It was at least five years in the making, but the goal of returning professional golf to Amarillo was fully realized this past week.

Those who helped get it here saw the community – and others – reap what they sewed over four days.

The Korn Ferry Tour’s OccuNet Classic presented by Amarillo National Bank at Tascosa Golf Club finished its stay in town Sunday afternoon to generally rave reviews. Best news of all is that there will be a return engagement each of the next four years.

From local sponsorships to the involvement of the biggest golf names from Amarillo, the culmination arrived in town of players primed to take the next step to the PGA Tour. That the tournament is slated to return in the future is a testament to the work done in the past.

“We started conversations with the PGA Tour back in 2021,” said Blair Broadhurst, executive vice president of OccuNet, the tournament sponsor owned by Amarillo’s Fairly family. “We were looking at becoming an official marketing partner with the tour and we did some discovery on that for about a year. The PGA Tour got to know our company and the Fairly family. They thought that hosting the Korn Ferry Tournament in Amarillo would be a great fit.

“As soon as the Fairlys heard that they were all in. After that it was a year process of waiting for a spot to open up.”

Before that could happen, the local golf community was ready for it. Ryan Palmer, the biggest golf name with Amarillo roots, gave the ambitions some credibility by getting involved.

Even though Palmer, who has maintained his PGA Tour card for 22 straight years, now lives in Colleyville, he figured his hometown was ripe to take on a professional tournament.

“It was two or three years in the process,” Palmer said. “I sat down with my management team and we were ready to rock and roll with this a couple of years ago and it just never came through. We got in touch with Framework Sports and we found out they had a sponsor possibility with OccuNet. We met with OccuNet and started getting the ball rolling”

Framework Sports is a noted national sports event organizer, and most recently ran a Formula One race in Miami. That helped give the event some credibility.

With the potential of a first class operation in place, Amarillo just needed to be receptive. Tournament director Drew Blass said that’s exactly what happened.

“It exceeded our expectations,” Blass said. “Amarillo showed up, the crowds, volunteers and our partners all did too, For the first year we set a pretty high bar. It’s pretty impressive what this group did in this first year.”

The course was modified from its normal layout around the 18th green to accommodate fans. Grandstands were set up for spectators and were generally filled throughout the tournament.

It proved that Amarillo will show up for a high caliber sporting event when it’s presented right.

“I’ve said for three years that Amarillo is going to respond well,” Broadhurst said. “They’re going to show up and be proud of where they’re from. Everybody has stepped up and made this tournament a very big success in year one. As I understand it, year one events don’t have the build that we’re looking at here.”

What locals saw in Tascosa Golf Club’s transformation hardly happened overnight. Blass trusted in the community to respond and build the event into a valid destination.

“Everybody believed that Amarillo could do something special,” Blass said. “The OccuNet company said they wanted to bring the event to Amarillo and Ryan Palmer said that if we bring the event here people were going to show up and they did. It was the talk of the town. The players played well and the weather cooperated for a great first tournament.”

It was a first tournament which looks to stay in town for four more. There wasn’t a second chance to make a first impression, so it had to make a definite impact.

Those who came out for four days may have been pleasantly surprised.

“For a first year we set out some lofty goals, Broadhurst said. “Weve taken on a lot. Every year you want to try to grow it. Golf isn’t like a stadium which is fixed and you can always sell hospitality areas. We have a blank canvas out here with two golf courses and do a lot of fun stuff out here. Amarillo’s a great golf community but a lot of people here have never been to a pro golf tournament and they said ‘It’s a lot bigger than I thought.’ ”

The tournament was actually a week-long event with festivities beginning at Tascosa Golf Club on Monday, with qualifying taking place that same day at Ross Rogers Golf Complex. Broadhurst said that 80 youngsters showed up for a junior clinic on Monday. 

Blass said the Korn Ferry Tour is in Amarillo for the long haul and is anticipating more community involvement. No date has been confirmed for next year, but it will likely be played again in June.

“We’re here for five years and we want to keep building opportunities for our partners and expand opportunities for our volunteers,” Blass said. “We want to make it where the players and caddies want to come to the 806 and see Amarillo. The hospitality experience we were able to provide them this week was incredible and we just think we can keep growing it make it something everybody wants to come to. These players love playing in front of crowds and they truly love to see the support they see here.”

Palmer proves city’s top golf ambassador

He didn’t come close to making the cut and playing on the weekend, but Friday afternoon still completed a big week back in town for Palmer.

The Amarillo High graduate, who was inducted into Panhandle Sports Hall of Fame a week earlier, finished the tournament with a birdie putt on No. 18 Friday, getting a big ovation even though he missed the cut at 7 over par.

Palmer still felt that returning to where he started the game yielded some positive results that had been a long time coming.

“It took a lot of things to happen and make some changes with the golf course for the Korn Ferry Tour to give its blessing,” Palmer said of Amarillo landing the OccuNet. “They started to see it and they loved it. When you see the buildout with all the fans out here, that speaks volumes of what the tour can do in this town and that’s special. It doesn’t happen overnight. It took a village to get this thing going and I’m so blessed with Framework, Drew Blass and his team and OccuNet.”

When it was known as the Ben Hogan Tour, it made a stop in Amarillo for just one year in 1990 and we held at the Amarillo Country Club. Palmer, who was a teenager playing junior golf, carried a sign on each hole identifying players, along with a bagful of balls.

It took 36 years for Palmer to return home and play in town as a pro, with somebody carrying a sign identifying him and his threesome. He had every intention of playing at the OccuNet if he could.

“I was eligible to play in this if I wanted to,” Palmer said. “If I’d been in Canada (for the Canadian Open in Toronto) I wouldn’t be eligible to play, so once I knew I wasn’t going to be there I knew I’d play here. I plan on being here next year to play if they let me back.”

Palmer would almost surely be welcome for next year in his hometown. If so, he knows he’ll have some company.

“It’s one of the best run events,” Palmer said. “The players have talked about the hospitality of Amarillo. It’s a golf town, no doubt.”

Provence sends notice to the pros

The other Amarillo golfer in the field stuck around for four days and made an impact on the leaderboard. Wyatt Provence, a Randall graduate playing at the University of New Mexico, qualified as the lone amateur in the field by winning the Michelob Ultra City Championship, earning him a sponsor’s exemption.

Provence proved worthy of that by shooting a 4-under par, well ahead of many established pros. It didn’t hurt that he was playing a course he was familiar with, and he made it his goal to be playing in the OccuNet.

“When I first heard that it was coming here it was my goal to make it and see how I could do against the tour pros,” Provence said. “I hit the ball as good as I could have. It was very good just to be playing under pressure.”

Provence said he’d like to play the event next year if possible. He said the course was different from what he’d gotten used to while playing as a junior.

“The rough was pretty tough this week,” Provence said. “It was super grainy. It was tough chipping and the greens were a little bit firmer and faster than usual. The fairways were super firm. It definitely played a couple of shots tougher than usual.”