The Club at Olde Stone set to host Kentucky PGA Professional Championship for second time in its history on Monday and Tuesday.

BOWLING GREEN, KY (September 11, 2022) – The Kentucky PGA’s marquee tournament for its Members is heading to one of Kentucky’s marquee golf courses. The 71^st Kentucky PGA Professional Championship is bound for The Club at Olde Stone in Bowling Green with the 36-hole stroke play event scheduled to start on Monday and conclude on Tuesday.

This is the second time Olde Stone has hosted this event and the first occasion since 2015. The facility has already experienced a banner year after successfully hosting its first USGA National Championship earlier this summer to widespread acclaim from participants of the U.S. Girls Junior. Nevada’s Yana Wilson won that week to jumpstart her playing career within USGA competitions, and competitors this week will be hoping to do the same on the PGA of America’s side.

The top-three finishers in this event will earn a place in next spring’s PGA Professional Championship in New Mexico, the showcase event for the top PGA Members across the country. Getting to that stage will allow players the opportunity to qualify for the second men’s major of 2023, where the top twenty players receive an exemption in the PGA Championship in New York.

44 players are in the field with the opportunity to reach those stages, including five past champions of this tournament looking to replicate some of their past success. Their first round tee times are in parenthesis.

• John Bachman, PGA (10:10 a.m. CDT off #1) – Twice a winner of this event in the early 2010s at Lexington facilities, Bachman is celebrating the ten-year anniversary of his first triumph at Kearney Hill Golf Links this year.
• Grover Justice, PGA (10:50 a.m. off #1) – The winner at Valhalla Golf Club by seven shots in 2020, Justice figures to be a contender once more this week given his multi-year streak of finishing in the top-five at this event.
• Keith Ohr, PGA (10:00 a.m. off #10) – A coworker of Bachman’s at Lake Forest Country Club, Ohr won the Section Championship the first time Olde Stone played as host facility in 2015. He also prevailed in 2013 and was runner-up in last year’s edition.
• Andrew Stephens, PGA (10:30 a.m. off #10) – The defending champion who topped Ohr in a sudden-death playoff at nearby Bowling Green Country Club one year ago. Stephens also led the field in 2018 when Kearney Hill Golf Links was the host.
• Blake Watts, PGA (10:50 a.m. off #1) – A four-time past champion who is playing for history this week. The only other player to win the Section Championship at least five times was the legendary Larry Gilbert, who triumphed on eight occasions.

Click here to view all round one tee times

Golf House Kentucky will have full coverage of the championship on its Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages. When the final group from Tuesday’s final round reaches the 18^th hole, a live-stream will be available to view on Facebook. Any playoff holes to determine the champion will also be live-streamed.

FAST FACTS

About the Kentucky PGA:
The Kentucky PGA Section (KPGA) is one of forty-one Sections across the country representing the PGA of America and its Members. It is also one of three organizations encompassed within Golf House Kentucky, which also includes the Kentucky Golf Association (KGA) and Kentucky Golf Foundation (KGF). The KPGA contains more than 275 Members and more than 30 Associates working in various roles across Kentucky; all of whom share the goal of bettering the game and its players. The KPGA and its Members assist with the organization of many chief growth-of-the-game initiatives including PGA HOPE and PGA Jr. League among others. The Section also operates more than thirty tournaments throughout the golf season, including the three State Open championships and qualifiers for the Barbasol Championship.

Media Contact:
Ethan Fisher, PGA | Golf House Kentucky | efisher@kygolf.org | (502) 792-9703