Wichita golfer Sam Stevens returns home to compete in Wichita Open for first time
Sam Stevens is plenty familiar with Crestview Country Club, his home course while growing up in Wichita.
But the Kapaun Mount Carmel graduate has never experienced the course with the atmosphere like the Wichita Open will provide this week. Tickets are still available to purchase through the Wichita Open website.
The 27-year-old Wichita native will compete in the Korn Ferry Tour’s annual stop in his hometown for the first time, as Stevens is one of 156 players in the field competing for a share of a $1 million purse. He will tee off at No. 10 at 7:26 a.m. on Thursday, then No. 1 at 12:41 p.m. on Friday.
Stevens earned his PGA Tour card in 2022 and has notched two top-10 finishes across his 17 starts on the PGA Tour this season. He currently sits in 94th place in the FedExCup Standings.
Five players in the Wichita field are currently ranked in the top-200 of the Official World Golf rankings: Stevens (No. 126), Mason Andersen (No. 152), Peter Kuest (No. 186), Ryan Gerard (No. 188) and Cristobal Del Solar (No. 196).
Six past champions are also included in the field in Wichita: Ben Crane (2000), Scott Piercy (2008), Rob Oppenheim (2015), Ollie Schniederjans (2016), Jared Wolfe (2020) and Ricky Castillo (2023).
Castillo, the reigning champion, was just the 19th player in Korn Ferry Tour history to win in his debut start last year. This season, the 23-year-old has tallied three top-10 finishes in 12 starts and enters No. 25 on the points list.
Looking to follow in the footsteps of Castillo, recent Georgia Tech graduate Christo Lamprecht, who is ranked No. 2 in the PGA Tour University Class of 2024, is set to make his professional debut in Wichita this week.
The overall field includes 46 winners on the Korn Ferry Tour, led by four-time winner Kevin Stadler. The field also includes 14 PGA Tour winners, led by six-time winner Bill Haas.
This story was originally published June 12, 2024 at 2:01 PM.
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