At Richmond’s pro golf tournament, it’s out with the old and in with the youth
This could be the greatest weekend of Davis Lamb's life. It could also be one of the worst.
Lamb is a golfer on the Korn Ferry Tour, which is the minor-league circuit of the PGA Tour. Each year, the 20 best golfers on the Korn Ferry Tour get promoted to the big leagues for the following season.
Lamb, who played collegiately at Notre Dame, sits in 23rd entering the tour’s final event, this weekend in Richmond.
“People’s dreams are literally being realized in real-time,” Lamb said of the weekend, which will conclude with a ceremony presenting the top 20 golfers with their PGA Tour card.
It’s a new concept for Richmond, which has spent the past decade hosting the Dominion Energy Charity Classic, a senior-tour event where the top golfers from past years competed. That event carried star power, but Golf Channel analyst James Nitties, who will call the event this weekend, said the Korn Ferry Tour can’t be beat for pure emotion.
Payton Kifus
“I still remember the day I got my PGA Tour card, 17 years ago,” he said. “It was the greatest feeling of my life.
“It’s the event where you’ll see the most grown men cry – good or bad.”
Tickets are still available for the tournament, which runs from Thursday to Sunday at The Federal Club in Hanover. A day pass is $40, with discounts for multi-day or multi-ticket purchases.
Dominion is out as lead sponsor, and the event will be known as The Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by Virginia's Richmond Region, a partnership between the Henrico Economic Development Authority, Henrico Sports and Entertainment Authority, Richmond Region Tourism and the Virginia Tourism Corporation.
Korn Ferry, the tour’s title sponsor, describes itself as “a global organizational consulting firm.”
Eleanor Shaw
While the senior-tour golfers lived a glamorous life, it’s the opposite for the young golfers trying to break through.
The average golfer spends about $100,000 in expenses over the course of the season on the Korn Ferry Tour, and makes about $118,000 in prize money during that time.
“Obviously it’s a lot to manage mentally,” Lamb said of the pressure that comes from knowing how much is on the line this weekend.
He said he tunes it out by reminding himself he didn’t know if he’d ever be in this spot to begin with, wondering if a strong showing at the U.S. Amateur a few years ago was the peak of his career.
While the names won’t be familiar to the average fan, there are plenty of storylines heading into the weekend of play, as 42 golfers can qualify on points, while the other 18 in the field can get their tour card with a win.
Blades Brown currently sits No. 14 on the points list, and if he stays in that position, the 19-year-old will become the youngest player in history to “graduate” from the Korn Ferry Tour, passing Jason Day.
The event is coming to Richmond on a four-year contract. The original intent was to have the event at The Crossings Golf Club, but renovation work at that course didn’t finish in time for this year’s event.
Contact Michael Phillips at mphillips@richmonder.org.
