Tour change coming to longtime Wichita Open golf tournament
One of Wichita’s longest-running summer traditions is headed for a new chapter.
The Wichita Open is leaving the Korn Ferry Tour after this year and joining PGA Tour Americas in 2026, multiple sources confirmed to The Eagle.
The move brings an end to the event’s 35-year run as one of the Korn Ferry Tour’s four original stops, a relationship that dates back to the tour’s inaugural 1990 season.
While the affiliation is changing, the tournament itself is not going anywhere. Crestview Country Club will continue to host the event next summer, as the dates are locked in for June 25-28. The fan experience Wichita has come to expect — highlighted by the signature 17th-hole atmosphere — will remain fully intact.
The transition to PGA Tour Americas comes as part of a wide-ranging evaluation and reorganization of the Korn Ferry Tour schedule, which is expected to be announced later Tuesday. Rather than being dropped from the schedule entirely, as will be the case for other longtime host sites, Wichita secured its place by shifting circuits in what tournament officials describe as a mutually agreed-upon move during the restructuring process.
And most importantly for Wichitans, tournament director Dusty Buell insists the essence of the event will not change.
“One thing we are very happy about is that we don’t have to raise prices,” Buell said. “We can put on the same, exact tournament. We’re still going to entertain the professional golfers that come to Wichita and we’re not going to have to jack up prices. So when you come to the tournament, other than a certain level of golfer, you’re not going to know that anything has changed. That was very important to us.”
A major shift in the PGA Tour developmental ecosystem
The Korn Ferry Tour serves as the PGA Tour’s direct feeder system, the equivalent of Triple-A baseball, where the top players graduate to the sports’ biggest stage each year.
PGA Tour Americas is a tier below that, more like a High-A league in minor-league baseball, offering a pathway into the Korn Ferry Tour.
Buell said the decision was driven mostly by the PGA Tour’s broader reshuffling and calendar changes.
“It’s a complete evolution of the whole PGA Tour ecosystem,” Buell said. “We got caught in the crosshairs of that.”
Wichita Open wants to continue to thrive as community event
While Tuesday’s news may be seen as some as a downgrade, Buell argues the success of the Wichita Open has never been centered around the actual golf being played.
Most Wichita patrons don’t care about world rankings, money lists or future PGA Tour players. They care about having a good time with their friends on a hot summer day. They care about being part of the rowdy crowd on hole 17, about the corporate networking, about the charitable mission.
“It’s not just a golf tournament. This is a community event,” Buell said. “Golf is just the vehicle that brings them in. The camaraderie is what keeps them there.”
The event attracts tens of thousands of spectators every summer, as local studies indicate the tournament generates more than $8 million in local economic impact. With 225 partner sponsors, Buell says Wichita has more than double the support of any Korn Ferry Tour event.
“The bottom line was what can we do to keep the tournament here and continue to elevate it into something that this community is proud of?” Buell said. “Every decision we make is guided by the principles of, ‘This is for the people of Wichita, Kansas.’ So we’re very excited and happy that PGA Tour golf is going to be in Wichita now and for the foreseeable future.”
Why the Wichita Open is leaving the Korn Ferry Tour
According to sources familiar with the decision, no single factor pushed Wichita off the Korn Ferry Tour schedule.
Instead, the sport’s reshuffling created scheduling complications and the tour’s evolving calendar made it difficult for Wichita to keep the June slot it values.
There was also chatter among golfers following this past year’s tournament that while Crestview’s North Course remains a top-tier option in Wichita, it no longer measures up to the modern standards of the Korn Ferry Tour. When asked if the caliber of the golf course was a factor, a source inside the Korn Ferry Tour told The Eagle that “it wouldn’t be fair to say there was a single defining element” behind the decision.
Even so, Wichita emerged far better than other outgoing sites. French Lick, Indiana, which hosted the Korn Ferry Tour Championship just this last month, is expected to lose its event entirely.
The reasons Wichita was kept aboard, sources say, are simple: tradition and fan support.
The Wichita Open is widely regarded as one of the most community-driven events in the developmental golf circuit. It was named the 2019 Korn Ferry Tour Tournament of the Year and tour officials credited fan support as a key reason the city retained a spot, even if on a different circuit moving forward.
In the end, Buell expects fans to barely notice a difference. The grandstands will rise again on 17. The chalets will fill with familiar faces. And the Wichita Open will continue to serve as one of the city’s signature summer gatherings, just as it has since 1990.
“From the community support to the fan and player experience, the Wichita Open has created a legacy that sets it up for immediate success on PGA Tour Americas,” said Alex Baldwin, president of PGA Tour Americas and Korn Ferry Tour, in a statement. “For over 30 years, the future stars of the PGA Tour have competed in Wichita and we are excited to see that tradition continue as an event on PGA Tour Americas.”
This story was originally published November 18, 2025 at 7:02 AM.
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