The Korn Ferry Tour has announced five fall events that will be part of a one-time combined, wraparound 2020-21 season.
The newly created 2020-21 Korn Ferry Tour schedule will bridge two seasons and conclude with 25 PGA Tour cards awarded at the 2021 WinCo Foods Portland Open, with an additional 25 cards awarded at the conclusion of the 2021 Korn Ferry Tour Finals.
Among them is a new event at Orange County National in Orlando, which will be the last event of the year, Oct. 8-11.
The four other added events were all on the original 2020 schedule but were postponed or canceled because of the coronavirus: the Lincoln Land Championship, Evans Scholars Invitational, Wichita Open and Savannah Golf Championship. Instead, they have been scheduled between Sept. 3 and Oct. 4, with no Korn Ferry event held during the week of the rescheduled U.S. Open (Sept. 17-20).
The announcement of a fall schedule comes after the PGA Tour announced last week that, due to circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic and the cancellation or postponement of 13 events from the 2019-20 Tour season, eligibility has been extended for exempt 2019-20 PGA Tour members for the 2020-21 season.
These adjustments mean the Korn Ferry Tour won’t have a graduating class in 2020; however, the Tour has established a performance benefit for the top 10 from the Korn Ferry Tour points list following the conclusion of the 2020 Korn Ferry Tour Championship. Those players will be granted access into all PGA Tour events for the 2020-21 season.
• Five new events.
• Reshaped fall swing.
• One-time, combined 2020-21 season.Announcing our revised #KornFerryTour calendar!
— Korn Ferry Tour (@KornFerryTour) May 4, 2020
With six events completed through the El Bosque Mexico Championship, the remaining 2020 schedule now consists of 23 events. Korn Ferry Tour events to be contested in 2021 as part of the combined 2020-21 schedule will be announced later this year.
“While we won’t have the opportunity to graduate a Korn Ferry Tour Class in 2020, we feel our reimagined wraparound schedule – with newly created playing opportunities – is the best solution to our season that has been disrupted by the COVID-19 crisis,” said Korn Ferry Tour President Alex Baldwin.
The restart to the 2020 Korn Ferry Tour season will begin with the Korn Ferry Challenge at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. The event will be followed by a second event in Northeast Florida at The King & Bear Course at World Golf Village in St. Augustine. This new tournament takes the place of the Wichita Open Supporting Wichita’s Youth, which will move to one of the newly created fall dates.
“With the impact sustained thus far to our 2020 schedule, it was imperative that we strive to create new playing opportunities for our membership, including these four events that were not on our original schedule,” Baldwin said.
The Lincoln Land Championship in Springfield, Illinois, will move from the week of July 13-19 to one of the new fall dates, which leaves the Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper in Springfield, Missouri, as the first of six events on the original 2020 calendar that will remain as scheduled through the Korn Ferry Tour Championship.
In addition to the Lincoln Land Championship and the Wichita Open Supporting Wichita’s Youth, the Evans Scholars Invitational in Chicago, and the Savannah Golf Championship in Savannah, Georgia, were also rescheduled for the new fall season.
Revised 2020 Korn Ferry Tour Season schedule:
- June 8-14: Korn Ferry Challenge at TPC Sawgrass, TPC Sawgrass (Dye’s Valley), Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
- June 15-20: The King & Bear Classic at World Golf Village, The King & Bear GC at World Golf Village, St. Augustine, Florida (Saturday finish)
- June 22-28: Utah Championship, Oakridge CC, Farmington, Utah
- June 29-July 5: TPC Colorado Championship at Heron Lakes, TPC Colorado, Berthoud, Colorado
- July 6-12: TPC San Antonio Challenge at the Canyons, TPC San Antonio (Canyons Course), San Antonio, Texas
- July 13-18: TPC San Antonio Championship at the Oaks, TPC San Antonio (Oaks Course), San Antonio, Texas (Saturday finish)
- July 20-26: Price Cutter Charity Championship, Highland Springs CC, Springfield, Missouri
- July 27-August 2: Pinnacle Bank Championship, The Club at Indian Creek, Omaha, Nebraska
- August 3-9: WinCo Foods Portland Open, Pumpkin Ridge GC (Witch Hollow), North Plains, Oregon
- August 10-16: Albertsons Boise Open, Hillcrest CC, Boise, Idaho
- August 17-23: Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship, Ohio State University GC (Scarlet Course), Columbus, Ohio
- August 24-30: Korn Ferry Tour Championship, Victoria National GC, Newburgh, Indiana
- August 31-September 6: Lincoln Land Championship , Panther Creek CC, Springfield, Illinois
- September 7-13 : Evans Scholars Invitational, TBD, Chicago, Illinois
- September 21-27: Wichita Open Supporting Wichita’s Youth, Crestview CC, Wichita, Kansas
- September 28-October 4: Savannah Golf Championship, The Landings Club (Deer Creek), Savannah, Georgia
- October 5-11: Orange County National Championship presented by Knight 39, Orange County Golf Center & Lodge (Panther Lake), Winter Garden, Florida
The Korn Ferry Tour is expected to resume play with at least the first four events closed to the general public while continuing to monitor the COVID-19 situation and follow the recommendations of local and state authorities in order to determine the most appropriate on-site access in each market. Decisions on fan attendance at all events thereafter will be dependent on available protocols that could be implemented to ensure the health and well-being for all involved.
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