By Ben McCarthy
Last week, representatives of the AdventHealth Championship announced their player exemptions for the 2024 event, hosted at Blue Hills Country Club, May 13th-19th. Joining a field of 156 professionals will be four exempted players with local ties to Kansas City: Robert Russell, Chase Hanna, Charlie Hillier and Robert Streb. The men will be vying for a total purse of $1,000,000.
“We’re excited to welcome these four golfers, all with Kansas City ties, to the 2024 AdventHealth Championship,” AdventHealth Championship Tournament Director Rick Amos said. “(They) were selected from a long list of professionals seeking entry to this year’s event.”
Robert Russell joins the field by way of automatic exemption for winning the 2023 Watson Challenge. The Joplin, Missouri, native is the head PGA Professional at Nicholas Golf Club at LionsGate (Overland Park) and played collegiate golf at Kansas City Kansas Community College and UMKC.
“We spent a lot of time practicing at the area courses: Oakwood, Longview, Hillcrest,” Russell said. “I’ve played Blue Hills numerous times, too, and always enjoy it.”
The AdventHealth Championship is a 72-hole competition that debuted in 2009. It is a PGA TOUR sanctioned event on the Korn Ferry Tour, and is the only PGA TOUR sanctioned event in the greater Kansas City metro area.
In 2019, the tournament moved to Blue Hills Country Club where University of Oklahoma product Michael Gellerman edged Kansas City’s own Harry Higgs (a Blue Valley North graduate) for his first victory. In 2021, AdventHealth joined as the title sponsor of the event. The 2021 winner Cameron Young was named the 2022 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year after finishing 19th in the FedEx Cup Standings with five top 5 finishes. Last year’s winner, Grayson Murray, currently sits at No. 42 in the FedEx Cup Rankings, recently winning the Sony open in Hawaii in February.
The 50-year-old Russell played professionally for eight years, participating in tour events with the Professional Golfers’ Association, the PGA Nationwide Tour, and the National Golf Association Hooters Pro Golf Tour. In 1999, he qualified for and played in the U.S. Open, a tournament ranked among the world’s most prestigious. He won the 2023 Watson Challenge on his home course, with a winning score of –9.
Chase Hanna, a Blue Hills Country Club member, is presently competing on the DP World Tour, with his most recent stops in Japan and China. The Leawood, KS, native won 12 tournaments during his high school years, leading his team, Shawnee Mission East High, to three regional championships in 2011, 2012 and 2013. After a successful high school career, he took his talents to Lawrence, playing golf at the University of Kansas. During his time at KU, he was named the 2017 Big 12 Conference individual champion. The 29-year-old turned pro in 2017 and has previously participated in the Challenge Tour and the PGA Tour Latinoamérica.
Charlie Hillier has conditional status on the Korn Ferry Tour this year. A native of Te Puke, New Zealand, Charlie played golf at the University of Kansas and turned pro in 2021. In 2014 he was named the Junior World Golf Champion. Previously competing in the PGA Tour Latinoamérica, the 27-year-old won the JHSF Brazil Open title in April 2023 by making a six-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole at Fazenda Boa Vista. Hillier ranks No. 1 in the KU record books for career even or under par rounds (78) and career rounds in the 60s (29).
Robert Streb joins the field for his 8th season of the Korn Ferry Tour, most recently participating in the Corales Punta Canta Championship. The 27-year-old Chickasha, Oklahoma, native played collegiate golf at Kansas State University before turning professional in 2013. In his 2nd PGA TOUR season, Streb earned his first PGA TOUR win at the 2014 McGladrey Classic on St. Simons Island, Georgia. He had six other top-10 finishes including a playoff loss at the Greenbrier Classic and an 18th place finish on the 2015 FedEx Cup Standings. In November 2020, Streb won the RSM Classic giving him his second PGA TOUR victory.
The Korn Ferry Tour (now owned and operated by the PGA TOUR) has served as a path to the PGA TOUR since its inception, and will award 30 PGA TOUR cards based off its points list in 2023, with the No. 1 player earning exemptions into the following year’s PLAYERS Championship and U.S. Open. Korn Ferry Tour alumni make up 88% of the PGA TOUR’s current membership.
For more information about tickets to the tournament, visit AdventHealth Championship, visit www.AdventHealthChampionship.com.
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