With back against wall, Dillon Board earns more Korn Ferry Tour starts

Dillon Board met his wife, Mackenzie, when they were in high school. He told her the only thing he ever wanted to be was a professional athlete and change his family’s life. So, he told her he would play pro golf until he was 30 and then see what happens next.

Board started PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry as a 29-year-old and got to Final Stage as a 30-year-old, turning the milestone number in mid-November of last year.

“It was the last bullet in the chamber,” Board said.

That week didn’t change his life. He’ll be the first to admit he played poorly and his result was disappointing. A gut punch.

But last week on the Korn Ferry Tour, after Monday qualifying for the Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard via a 3-for-2 playoff, Board finished tied for 20th. He recorded a Sunday 4-under 67 with an eagle on the 72nd hole in Bogota, Colombia.

It was his first career Korn Ferry Tour start. And while it’s early to say, that week, perhaps, could change his life.

Korn Ferry Tour tournament fields are determined via a Priority Ranking, which utilizes a reshuffle system to order conditional members. The reshuffle is implemented in four-event intervals, based on points accrued in the season to date (points are earned via made cuts). With his T20 at the Astara, the season's fourth event, Board improves his reshuffle position immensely. It will likely earn him spots in most, if not all, of the next four Korn Ferry Tour events (perhaps the next eight or 12). He jumps above all other conditional members yet to make a cut this season. After finishing T130 at Q-School's Final Stage, he wouldn't have played any events from his season-opening category.

So he took matters into his own hands, making the cut in Colombia as a Monday qualifier. Now he has a season.

“It’s one of those things where you think you’re good enough … I just never gave up. I always thought I was good enough. To play as poorly as I did at Final Stage and put myself in that situation, with so much on the line, I was just blessed and thankful I was able to flush what was at stake and just go play and enjoy the tournament,” Board said. “I was so excited. And the week was so unreal and surreal and just an awesome experience.

“I know my game is solid enough to do this for a living. To finish top 20, leaving so many shots on the course, I know I’m good enough. It solidifies all the work. The past week-and-a-half since I’ve been home, I’ve received nothing but support.”

Board has had plenty of people in his corner as he’s chased his dream of playing on the PGA TOUR. Growing up the child of a single mother, there was a time he didn’t have a refrigerator or a table in their kitchen – they used a cooler. His resumé includes stints as an assistant pro at a course and a back-shop guy, plus a lawn mower and a UPS employee.

The only reason he was able to try Q-School again this past year? He received some life insurance money after his grandfather passed away last summer that helped him pay for it.

“I was a little discouraged, to be completely honest,” Board said of his Final Stage effort, almost three months later. “You fight so hard. And this game is hard. And it beats you up mentally. You try every little thing to scratch and claw your way to some form of success because this game is so difficult. Playing as poorly as I did – it was uncertain what the future held.”

After his tie for 20th last week, Board knows what the next two months hold – a more certain playing schedule on the Korn Ferry Tour.

“No one can tell me any different,” Board said. “I know I can do it.”

Besides Board, here are four others whose years have changed via the Korn Ferry Tour’s first reshuffle.

Cole Hammer

The celebrated amateur struggled on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2023, making just one cut in his last 11 starts. He maintained a silver of conditional Korn Ferry Tour status via 2023 non-member FedExCup points equivalent to the top 200. The University of Texas alum took that baton and ran with it. He finished sixth at the Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard, and he currently sits 29th on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List.

Ryan Gerard

Gerard had a special run on the PGA TOUR last year, playing 22 events after Monday qualifying for the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches and finishing fourth. That led to a T11 at the Puerto Rico Open and Special Temporary Membership. It was a magic carpet ride of sorts for the North Carolina alum.

But after finishing tied for 71st at Q-School's Final Stage, Gerard began 2024 with conditional Korn Ferry Tour status, his chances limited and his future uncertain. Back-to-back solid results, though, changed that. His T27 at The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club, followed by a T11 at The Panama Championship, saw him zip up to 42nd on the Points List.

Sam Bennett

Bennett had a tough final day at PGA TOUR Q-School’s Final Stage, and a 5-over 75 dropped him 45 spots on the leaderboard into a tie for 81st. It meant an uncertain start to 2024 for the Texas A&M alum who played in Saturday’s final group at last year’s Masters, turned pro in May and played 10 events on TOUR.

Bennett got a chance at The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club, and he finished T9 to set up his season. He followed with a T21 in Panama. He’s now 34th on the Points List and has a laser-like focus on earning his first TOUR card.

Keenan Huskey

Huskey finished tied for 54th at Final Stage, outside the number for guaranteed starts, but he earned a spot at The Panama Championship and made it count – firing a final-round 64 to finish tied for second. He heads into a key stretch on the early part of the schedule 17th on the Points List, well positioned to not only play the rest of the Korn Ferry Tour season but also chase a PGA TOUR card.

(The top 30 after the season-ending Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance will earn 2025 TOUR membership.)