The Korn Ferry Tour is paying $1 million in prize money per tournament to its contestants.
In Maine, finding a sponsor to throw in $1 million is no easy task. That probably is one of the reasons there is no Korn Ferry event in Maine this year.
Bill Kennedy, Golf Columnist
This is a sad, but understandable development, because for some fans, this event at the Falmouth Country Club had been the golf highlight of their summer.
There are other factors, none of which can be confirmed, only suspected. The participants, who basically are the Triple-A players in pro golf, may have thought that Maine was not sufficiently “big-time” big enough for them. The area does not boast the population of other Korn Ferry sites, even with Maine’s summer residency growing the state’s population by 100-200%.
The closest that Korn Ferry will get to Maine during its 2023 season is New Jersey, where the Aug. 24-30 Magne Championship will be held at Metedeconk National in Jackson Township. Maine golf enthusiasts hardly will want to leave Maine in August, a prime weather month in the state, to travel more than 400 miles to this event in the Garden State.
In the end, however, the discontinuation of the Maine Korn Ferry competition has to have been the product of money, or the lack of it. Isn’t it always that way in professional sports?
If Maine was unable to or unwilling to come up with a $1 million purse, that is more than understandable. No matter what their net worth is, Mainers could be pardoned for not throwing around a million dollars. And the number of corporations which can be approached on this subject are few and far between.
Do not be saddened by this. Just view it as a positive aspect of Maine and it supports the slogan about Vacation Land that it is, “The way life should be.”
Truth be known, there are very few PGA Tour events in New England. On the remainder of the 2023 PGA Tour schedule, there is just one New England venue, the Travelers Championship on June 22-25 in Cromwell, Connecticut. That is what used to be known as the Greater Hartford Open. They negotiated a sponsorship with Travelers Insurance, which accounts for the name change.
All of this said, it is not like the Korn Ferry Tour never can return to Maine.
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Seven area women’s golfers, six from Turner Highlands, helped Maine to win its first Tri-State championship in 14 years this week at Martindale.
Heidi and Jade Haylock, Turner Highlands, were undefeated in two matches along with Micki Meggison of Spring Meadow. Ruby Haylock, Karen Richardson, Bambi Stevens and Pearl St. Pierre, all of Turner Highlands, split their matches.
Maine’s 31-women team conquered New Hampshire 61.5-28.5 and edged Vermont, 47-43.
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At the Maine State Golf Association/Maine Golf Parent-Child Championship on June 11, two area teams tied for 10th place. Len Cole and Ryan Cole of Martindale, along with Craig Chapman and Gary Chapman of Fox Ridge, recorded 72s.
A total of 83 teams competed for that crown at Willowdale.
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Lots of tournament activity is upcoming, with the Metropolitan Club Team Championship for women on June 19 at Belgrade Lakes.
Three Maine Amateur Qualifiers are set — June 20 at Bangor Municipal, June 22 at Fox Ridge and June 23 at Bridgton Highlands. Those events will be the last of five Maine Am qualifiers.
The MSGA also has Play Days for men on June 23-24 at Bridgton Highlands.
Bill Kennedy, a retired New Jersey golf writer and editor now residing on Thompson Lake in Otisfield, is in his 11th season as Sun Journal golf columnist.
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