Korn Ferry Tour adds Visa Argentina Open presented by Macro to annual schedule

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The Visa Argentina Open presented by Macro, a national open whose history dates to 1905, will become a Korn Ferry Tour event in 2024 and remain on the Tour schedule through at least 2029, the Korn Ferry Tour and Asociación Argentina de Golf announced July 5, 2023.

The Visa Argentina Open, in partnership with The R&A, will continue its tradition of awarding its champion an exemption for The Open Championship. By joining the Korn Ferry Tour schedule, the Visa Argentina Open will raise its purse to $1 million, the highest in its history, as all Korn Ferry Tour events feature a minimum purse of $1 million.

In 2024, the 117th playing of the Visa Argentina Open will be contested in Buenos Aires at Olivos Golf Club – which was recently rated by Golf Digest as the No. 2-ranked course in Argentina.

“The Visa Argentina Open presented by Macro has such a rich and storied history as one of the oldest national golf open championships in the world and we couldn’t be more excited to bring it into the Korn Ferry Tour family,” said Korn Ferry Tour President Alex Baldwin. “It has been a staple on the PGA TOUR Latinoamérica schedule since the Tour’s inception in 2012 and has earned the reputation as being one of the best tournaments for both players and fans alike, and any time there’s an exemption to a major championship on the line, it makes the event more significant. We can’t wait to elevate this tournament even further and showcase Argentina on the Korn Ferry Tour.”

Played for the 116th time last December, Korn Ferry Tour member Zack Fischer won the Visa Argentina Open presented by Macro and earned an exemption for the 2023 Open Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England, scheduled for July 20-23.

Notable winners of the Visa Argentina Open, which became a PGA TOUR Latinoamérica event in 2012, include Argentines Roberto De Vincenzo (nine times – 1944, 1949, 1951, 1952, 1958, 1965, 1967, 1970, 1974), Angel Cabrera (2001, 2002, 2012), and Emiliano Grillo (2014), along with three-time PGA TOUR winner Jhonattan Vegas of Venezuela (2010), as well as 17-time TOUR winner Jim Furyk (1997), 16-time TOUR winner Mark O’Meara (1994), 13-time TOUR winner Mark Calcavecchia (1993, 1995), 13-time TOUR winner Craig Stadler (1992), and 16-time TOUR winner Tom Weiskopf (1979).

“It is a great pleasure to come back to Olivos Golf Club for the 117 Visa Open de Argentina presented by Macro, now as part of the Korn Ferry Tour”, added Andres Schonbaum, president of the Asociacion Argentina de Golf. “Olivos Golf Club is one of the best and most competitive golf courses in the country, it has held this tournament for eleven times and has a history of great champions. Without a doubt, it will be a great venue for players and spectators. I would like to highlight the great relationship that we have with the PGA TOUR for over ten years and all the work that we have collectively done to transition this event from PGA TOUR Latinoamérica to the Korn Ferry Tour”.

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“Elevating an important tournament like this national open is something very important for Argentinian sports and, specifically, for golf,” said Silvana Antoniazzi, Senior Director of Marketing for Visa. “Having the Visa Argentina Open as part of the Korn Ferry Tour is exciting and further elevates the event by giving it more visibility and relevance worldwide.”

Established in 1926, Olivos Golf Club previously appeared on the “100 Greatest Courses Outside the United States” list produced by Golf Digest.

Olivos Golf Club opened in 1928 but relocated in the 1950s, when Luther Koontz, who designed several South American courses, created the layout for what is now Olivos Golf Club’s championship course, Blanca & Colorada (also known as White & Red). Inaugurated in 1953, White & Red is a narrow, tree-lined layout without any straight holes.

Olivos Golf Club previously hosted every iteration of the Torneo de Maestros Copa Personal (also referred to as the Argentine Masters), a prestigious tournament played for the final time in 2011. According to the club, notable players who competed in the event throughout its history included Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, and former world No. 1s Seve Ballesteros, Tom Lehman, and Nick Price. Argentina’s Roberto De Vicenzo won the event five times in the 1960s and 1970s.

Dates for the 2024 Visa Argentina Open will be announced later this year when the entire 2024 Korn Ferry Tour schedule is released, though the event will be part of the season-opening international swing featuring events in The Bahamas, Panama, Colombia, and Chile.