GREAT ABACO, The Bahamas – Five players with Kentucky ties look to take one step closer to PGA TOUR membership beginning today when they compete at the Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club on Winding Bay.
The four-day tournament concludes Wednesday, Jan. 26, with the winner claiming $135,000 of the $750,000 tournament purse. This year’s tournament marks the return of the Korn Ferry Tour to Abaco after Hurricane Dorian devastated the island in September 2019. The tournament is the largest event in Abaco since the storm and Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis personally welcomed the event back to The Abaco Club at the tournament’s welcome party on Thursday night.
The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club is the second tournament on the 26-event 2022 Korn Ferry Tour schedule. The Top 25 players at the end of the 26-event regular season will earn their TOUR cards for the 2022-23 season, and after the three-week KFT playoff, another 25 will earn their cards. Lexington-based sports marketing firm bdG Sports is managing the event as it did with last week’s Bahamas at Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay.
PLAYERS WITH TIES TO KENTUCKY
John Augenstein – an Owensboro, Ky., native who earned his Korn Ferry Tour status through Q School; won the 2014 KHSAA individual state title, was a four-time All-American at Vanderbilt and the 2020 SEC Player of the Year; was runner-up for the 2019 US Amateur which earned him a spot in the 2020 US Open and the 2020 Masters, where he finished T55th; turned pro in 2021 after the Masters. Just earned his card on the KFT.
Patrick Newcomb – a Benton, Ky., native who played at Murray State; Turned pro in 2013 and was a 2017 Q School grad who made 22 starts on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2018; Spent last season on the Latino-America Tour before once again finishing in the top 40 at Q School this past fall to earn KFT status.
Chase Parker – University of Kentucky graduate and Augusta, Ga., native; At the 2017 Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club, led the tournament with four holes to play before a bogey on 15 helped him slip to a fourth-place finish. Parker enters the tournament on a sponsor’s exemption from bdG Sports.
Josh Teater – Lexington native and former Morehead State star who turned pro in 2001 and has played more than 200 events on the PGA Tour; has earned $6 million playing professional golf; had a career-best 2nd-place finish at the Bermuda Open in 2020; currently has status on the Korn Ferry Tour.
Ashton Van Horne – Scott County standout and Georgetown native was a three-time All-Ohio Valley Conference honoree and the first golfer in Belmont history to compete at an NCAA Championship; tied for 15th place at the 2021 Forme Open at TPC River’s Bend and tied for 11th place at the 2019 Osprey Open. bdG Sports provided a sponsor’s exemption for Van Horne, who does have partial status this season on the Korn Ferry Tour.
ABOUT THE FIELD
The 132-player field includes 47 past Korn Ferry Tour winners with 62 total victories, including Rafael Campos, who won the 2019 Bahamas Great Abaco Classic. All four past champions of the event earned their PGA TOUR card at season’s end via the Korn Ferry Tour Regular Season Points Standings – Jared Wolfe (2020), Campos (2019), Adam Svensson (2018), and Andrew Landry (2017). Last week’s winner of the Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay, Akshay Bhatia, will also compete in this event. At 19-years-old, Bhatia became the third-youngest winner in Korn Ferry Tour history, carding a final-round bogey-free 7-under 65 for a two-stroke victory at 14-under 274.
ABOUT THE ABACO CLUB ON WINDING BAY
An acclaimed Scottish-style links course designed by renowned architects Donald Steel and Tom Mackenzie, The Abaco Club on Winding Bay (7,141 yards; Par 72) makes the most of its sparkling seaside setting. Classic links design features abound, from the pot bunkers that dot its rugged location in the dunes to the challenging, sloping greens.
BDG SPORTS
bdG Sports has managed the two tournaments in the Bahamas since 2017. Both events were suspended last year due to the global pandemic. This is the first year of a new three-year agreement with title sponsor Bahamas Tourism, and the following week will mark the first time back in Abaco since 2019, prior to Hurricane Dorian, which ravaged the small island.