Chris Korte remembers the first time he played at TPC Colorado.
The Berthoud course hadn’t even officially opened yet eight years ago, but Korte got the opportunity to play it. He knows the challenges it presents while also acknowledging its beauty and uniqueness. The course definitely left a lasting impression on him.
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“My coach was great friends with (Michael) Newberg, who is the membership director up there, and he took us out to play, probably 2018 when it unofficially opened, but the clubhouse was just a little tent behind the sixth tee,” Korte said. “I think one of my criteria for a great golf course is you can remember it very distinctly, all 18 holes.
“TPC Colorado’s got 18 very unique holes. So, honestly, there’s a lot of great holes. I think No. 8 has got to be the signature one in my mind, just with Heron Lakes in the background. You can see the mountains, super challenging par-3. Honestly, probably one of the best par-3s I’ve played in my life.”
Korte will be back at TPC Colorado this week playing in the Korn Ferry Tour’s The Blue Championship. It will be his third Korn Ferry event at the Berthoud course. He played in the TPC Colorado Championship in 2021 and The Ascendant last summer.
The Littleton native, who played collegiately at the University of Denver from 2014-2018, won the 2015 Colorado Golf Association Amateur Championship and earned Korn Ferry Tour membership for 2026 via the final stage of PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry.
In his first full season on the tour, he is currently 46th in the points standings going into this week’s tournament. His best Korn Ferry event this year was the 119th Visa Argentina Open in February, where he tied for second.
“I think that we kind of solidified that belief that I can win at one of the highest levels in the world,” Korte said of that runner-up finish. “Kind of an interesting story how I got to that point. I actually started the season with conditional status, so those first few events of the season were super important.
“I got in a couple. I didn’t get in a couple, and finished top 25 the week before, which guaranteed my start in Argentina. And then, just to go out there and put four fantastic rounds together, finish it off with a bang and give myself a really good chance to win, it was one of the most memorable and special weeks of my career, for sure.”
The next week, he tied for 52nd at the Astara Chile Classic before having to withdraw after the first round of the Club Car Championship in late March due to a wrist injury.
He didn’t return to action until late May at the UNC Health Championship, where he tied for 55th. Since then, he has played in three events, missing the cut in two of them.
“The momentum Argentina created was derailed a little bit the next week, right after a pretty good week as well in Chile,” Korte said. “Just back at home, I guess maybe a little bit of overuse. I couldn’t wait to get back on the golf course. I should have given myself a little bit more of a rest after all that golf and travel.
“I had a wrist issue, so I spent the last 10, 12 weeks doing a lot of PT, getting that wrist stronger and luckily no surgery was involved. It was just some tendon issues on that pinky side, so yeah, it’s been awesome to play and get back into it a little bit.”
Korte is excited to be back in his home state this week where friends and family can watch what he does for a living. He said he spent the Korn Ferry’s off week last week back in Colorado, as well, to get reacclimated to the altitude and see his loved ones.
In his previous two Korn Ferry tournaments in Berthoud, he missed the cut both times after qualifying the Monday before the events. He believes having to play that qualifying round twice will help in his preparation and performance this week.
“It’s pretty special,” he said. “It’s going to jack me up for sure. I think one of the things that will calm me down or help me feel a little bit more prepared is that I have Monday qualified in this event twice. I believe 2021 was my first time, which was my first PGA Tour sanctioned event, first Korn Ferry Tour event of my life.
“Having that under my belt and Monday qualifying last year, and seeing how my game has progressed and how I played this golf course maybe a little bit differently than I did five, six years ago, it just gives me a lot of confidence, but at the same time, it’s incredibly exciting to come back to one of my favorite places.”
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