Five things to know: The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club

The Korn Ferry Tour season rolls on as players make their way across the Bahamas from Great Exuma for last week’s event to Great Abaco for the seventh playing of The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club. This will mark the second event on the 26-event 2024 Korn Ferry Tour schedule.

Here are five things you need to know about the event:

1. Quest for the card

Five of the six past champions of this event went on to earn their PGA TOUR card at season’s end via the Korn Ferry Tour Points List – Ben Silverman (2023), Jared Wolfe (2020), Rafael Campos (2019), Adam Svensson (2018) and Andrew Landry (2017).

Aside from Silverman, seven players who finished T12 or better in this event last year went on to earn PGA TOUR cards at season’s end: Tom Whitney (T3), Ben Kohles (T7), Max Greyserman (T10), Jimmy Stanger (T12), Joe Highsmith (T12), Chandler Phillips (T12) and Rafael Campos (T12).

2. Decorated field

The field at this year’s The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic includes 51 past Korn Ferry Tour winners with 67 total wins, led by Tommy Gainey with three. Additionally, the field includes 20 past PGA TOUR winners with 35 total victories, led by Sean O’Hairand Scott Piercywith four apiece.

Jared Wolfe (2020) and Brandon Harkins (2022) are the only two past champions returning this week looking to win the event for a second time. Four winners from the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour season are in the field this week: Ricky Castillo (Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Wichita Open Benefitting KU Wichita Pediatrics), Jorge Valdés Fernández (UNC Health Championship presented by STITCH), Rhein Gibson (astara Golf Championship) and Spencer Levin (Veritex Bank Championship).

3. Strike it (Ald)rich

South African Aldrich Potgieter is the youngest player in the field at The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at 19 years old. The prodigious Potgieter turned professional last year after appearances as an amateur at the 2023 Masters Tournament, U.S. Open and the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday.

He made his professional debut at the Korn Ferry Tour’s 2023 Compliance Solutions Championship, where he finished T35 as a sponsor exemption. Potgieter won the 2022 Amateur Championship at age 17, making him the second-youngest winner in the event’s history.

4. Last time out

Ben Silverman edged out Cody Blick (they both finished at 15-under in regulation) with a birdie on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff to claim the second Korn Ferry Tour title of his career and first since 2017. Silverman held as much as a six-stroke lead in the final round, but a double bogey on the 72nd hole resulted in a two-man playoff.

The runner-up finish for Blickwas his second consecutive runner-up finish to begin the 2023 season. Blick went on to finish the season No. 41 on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List after tallying four top-25 finishes.

5. The course

• Course: The Abaco Club on Winding Bay, par 72, 7,141 yards
• Field: 132 players
• Defending champion: Ben Silverman
• Purse: $1,000,000 ($180,000/winner)
• Scoring records:
  • Low 18-Hole Score: 63, Greg Yates (2020, Round 3)
  • Low 36-Hole Score: 132, Alvaro Ortiz (2022)
  • Low 54-Hole Score: 201, Jared Wolfe (2020) and Zecheng Dou (2022)
  • Low 72-Hole Score: 270, Jared Wolfe (2020), Brandon Harkins and Zecheng Dou (2022)
  • Largest Margin of Victory: 4, Jared Wolfe (2020)