News
Korn Ferry Tour adds four new tournaments to 2020 schedule, bumps total to decade-high 28
Steve Dykes
Among the immediate questions answered with the release on Tuesday of the 2020 Korn Ferry Tour schedule is what will become of the developmental tour’s annual stop on Great Abaco in the Bahamas. With Hurricane Dorian having destroyed much of the Abacos last month, officials announced that the event will have a new home in 2020.
The tournament, scheduled for Jan. 19-22, will move to Nassau and Baha Mar’s Royal Blue Golf Club, a Jack Nicklaus-designed layout that opened in 2017. All proceeds from the newly named Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at Baha Mar will go toward ongoing relief efforts in the islands. Meanwhile, the tour’s other event in the Bahamas on Great Exuma will remain in place and kick off the season for a fourth straight year (Jan. 12-15).
The rest of the 2020 schedule reveals four new tournaments, bringing the total number of events to 28, the most since 2010. Total prize money for the year is also up to $18.85 million, the highest total on the circuit in more than a decade.
The four new stops include the Lake Charles Championship at The Country Club at the Golden Nugget in Louisiana, March 26-29; the Veritex Bank Championship at Texas Rangers Golf Club in Arlington, April 16-19; the Huntsville Championship at The Ledges Golf Club in Alabama, April 23-26; and the Live + Work in Maine Open at Falmouth Country Club, June 11-14.
The Korn Ferry Tour Finals remain at three events played in consecutive weeks, but will begin a week earlier on the calendar in 2020 and be held concurrent to the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup Playoff events, with the Korn Ferry Tour Championship ending on Aug. 30, the same day as the Tour Championship at East Lake.
“The Korn Ferry Tour has a track record second-to-none in developing the next wave of stars, and we’re excited to see that momentum continue with the unveiling of the 2020 schedule,” PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said in a statement. “With an increased focus on growing our tournaments and purses, we remain confident in the Korn Ferry Tour’s ability to attract the game’s best young players.”
Korn Ferry, a Los Angeles-based global consulting firm that specializes in executive recruitment, took over as the umbrella sponsor of the former Web.com Tour in June, announcing a 10-year deal with the PGA Tour that runs through 2028.