GREAT ABACO, The Bahamas – Brandon Harkins wondered whether he would ever win a PGA TOUR-sanctioned event.

The 35-year-old California State University-Chico graduate came close (twice) in 2017, his rookie year on the Korn Ferry Tour which saw him earn PGA TOUR membership at season’s end. In the final round of The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club, Harkins’ 179th start in a PGA TOUR-sanctioned event, the Walnut Creek, California native erased a two-stroke deficit across the final three holes of regulation and prevailed over two-time Korn Ferry Tour winner Zecheng Dou in a playoff.

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.

GREAT EXUMA, The Bahamas – Four years ago, a 19-year-old sensation became one of the youngest winners in Korn Ferry Tour history at The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay, with the victory propelling the incredible talent to a multi-win PGA TOUR career and a top-25 Official World Golf Ranking.

Akshay Bhatia, 156 yards out with a pitching wedge in hand in the middle of Sandals Emerald Bay Golf Club’s par-5 18th fairway, knocked his approach inside of a foot and sealed the first PGA TOUR-sanctioned victory of his career, nearly repeating the feat accomplished by Sungjae Im in 2018.

GEORGE TOWN, Exuma The Bahamas – Six players with Kentucky ties will be among the 132-player field when the new season of the Korn Ferry Tour launches on Sunday at the Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay. The four-day tournament will conclude next Wednesday and at stake with be an increased purse of $750,000. Lexington-based sports marketing firm bdG Sports is managing the event, along with next week’s Bahamas Great Abaco Classic in the northern Bahamas.

The Korn Ferry Tour is the “path to the PGA TOUR.” The Top 25 after 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.

Two of the Kentuckians played at Scott County High School in Georgetown, Ky., Kyle Wilshire and B.T. Sargent. Wilshire, who played collegiately at Central Florida, entered the fall playing perhaps his best as a professional. He Monday-qualified in the PGA TOUR’s Bermuda Championship in October and then made the cut. The next month, he again Monday-qualified for the RSM Classic, also on the PGA TOUR. Sargent turned pro in 2019 and made seven starts last season on the Korn Ferry Tour, finishing as high as 35^th in his last outing in September.

Yet it’s opportunities like this week in Exuma where both players earned a sponsor’s exemption from bdG Sports that can lead to the prized PGA TOUR membership.

“I think seeing six Kentucky golfers in the field of 132 is a direct result of the success others from our state have had in the game,” said Wilshire, who turned pro in 2014. “Guys like JB Holmes gave us confidence that we had the chance to play on the PGA TOUR, as have Mark Blakefield and Josh Teater who are here competing this week and have made a career out of playing this game. Golf in Kentucky is strong and it obviously is well represented throughout professional golf.”

The competition will be stiff on the Greg Norman-designed course, which will play 7,001 yards and features six ocean-front holes. The field includes 12 past PGA TOUR winners who have compiled 22 PGA TOUR titles, led by Aaron Baddeley and Sean O’Hair with four apiece. The event also includes three of the past four champions of the Bahamas Great Exuma Classic: Kyle Thompson, Zecheng Dou and Tommy “Two Gloves” Gainey will be paired together in the first and second rounds.

“After having to suspend the 2021 Exuma and Abaco events due to the global pandemic, we are thrilled to be back in The Bahamas to kick off the season,” said Brooks Downing, President & CEO of bdG Sports. “And as fellow Kentuckians, this is our opportunity to give back to golf in the Bluegrass, which has such a rich history in the sport. If these players are to play well this week, this could be a life-altering opportunity.”

The six players with Kentucky ties are:

• 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.
• Mark Blakefield – a Maysville, Ky., native who was Mr. Golf in the state in 1999 at St. Patrick High; played at Kentucky, graduating in 2005 and turned pro in 2006. Had a top-10 finish in Exuma in 2020; playing this year on a sponsor’s exemption.
• 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.
• 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 2^nd-place finish at the Bermuda Open in 2020; currently has status on the Korn Ferry Tour.
• BT Sargent – a former Scott County standout who played collegiately at Western Kentucky; turned professional in 2019 and is making his eighth Korn Ferry Tour start; highest finish was 35^th at the Lincoln Land Championship in September; won a mini-tour event last month, the Daytona Open.
• Kyle Wilshire – former Scott County standout and Central Florida grad who in the fall, Monday-qualified for the Bermuda Championship, a PGA TOUR event, and made the cut, as well as the RSM Classic. He was a Korn Ferry Tour member in 2017 and earned a sponsor’s exemption into Exuma.

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.