ASHLAND, KY (August 22, 2021) – The Kentucky Golf Association’s tournament season is beginning to wind down, but a signature championship approaches this week as the Clark’s Pump-N-Shop Kentucky Mid-Amateur will be contested for the 27^th time.

Bellefonte Country Club in Ashland will host this tournament for the first time in the club’s storied 100-year history. It has previously hosted three Kentucky Opens and two editions of the Clark’s Pump-N-Shop Kentucky Amateur among many other prestigious local, regional and national competitions. Famous for its tight fairways and diabolical greens, its relatively short yardage by today’s standards is canceled out by the challenges the venue will force each player to negotiate.

There are more than fifty entrants in the field pursuing this state championship with 2020 champion Davis Boland leading the list of notable names competing. Last year, Boland won this championship 375 miles away from Bellefonte at Paxton Park Golf Course in Paducah. His quest for back-to-back titles on opposite ends of the state will begin at 10:20 a.m. EDT on Monday. Joining him in the field are these players, with their first round starting time in parenthesis.

• Matt Epperson (9:10 a.m.) – “Eppy” won this title in 2019 at University Club of Kentucky (Big Blue) for a convincing four-stroke victory. He would be the seventh player to have won this competition multiple times should he come out victorious this week.
• Austin Gutgsell (9:10 a.m.) – A past competitor of a couple PGA TOUR events, Gutgsell stands as a strong contender among those looking to win this tournament for the first time.
• David Horning (10:40 a.m.) – Horning was the runner-up in the Kentucky Senior Match Play Championship earlier this summer where he became famous for his ultra-fast pace of play. He will efficiently work his way around Bellefonte hoping for another week of deep contention.
• David Jasper (10:10 a.m.) – This trophy never left Jasper’s hands for three consecutive years in the mid-2010s when he won in 2013, 2014 and 2015. He is tied with Andy Roberts for most all-time wins in this event and would be the first to get to four State Mid-Am victories with a win this week.
• Josh Rhodes (10:00 a.m.) – It’s the ten-year anniversary of Rhodes’ State Mid-Am triumph which occurred at The Country Club of Owensboro. Last year’s Player of the Year in Kentucky has come close to a second victory several times since then and will look to capture it in Ashland.
• Andy Roberts (9:50 a.m.) – This year’s winner of the Kentucky Match Play Championship is also the 2008, 2010 and 2018 champion of this event. In addition, he won the Clark’s Pump-N-Shop Kentucky Amateur at Bellefonte in 2016.

Click here to view all first round starting times

Golf House Kentucky will have full coverage of this year’s championship on its Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages. General admittance to the public is permitted and free of charge.

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