PORTLAND, Maine — When the Korn Ferry Tour, which is the level below the PGA Tour, makes its stop at Falmouth Country Club next month, two familiar faces will be among the field of 156 players.
Shawn Warren of Falmouth Country Club (FCC) and Portland Country Club's Head Professional Dan Venezio were granted sponsor exemptions to play in the Live + Work in Maine Open hosted by the FCC.
“When it was announced that Falmouth would be hosting a Korn Ferry event I was beyond excited for the club and the entire Maine golf community," Warren said in a media release. "Now finding out I will be a player in the 2021 [Live + Work in Maine] Open I am humbled and elated to represent the FCC, its members, and the state in this world-class event."
The tournament will be played from June 24-27 and feature some of the best up-and-coming golfers in the world. This event was scheduled to begin its five-year agreement with FCC as the host last summer, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of that event and pushed back the start of the agreement to 2021.
The beneficiary of the tournament will be the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital.
The Korn Ferry Tour is deemed the "Path to the PGA Tour" as the top money earners at the end of each season earn their PGA Tour card and the right to play on tour with the best golfers in the world.
“I look forward to representing the membership at Portland Country Club, my fellow New England PGA professionals, and supporting an event with great charitable impact. It will be a great week for golf in Maine," Venezio said in the release.
The two Mainers have played with tour professionals in the past as both qualified for the PGA Championship, traditionally held in August and now played in May, in years past.
Warren, a four-time New England Player of the Year, was in the field for the 2018 and 2020 PGA Championships played at Bellerive Country Club in Missouri and TPC Harding Park in San Francisco.
Venezio walked alongside the PGA pros at Whistling Straights, located in Wisconsin, in 2015 and also competed at PGA National Championships from 2015-2017.
Two other New England golfers round out the sponsor's exemptions for the event. Jon Curran of Hopkington, Mass., and David Pastore of Greenwich, Conn., will join the Mainers in the field next month.
Curran played in multiple PGA and Korn Ferry events over the years, last making a cut on the PGA Tour in 2019. Pastore's latest professional win came on the Mackenzie Tour, PGA Tour Canada.