Korn Ferry Tour to make stop in Las Vegas in 2021

The future stars on the PGA Tour are coming to Las Vegas next year.

The Korn Ferry Tour has announced its 2021 schedule, and it includes the Paiute Las Vegas Championship. It will be played April 15 to 18 on the Sun Mountain course at Paiute Golf Resort, just north of the city.

“This has been a long time coming for us,” said Ayeesha McKeany, director of marketing for the three-course resort. “We’re always on the lookout for events like this.”

The Paiute Las Vegas Championship will feature a 156-player field competing for a $600,000 purse. It will be run by bd Global, a sports management company.

“We are excited to bring the Korn Ferry Tour to Las Vegas and continue building on the tremendous history between this community and the PGA Tour,” Korn Ferry Tour president Alex Baldwin said.

The Las Vegas event is taking the place of a tournament normally in the Bahamas. But because of the coronavirus pandemic and the uncertainty of international travel, tour officials dropped it from the 2021 schedule and filled the void with Las Vegas. Whether it becomes a regular event has not been decided.

“We would certainly like to have it yearly, but for now, it’s a one-year contract,” McKeany said.

All three courses at Paiute — Sun Mountain, Snow Mountain and Wolf — are ranked among the 15 most playable courses in Nevada by Golf Digest. All would bring a different challenge to Korn Ferry players, but McKeany said Sun Mountain was chosen for the tournament for logistical reasons.

Its location near the parking area and the driving range will allow officials to isolate the area for tournament play.

“(Sun Mountain) is an ideal venue to host the next generation of PGA Tour stars and will provide our players a world-class experience both on and off the course throughout the duration of tournament week,” Baldwin said.

This will be the most high-profile event to be played at Paiute, which has hosted U.S. Open local qualifiers and Monday qualifying for the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, among other events.

The Korn Ferry Tour is the PGA Tour’s minor league tour, giving players the opportunity to prove their worth before graduating to the big stage. The top 25 players at the end of each season are promoted to the PGA Tour, along with others who play their way to their tour card through end-of-the-year qualifying tournaments.

With few exceptions, the Korn Ferry Tour is the way the majority of golfers earn their PGA Tour playing privileges.

The 2019 Korn Ferry Player of the Year was Scottie Scheffler, who was the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year in 2020 and contended at the PGA Championship in August. The 2018 Player of the Year was Sungjae Im, who tied for second at this month’s Masters.

Because so many events were lost to the pandemic in 2020, no awards or tour cards were handed out this year. Playing privileges and the race for the top 25 have been carried over to the 2021 season.

Clark County Amateur

J.J. Gresco took all the suspense out of the Clark County Amateur Championship on Sunday with a seven-shot victory at Boulder Creek Golf Club.

Gresco, a senior at UNLV, shot rounds of 71-65 to finish at 8-under 136. Skyler Ngo and Kyle Meade tied for second. All three are members of the 1967 Club.

Gresco posted the only subpar first round despite not making a birdie. His Saturday card included 16 pars, one bogey and a hole-in-one on the 17th hole. His second round was a completely different story, as he made seven birdies and no bogeys. Gresco twice birdied three consecutive holes to pull away from the field.

John Kelley won the title for low Net.

Two days earlier, Kelly Knievel held off Brady Exber at Boulder Creek to win the Clark County Senior Amateur. Knievel shot rounds of 70-67 to finish at 7-under 137, one shot better than Exber.

Frank Acker finished third, four shots back.

Knievel’s wild second round included just eight pars. He posted three bogeys, six birdies and an eagle on the par-5 fourth hole.

Other winners included Acker (Senior Net), Cyrus Whitney (Silver Gross) and Tony Trolio (Silver Net).

Greg Robertson is a freelance reporter who covers golf for the Review-Journal. He can be reached at robertsongt@gmail.com.