Andrew’s AdventHealth Championship (KFT) Preview

Nothing quite like writing a feeder tour preview in the week of a major. Total confidence that nobody cares. At least when I wrote about the Abu Dhabi Challenge it was an event that I was excited about and because of time differences it provided a fun jumping off point each day. This week we have a complete overlap of timings and a not particularly inspiring event. Still, every winner pays the same and we shouldn’t ignore a chance to play.

Last week in Spain saw a very unexpected winner of the Challenge de Espana. Clement Charmasson came onto the Hotel Planner Tour after a rock solid winless season on the Pro Golf Tour (four top five finishes, another five top 25 finishes, and 15/17 made cuts.) Still, after an ordinary college career (the fifth man at UCF, mostly) and without a professional win, he came here with one made cut and I didn’t have him on my mind. Let’s see if he can kick on from this or if he just caught lightning in a bottle. Three of my four picks were very strong but without threatening to pick up place monies. All will be backed again. On to Kansas!

The Tournament

We’re in Kansas City at the Blue Hills Country Club, where this longstanding tournament has been held since 2019. The 2020 season was skipped because of the pandemic but we have five years’ worth of results and data to parse and the conclusions are… mixed. On paper this is a longish, toughish par 72 (7,383 yards at sea level) but it doesn’t play like a long course. With challenging rough and huge greens, it is something of a putting competition, and good approaches (easier from fairways) to the right parts of greens are rewarded. That said, a winning group of Harry Higgs, the late Grayson Murray, Trevor Cone, Cameron Young and Michael Gellerman all have pop from the tee so you wouldn’t want a short-hitter.

With four par 5's, only one of which (the monstrous 646 yard closing hole) over 565 yards, scoring on those has proved essential, and there are a tough set of par threes. So expect effective long irons and fairway wood play to be a factor too. As I say, some of the bluegrass and rye rough is punitive so accuracy and missing in the right places will help. Effectively, I’m looking for strong all-rounders who can putt and ideally have good course form.

This is also the first of the events in the season where we’re seeing PGA “refugees” dropping down a level and those players are always worthy of attention. The market is headed by Kensei Hirata (Johnny Keefer unexpectedly picked up a PGA invitation, which the higher-ranked Hank Lebioda did not.) Otherwise, it is broadly the usual suspects at the top of the betting market. It was tough to leave Neal Shipley out of my staking plan but I think this might just be too gnarly from the rough to really suit him, and there are better putters on tour. Harry Higgs, fresh off a second place in Myrtle Beach and a former winner, was also tough to exclude but that was on the basis of price and possible lack of motivation.

Selections

First into my team, and certainly the player I’ve backed the most on this tour this year is Seonghyeon (SH) Kim. What can I say about him that’s new? I think the critical things to note are that he leads the tour in scoring average and is 17th in putting. He’s played here once before and had a frustrating weekend, dropping from eighth after round two to 31st, but he is playing very solidly this year and coming off a seventh in the Veritex can pick up a deserved first win of the year.

Another solid putter, and one of the PGA regulars who I’ve mentioned previously, Dylan Wu was an easy pick for this team. He’s played four KFT events so far, picking up second in Panama and 15th in the Bahamas, and as he’s sitting well outside the top 100 in the PGA lists he might see this as his best way to get a card for next year. He’s a great putter and a classic “tweener” player who is just a little too good for this level despite struggling at the PGA level. After four years at Northwestern, he knows golf courses like this very well. Was 21st on his only previous visit here, when a much less experienced golfer.

Third and finally, another PGA drop-back, and one struggling for form, Noah Goodwin makes his first KFT start since winning his card at the end of last year. He was eighth in this last year, one of six top-10 finishes and despite a poor year on the PGA Tour (12th in Puerto Rico by far his best finish and one of four made cuts from 12 attempts) he’s long enough and accurate enough off-the-tee to bully these par fives and build his confidence up before he returns to the big leagues after the major this week. A former US Junior Amateur, just over the border in Kansas, where he beat Matthew Wolff in the final (as well as Joe Highsmith and Davis Shore in earlier matchplay rounds – the things I research for you, honestly,) I believe in Goodwin’s talent and am delighted by the price available.

• Seonghyeon Kim, 22/1, Bet365, 1pt e/w, 1/5 odds 6 places.

• Dylan Wu, 40/1, Bet365, 1pt e/w, 1/5 odds 6 places.

• Noah Goodwin, 70/1, Bet365, 1pt e/w, 1/5 odds 6 places.