The experts in the game and business of golf in Kentucky take to the sport’s most historic venue in the state for the Section’s premier competition. The 69^th Kentucky PGA Professional Championship will begin on Monday at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville. 56 Kentucky PGA Member Professionals will compete in the first step to reach Kiawah Island next spring for the 2021 PGA Championship. They are as follows (as of Friday afternoon):

John Bachman – The Director of Instruction at Lake Forest Country Club in Louisville. Bachman won this Championship in 2012 and 2014. Bachman enters his quest for a third career win in this event after narrowly missing the cut by one stroke at the Kentucky Open last month.

Jonathan Barrow – An Assistant Professional at Louisville Country Club. After graduating from the PGA Golf Management program of Campbell University in 2019, Barrow has worked at the prestigious facility ever since his election to Membership.

Jake Bennett – Bennett transferred to the Kentucky Section earlier this year from the Tennessee Section. He remains the owner and financer of a driving range within the Tennessee Section. This will be his debut appearance in the Kentucky Section Championship.

Al Chrouser – A Life Member of the PGA of America who will likely have the most colorful wardrobe of all competitors this week. One of the friendliest Members of the Section will make for a fun pairing for his playing partners.

Austin Cook – An Assistant Golf Professional at Valhalla Golf Club. Cook will look to take advantage of his home facility advantage and has a quality game to help him do that. Cook made the cut in last month’s Kentucky Open before a tough final round dropped him into a final finish of T66.

Robert Costello – Nevel Meade Golf Club’s Head Professional. Costello had a solid finish in last year’s Championship at Indian Hills Country Club where he finished in a tie for sixth place. More about Robert

Kyle Cramer – The Head Professional at Valhalla Golf Club. Cramer will tee it up in the Section Championship in what has been his first season at the host facility. Cramer has two other major championship facilities on his working resume, having spent time at both Congressional Country Club in Maryland and Crooked Stick Golf Club in Indiana. 

Chad Douglas – An Assistant Professional at The Club at Olde Stone in Bowling Green. Douglas finished T30 in last year’s Section Championship at Indian Hills.

Nathan Downs – The Head Professional at Greenbrier Golf & Country Club in Lexington. Downs finished T26 last year at Indian Hills and recorded a T18 finish in 2018 at Kearney Hill.

Ethan Fisher – The Director of Communications & Marketing at Golf House Kentucky and the person writing these breakdowns. Probably won’t contend but looking forward to a fun time.

Adam Gary – The Women’s Golf Coach for the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. Last year in his hometown, Gary had a top-five finish at Indian Hills Country Club. He comes into this tournament as a favorite to win, having just shot 63 (-9) in last week’s Callaway Pro-Pro at Audubon Country Club. More about Adam

Zach Graves - The Head Professional at Bardstown Country Club. Graves is an alumnus of Eastern Kentucky's PGA Golf Management program and has been at Bardstown since 2016 in days as an Assistant Professional.

Josh Gregorich – Assistant Professional at Lexington Country Club and alumnus of the 2018 graduating class of the Eastern Kentucky PGA Golf Management program. Gregorich finished in 24^th place last year in his Section Championship debut.

Josh Griffin – An Assistant Professional at Wildwood Country Club in Louisville. The man affectionately known as “Cheese” has a solid track record in the Section, including a tenth-place finish in this event two years ago. Plus, he has a recent fifth-place finish from the National Car Rental Kentucky Assistant PGA Professional Championship.

Derrick Griffitts – The General Manager of Clear Creek Golf Center in Shelbyville. Griffitts is a prominent and well-regarded coach in his neck of the woods and that work has been well-noticed, as he won the Section’s Player Development Award in 2016 and 2017 before winning the Youth Player Development Award earlier in the spring.

Kenton Hobbs – An Assistant Professional at Louisville Country Club. Hobbs has spent time in each member of the bordering tri-state area having worked at Woodland Country Club in Indiana, Shaker Run Golf Club in Ohio and now Louisville Country Club.

David Huffman – South Park Country Club’s Head Professional. At Indian Hills in 2019, Huffman finished just outside of the top-ten with an eleventh-place finish. At Triple Crown in last month’s Kentucky Open, Huffman was a stroke shy of making the cut.

Daniel Iceman III – An Assistant Professional at Weissinger Hills Golf Course in Shelbyville. Recently, he recorded a solid tie-for-sixth-place finish at the National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional Championship at Hunting Creek Country Club and a tie for fifteenth place at the Kentucky Open. More about Daniel

Grover Justice – The Director of Instruction at High Performance Golf Academy in Nicholasville. Justice is arguably the Section’s top player but is still looking to break through in this Championship. A third-place finish at Indian Hills last year would have secured him his latest trip to the PGA Professional Championship before this year’s cancelation because of COVID-19. More about Grover

Ralph Landrum – Landrum is no stranger to competing on major championship stages. In his days as a playing professional, he competed in eleven total major championships which are highlighted by a top-ten finish in the 1983 US Open. Landrum won this Championship in consecutive years in 1986 and 1987. More about Ralph

Andrew Lardner – The Head Professional at nearby Polo Fields Golf & Country Club. Lardner is a popular Member within the Kentucky Section and amongst his membership at Polo Fields. Before coming to Polo Fields, Lardner spent nearly a decade working at Seneca Golf Course.

Josh Luster – An Assistant Professional at Lake Forest Country Club in Louisville. This will be Luster’s maiden appearance in the Section Championship after becoming a PGA Member last year following his graduation of the PGA Golf Management program at Eastern Kentucky.

Myles Mahan – The Head Professional at Woodhaven Country Club in Louisville. Mahan was part of a winning squad in the Callaway Pro-Assistant/Pro-Pro last week at Audubon; he and his teammate Jesse Massie won the Pro-Pro trophy that day. Last year at Indian Hills, he had one of the low rounds of the final day, shooting 71 (E) at Indian Hills on the way to a seventeenth-place finish.

Brad Maynard – The General Manager at Shelbyville Country Club. Maynard has worked there since 2018 after playing high school golf for Shelby County and then playing collegiately at Kentucky Wesleyan.

Aaron McDowell – The Head Professional at Lakeside Golf Course in Lexington. A fourth place at Indian Hills in 2019 was going to put McDowell in this year’s PGA Professional Championship in Austin before COVID-19 led to the event’s cancelation for the year. McDowell will look for more of the same kind of performance this week to reach PGA Golf Club in Florida for the 2021 PGA Professional Championship.

Mitchell Moore – The Director of Instruction at Hopkinsville Golf & Country Club. Moore has risen to the ranks of being one of the Section’s most successful and influential teachers. A talented golfer as well, he finished T12 in last year’s Section Championship.

John Mullendore – The Head Professional at Indian Hills Country Club in Bowling Green. “Mully” had a strong showing at his home club last year, shooting rounds of 70 (-1) and 74 (+3) to eventually finish in a tie for eighth place.

Keith Ohr – The Head Professional at Lake Forest Country Club; a mere stone’s throw away from Valhalla. Ohr is the 2013 and 2015 winner of this Championship which are just a couple of his many playing accomplishments. He and coworker John Bachman continue their race to see who can reach a third Section Championship. More about Keith

Bruce Oldendick – The Head Professional at Pendleton Hills Golf Course in Butler. Oldendick is prolific on the senior-side of the Section, as he is now the three-time reigning champion of the Kentucky Senior PGA Professional Championship. He also made the cut at Triple Crown earlier this summer in the Kentucky Open, eventually finishing T59.

Chris Osborne – The General Manager at Bardstown Country Club. Osborne has been at the facility overseeing its operation for a decade and a half and was Head Professional for three years prior to that promotion. He is also a past president of the KPGA.

Barry Payne – Payne is a part of Golf Business Solutions, LLC as an A-24 Member. He resides in Pembroke which is near Hopkinsville. Last year at Indian Hills, Payne finished in twenty-first place.

Keith Reese – The General Manager at Valhalla Golf Club. Reese will tee it up at the facility he’s worked at for nearly thirty years as an Assistant Pro, Head Pro and now General Manager. Two weeks ago in the Kentucky Senior PGA Professional Championship, Reese finished in a tie for fourth place at Dale Hollow. More about Keith

Dylan Rowe – An Assistant Professional at Valhalla Golf Club also hoping to use the home course familiarity to his advantage. Rowe graduated from the PGA Golf Management program at Sam Houston State and has worked at other major championship venues such as Interlachen Country Club in Minnesota and Southern Hills Country Club in Oklahoma.

Jacob Schakat – An Assistant Professional at Indian Hills Country Club. Schakat is on form coming into this event, having just finished runner-up in the National Car Rental Kentucky Assistant PGA Professional Championship. That finish secures him a trip to PGA Golf Club in the fall; he’ll look to make it two trips to Florida by locking up a spot for next spring.

Richard Schmitt – The General Manager at Woodhaven Country Club in Louisville. He and his daughter Alaina prevailed in the Taylormade Bill Long Mega Pro-Am presented by Jet’s Pizza earlier this summer at Wildwood Country Club.

Chris Schuler – The Head Professional at Oxmoor Country Club in Louisville. Schuler previously worked at Louisville Country Club and Nevel Meade Golf Club after being elected to PGA Membership in 2015.

Cory Schwartz – An Assistant Professional at Summit Hills Country Club in Crestview Hills. Schwartz graduated from the PGA Golf Management program at Eastern Kentucky in 2017 and will make his Section Championship debut this week.

Steve Shafer – The Director of Golf at Persimmon Ridge Golf Club in Louisville. Shafer is one of the most respected and popular Members within the Kentucky Section. His home club of Persimmon Ridge will become the new home of another cornerstone Kentucky PGA event starting next year, being the Kentucky Open.

Kyle Sheffer – The second of the two Assistant Professionals competing from Wildwood Country Club. As was discussed in the lead-up to the Kentucky Open, Sheffer displays some of the highest quality of tour sauce in the Section.

Otis Smith – The Golf Coach of the Midway Eagles. After graduating from Columbia College, Smith worked in the Georgia Section at Charlie Yates Golf Course in Atlanta and St. Marlo Country Club in Duluth.

Daniel Soehren – The Head Professional at Bowling Green Country Club. A new face in the Kentucky Section, Soehren will compete in this Championship for the first time after transferring to Kentucky from the Mid-Atlantic Section last winter.

Nicholas Spath – An Assistant Professional at Hurstbourne Country Club in Louisville. Spath is a product of Eastern Kentucky’s PGA Golf Management program and completed a notable collection of internships by working at Congressional Country Club along with The Club at Las Campanas in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Andrew Stephens – The champion of this event from two years ago is the Director of Instruction at Stephens Golf Center in Burlington. Stephens won at Kearney Hill in 2018 with a total score of 138 (-6). His bid for two titles in three years will come after a solid showing at the Kentucky Open at his come club of Triple Crown where he finished T30.

Sara Stephens – The General Manager of Stephens Golf Center. Sara is married to Andrew and is already a 2020 Section champion, having won the Kentucky Women’s PGA Professional Championship at Hunting Creek Country Club two weeks ago. She is the only female competing in this week’s competition but recorded a solid T14 finish under the same circumstances two years ago at Kearney Hill. More about Sara

Corey Stith – The Head Professional at Elizabethtown Country Club and a decorated Section award winner, having won the Private Merchandiser of the Year honor this spring which was preceded by Public Merchandiser of the Year recognition in 2017 and 2018.

Chad Stocker – The Head Professional at University of Louisville Golf Club. Stocker has twice made the cut in both the PGA Professional Championship along with the National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional Championship. More about Chad

Dan Utley – The Head Professional at Owl Creek Country Club in Louisville. The last two years in this Championship, Utley has finished 23^rd and T21 and will look to crack inside the top twenty this year at Valhalla.

Michael Vanderveer – An Assistant Professional at Hurstbourne Country Club in Louisville. Vanderveer heads the Assistant’s committee within the Section and was one of two Section representatives to compete in last year’s National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional Championship in Florida.

Mike Vick – The Junior Golf Coordinator at Golf House Kentucky. Vick will make his first appearance in this Championship after being elected to Membership earlier in the summer following his graduation from Eastern Kentucky’s PGA Golf Management program.

Tom Walters – The Head Professional at Summit Hills Country Club. Walters is also the leader of the KPGA’s tournament committee. He frequently demonstrates his playing ability in Section tournaments, having already notched several low finishes this season. He finished T47 at the Kentucky Open and had a top-ten finish in this Championship two years ago at Kearney Hill. More about Tom

Blake Watts – The Head Professional at Wildwood Country Club. Watts’ resume in this Championship speaks for itself. A win this week would make it four victories in the last five years. Among those victories, he won last year at Indian Hills and the last time the event was staged at Valhalla in 2016. For good measure, he also won this event in 2010.

Logan Watts – An Assistant Professional at Louisville Country Club. He is the brother of Blake and the runner-up along with Grover Justice to his brother last year at Indian Hills. Watts finished in a tie for third place two weeks ago at Hunting Creek in the National Car Rental Kentucky Assistant PGA Professional Championship.

Kelly Williams – The General Manager of Greenbrier Golf & Country Club. After this tournament, the past KPGA president will be on the (virtual) campaign trail as he runs for Secretary with the PGA of America. Click here to learn more about his campaign. More about Kelly

Chris Wilson – The Director of Instruction at Golf Galaxy in Louisville. Wilson transferred there earlier in the season after working at Audubon Country Club previously. Wilson was one of the seventeen KPGA Members who competed in last month’s Kentucky Open.

Nathan Wolfe – An Assistant Professional at The Golf Complex in Paducah. Wolfe has been at The Golf Complex ever since becoming a PGA Member in 2013. Before his election to Membership, he spent time working at Country Club of Paducah and Hillwood Country Club in Nashville.

Colby Wollitz – The Director of Instruction at The Golf Academy at Persimmon Ridge in Louisville. A successful player and teacher, Wollitz is a good person to be around on the golf course. Usually, it either means you’re playing well in a golf tournament and paired with him, or getting a lesson from this year’s winner of the Player Development Award in the Section.