In October, the Federal Club in Hanover County will crown the next crop of rising PGA stars. (Photo courtesy Creative Dog Media)
Scottie Scheffler, currently No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking, made his name on the Korn Ferry Tour, which gives the gameʼs rising stars a chance to compete on the PGA Tour. In 2019, Scheffler blistered through the final three tournaments of the developmental series, earning his PGA Tour card in the process.
Twenty young golfers will earn their tour cards at The Federal Club in Hanover County Oct. 5-11, as the prestigious and popular course inked a four-year deal with the Korn Ferry Tour to host the championship round.
The deal keeps professional golf in the Richmond region after the Dominion Energy Charity Classic, a PGA Tour Champions event, ended its 10-year run at the Country Club of Virginia in 2025.
PGA Tour Champions is the 50-and-over division, and the CCV event brought notable names like Phil Mickelson and Bernhard Langer to Richmond. The Korn Ferry Tour Championship, on the other hand, will feature 60 hungry young golfers with dreams of becoming the next Scottie Scheffler.
“From a marketing standpoint, the TV coverage will be greater, the TV ratings will be higher,” says Dennis Bickmeier, executive director of Henrico Sports and Entertainment Authority. “There will be more exposure, more social media content. The fact that 20 players will realize their dream is pretty special.”
Bickmeier says that HSEA and the Henrico Economic Development Authority worked hand-in-glove with the Hanover EDA to keep professional golf in Central Virginia.
“That impact is felt throughout the region,” Bickmeier says. “The hotel pickup will be very similar to what we saw over the course of the Dominion Energy Charity Classic.”
“Visitors don’t know county lines,” adds Rachel Smith, Hanover’s tourism director. “When we work together, we all benefit.”
The Dominion Energy Classic generated nearly $35 million in economic impact, says Bickmeier, driven by an average of 30,000 spectators per year.
The Korn Ferry Tour Championship, Smith says, “will be an incredibly large tournament. Thousands upon thousands of people will be interacting with it, as spectators and as support staff. It will also be broadcast nationally on the Golf Channel for four days, so hundreds of thousands of people will see this venue and see Hanover in a new light.”
The Federal Club, designed by golf legend Arnold Palmer and built in 2007, originally offered public tee times but has been a private club for more than a decade.
Somewhat unusually for the Richmond region, the Federal Club course consists of cool-season grasses: bentgrass greens and fairways, and tall fescue in the rough areas. Adding to the late-stage drama, the 18th green is surrounded by water on three sides.
“It’s a beautiful golf course,” says Steve Schoenfeld, executive director of the Korn Ferry Tour Championship. “I was struck by it the first time I played there. The last three holes are very dramatic.”
Smith says she and her staff are telling restaurants, hotels and other businesses to prepare for higher foot traffic Oct. 5-11.
“This is an incredible chance to showcase Hanover County on the national stage,” Smith says. “We’re going to show the world — and especially the golf community — everything that Hanover has to offer.”
