapse in Florida one week earlier was anguish to a golfer staring at his first professional tournament victory.

“I was leading the tournament with 10 holes to play and playing some of the best golf of my life,” VanCleave said of the spring series finale, when he slipped into a tie for ninth place.

A quadruple bogey on the 13th hole at Santa Lucia River Club at Ballantrae was the worst in a bad string of holes.

“I needed an off switch to stop it,” VanCleave said. “My goal is always to have a chance to win in the last nine holes. I was nervous. It was a tough golf course; I made a couple of swings that were a fraction off, and I paid the price for it.”

VanCleave admits that going into the week he would have accepted a top-10 finish at the Spring Series Championship, but he left with a bad taste in his mouth.

He has little need to complain, however. His $14,612.56 in earnings through the spring schedule ranks him 22nd on the tour’s money list. He was ranked in a tie for ninth in total birdies during the spring series, as well.

“Obviously, I would have liked to have closed out the spring with a win,” VanCleave said, “but it’s hard to look at it as a negative. I only missed one cut all spring.”

Now, he turns his attention to the first Desert Summer Series event that begins today at McCormick Ranch Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.

“I try to view spring as the time to kind of knock off the rust, to get back into playing every week,” said VanCleave, who tackles the summer season with confidence and a purpose. “I’m just trying to play as consistently as I can so I can get to the next level. I feel like I’m doing the things I need to do to get there.”

VanCleave plans to play five of the Desert Summer Series tournaments, based in and around Scottsdale. He plans to compete in the Gateway Mid-Summer Championship — located back at The Links at Waterchase — then tackle six Dallas-Fort Worth Series events leading up to the Gateway Summer Championship, scheduled for Oct. 1-4 at The Legacy Golf Club in Norwalk, Iowa.

The Gateway Tour is a developmental professional tour designed to provide an environment in which players can build the skills necessary to compete on the PGA Tour.

VanCleave is one of two local golfers currently in the professional ranks. The other, Brice Garnett of Gallatin, Mo., is a member of the Adams Golf Pro Tour Series.

Sports reporter Rick Dunaway can be reached

at rickd@npgco.com