Barbasol Championship

The Barbasol Championship was a professional golf tournament in Kentucky on the PGA Tour; it debuted in 2015 as an alternate event to The Open Championship in Britain in July. The first three editions of the tournament were played in Alabama at the Grand National course of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Opelika, northeast of Auburn. It was the first PGA Tour event played in Alabama since the PGA Championship in 1990.

In 2018, the tournament moved to Kentucky to the Keene Trace Golf Club in Nicholasville, south of Lexington, and was the first PGA Tour event (excluding majors) in the state in 59 years, since the Kentucky Derby Open in 1959. (Valhalla Golf Club near Louisville hosted the PGA Championship in 1996, 2000, and 2014.)

Like other alternate events, the winner of the Barbasol Championship does not earn an invitation to the Masters and point values are limited due to the weaker field (24 OWGR points and 300 FedEx Cup points compared to 100 OWGR points and 600 FedEx points for Open Championship winners). However, the winner still receives a two-year PGA Tour exemption and a trip to the PGA Championship.

In August 2021, it was announced that from 2022 onward, the event would become a co-sanctioned event with the European Tour, played the same week as an alternate event to the Genesis Scottish Open. It would also be an event that would give the leading non-exempt golfer entry into The Open Championship.

Barbasol Championship je turnaj PGA Tour, ktorý sa koná na Kentucky Horse Park v Lexington, Kentucky. Turnaj sa prvýkrát usporiadal v roku 2015 ako podujatie pozývacieho typu, ale v roku 2017 sa stal plnohodnotnou akciou PGA Tour. Víťaz turnaja získa 54 bodov do svetového rebríčka, čo mu teoreticky umožňuje kvalifikovať sa na turnaj Tour Championship na konci sezóny.

Barbasol Championship sa hrá na 7 421-yardovom (6 789 m) ihrisku par-72, ktoré navrhli Steve Smyers a Denis Griffiths. Ihrisko sa vyznačuje širokými fervejmi a veľkými grínmi, čo ho robí vhodným pre hráčov s dlhými odpalmi. V posledných rokoch bolo ihrisko upravené tak, aby bolo náročnejšie, pričom boli pridané nové bunkre a vodné prekážky.

Zostava turnaja zahŕňa zmes veteránov PGA Tour a vychádzajúcich hviezd. Medzi minulých víťazov patria John Huh, Troy Merritt a James Hahn.

Barbasol Championship je populárnym podujatím medzi fanúšikmi aj hráčmi. Turnaj sa koná v malebnom prostredí Kentucky Horse Park a ponúka príjemnú atmosféru. Fanúšikovia si môžu vychutnať špičkový golf, vychutnať si miestne jedlo a nápoje a zapojiť sa do mnohých aktivít pre rodiny.