French Lick ready to host ‘life-changing’ golf tournament
FRENCH LICK, Ind. (WISH) – The town of French Lick is known for a lot, including Larry Bird, a casino, hotels and golf.
This week, it’s the golf that takes center stage as the Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance is held at The Pete Dye Course at French Lick.
The four-round tournament will begin on Thursday and will wrap up with the final round on Sunday. There will be no cuts throughout the week.
“When Pete built this golf course, he said he was building it for the future of golf,” French Lick Resort Director of Golf Operations Dave Harner said. “It’s only appropriate now to have the future stars of tomorrow here to get their attempt at a PGA Tour card.”
The tournament will be the final event of the Korn Ferry Tour season. It will also be the first time that The Pete Dye Course has hosted this tournament.
The top 75 golfers on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List qualified for the event, but only 74 golfers will be competing in this week’s Korn Ferry Tour Championship.
By the end of the week, the top 30 on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List will earn a 2025 PGA Tour card. Entering this week, 17 golfers have clinched a spot in the top 30, which means the other golfers will be vying for the remaining 13 spots inside the top 30 on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List.
“We expect it to be really challenging,” Golf Gives Back Chairman Jack Pate said. “It’s pressure-packed. You got 75 players competing for 30 PGA Tour cards. It’s a life-changing event.”
A trophy presentation, along with the PGA Tour card ceremony, will take place following Sunday’s final round.
As far as the course goes, it is a Par 72 and its yardage is 7,667.
The final hole, number 18, should create some drama as well, since it is a Par 5, with a length of 626 yards.
Dennis Paulson, who has one career PGA Tour win at the 2000 Buick Classic, told News 8 Sports’ Andrew Chernoff what he thinks the course will be like during championship week.
“It’s going to be really hard,” Paulson said. “And I think that’s what is needed for The Tour Championship. You need a hard venue. I don’t want to see 27-under-par or 30-under-par be a number (for the winner).”
The Korn Ferry Tour Championship will be held at The Pete Dye Course through at least 2028.
To see the schedule for the week, click here.
To read more about the golfers competing, click here.
To purchase tickets for the Korn Ferry Tour Championship, click here.