By Jim Bebbington
With the PGA Tour preparing for major schedule changes in 2028, players who came to TPC Colorado for the Blue Championship this month hope the location stays part of the PGA Tour’s developmental tour playbook.
“This is one of my favorite stops – maybe my favorite stop – all year, independent of it being my home state,” said Chris Korte, a former University of Denver golfer, during this year’s Korn Ferry Tour Blue Championship. “It’s just such a beautiful place and a really good golf course. So I think it’s good enough to host whatever that 2nd tier PGA they’re talking about, So maybe even a higher level tournament than this. There might be a couple changes like bringing the fairways in and growing that rough up, making it real tough for those guys. But it’s not far off from being a PGA Tour caliber golf course so if I’m on the Korn Ferry at that time I hope it’s there and if I’m on the PGA Tour at that time I’m hoping it’s there.”
The PGA Tour has announced that beginning in 2028 it will structure its season around a core of two PGA Tour series’ – the Championship Series and the Challenger Series.
The Championship Series would have 23 to 24 events, the most lucrative in golf, and include the majors, Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup, and be played February to August.
It said in June that 10 of 15 Championship Series events had been lined up for 2028, and the remaining events would be filled by existing tournaments or ones in new cities like Denver, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Boston or Washington.
The Challenger Series would feature at least 20 events with purses of at least $4 million and would be played on courses that ‘have traditionally hosted PGA Tour events.’
The Tour announcement in June did not specify what impact this would have on its developmental tours – the Korn Ferry Tour, Tour Americas, Tour Latin America and Tour Canada. But if Denver were to receive a new Champions Tour event it is unclear whether the market would be asked to also continue to support a Korn Ferry stop.
The Korn Ferry Tour is running 25 tournaments this year with purses between $1 million and $1.5 million and few are within 100 miles of locations that hold PGA Tour events.
Korte, 29, has been playing professional golf since 2018 and his career is an example of what the developmental tournaments like the Blue Championship enable. He worked his way through mini-tours and the PGA Tour LatinAmerica, Canada and Americas before qualifying for a significant portion of the 2026 Korn Ferry schedule.
By mid-July he had played in 10 Korn Ferry stops and finished three times in the top 25, including tying for second place in February at the 119 Visa Argentina Open.
TPC Colorado routinely gets rave reviews from the players who come to Colorado for the Korn Ferry Tour. The strong volunteer support and execution by the TPC Colorado club staff usually is at a high level. The course is also unique on the Tour – more than 8,000 yards with hole lengths much longer than typical.
The Sunday crowds that come to the Blue Championship are also considered PGA Tour-lite. They may not be as crowded as top Tour stops, but the final players on Sunday are typically competing in front of packed grandstands, walking galleries and and around 1,000 or more people.
Korn Ferry Tour players crank out rounds of 9-under and 8-under par at TPC Colorado, putting for eagles on nearly every par five. That makes it a very appropriate Korn Ferry Tour environment, but would have to be toughened up if it were used for a new PGA Tour stop.
Hunter Eichorn, 27, of Michigan, was two rounds into his first trip to TPC Colorado this year when he was already a fan. “This is my first time here at this course and it’s only my second time in Colorado, but this is a great golf course and a beautiful area,” he said. “We’ve been treated well this week. It’s been great. All the amenities have been excellent. I have a lot of good things to say about this place.”
Jackson Buchanan, 24, who grew up in Georgia, turned pro last year and showed up at TPC Colorado ready to take on its famous 16th hole.
The 16 tee box is just a few steps off the clubhouse back patio and there is typically a nice crowd watching the shots on the par 3.
“No. 16 was awesome,” he said. “The tee was there with a lot of people and a lot of clapping so that always gets some players excited. We might look like we don’t care but we enjoy it.”
Buchanan said the course was still putting up a good fight.
“I think it’s a great test,” he said. “It hasn’t been blowing and the scores aren’t that low, so it shows you that it’s got some teeth. Pins are in good positions. That’s what we want from a golf course – some give, but some take too. And I think this course has that.”
Jim Knous retired from full-time professional golf in 2023 but has played in mini-tour tournaments extensively since then. He received an exemption to this year’s Blue Championship and while he didn’t make the cut used it to prepare to his Colorado Open title next week.
“I do believe that it’s always key to kind of look out for the Korn Ferry Tour and the guys that are kind of on the outside looking in,” he said. “That was kind of me for a long time during my career. So I always cherish tournaments like this, sponsors that help bring people to the tournament. This is really important for guys like me.”
Colorado AvidGolfer Magazine is the state’s leading resource for golf and the lifestyle that surrounds it, publishing eight issues annually and proudly delivering daily content via coloradoavidgolfer.com.
With changes ahead for the PGA Tour schedule, pros want TPC Colorado to stay as a host By Jim Bebbington With the PGA Tour preparing for major schedule changes in 2028, players who came to TPC Colorado for the Blue Championship this month hope the location stays part of the PGA Tour’s developmental tour playbook.
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