The Ascendant at TPC Colorado earns Korn Ferry Tour Tournament of the Year honor for 2nd time in last 3 years
By Gary Baines – 12/8/2023
This is getting to be a nice fall habit for the Korn Ferry Tour stop in Colorado.
For the second time in three years, the event now known as The Ascendant presented by Blue has been named the Korn Ferry Tour’s Tournament of the Year. The announcement was made following the annual PGA Tour Tournament Meetings in La Quinta, Calif.
The Ascendant has been held for the last five years in July at TPC Colorado in Berthoud.
“On behalf of the Korn Ferry Tour, we are excited to congratulate The Ascendant presented by Blue on being named the 2023 Tournament of the Year,” KFT president Alex Baldwin said in a release. “Earning the award twice in the past three seasons is a testament to the outstanding work of tournament director Drew Blass and the entire staff and ownership at TPC Colorado, as well as the great partnerships built with Cypress Ascendant Services and Blue Federal Credit Union. This event has quickly become one of the favorite stops on the Korn Ferry Tour each season amongst membership, fans and staff, and we are thrilled to return to Berthoud next July.”
Specifically cited as reasons The Ascendant has set itself apart are:
— The tournament being a first-class experience for competitors, fans, volunteers and caddies.
— Dining for players and caddies that’s rated among the best for KFT events.
— Player amenities including an on-site fitness center and private housing in the Berthoud area.
— Improvement in on-site presentation and expansion of fan-experience buildouts, with people based at multiple structures able to view the tournament action on more than one hole at any given time.
— The addition of a well-received Junior Pro-Am.
— Well-trained, dependable and prepared volunteers.
— Social-media efforts and collaborating with KFT channels to expand the tournament reach in the Colorado market.
The Ascendant also received the Truck Award for community engagement.
Prior to 2021 — when The Ascendant earned its previous KFT Tournament of the Year honor, the tournament received the KFT “Best Product” honor in 2019, its inaugural season on the circuit.
The 2024 Ascendant will be held at TPC Colorado July 11-14.
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. He was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com