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The Kansas City Amateur Players Tour opened its 2027 season on Sunday, October 18 at Drumm Farm Golf Club in Independence, Missouri for a premier amateur golf tournament. A field of 50 players competed across five divisions, with the Mid-Am Net and Senior Net games running alongside, as the chapter’s calendar of Kansas City amateur golf tournaments got underway for another year. Players are flighted into divisions based on their APT Tournament Index.
Drumm Farm, a par 72, was in fantastic shape for the opener. The greens rolled true, the fairways were lush, and the trees ringing the property had begun to turn for the fall. The golf course still found its moments: the par-4 12th did not surrender a single birdie all day and played nearly two shots over par, the stiffest hole on the card.
The weather gave nobody an excuse. A brisk start warmed quickly into a bluebird fall afternoon, and the only breeze players felt was a slight one — whatever defense the course mounted, it mounted on its own.
In Division 1, Garrett Wilson of Smithville, Missouri posted an 11-over 83 for a six-shot victory. Wilson and Jess Levin of Kansas City, Missouri were dead level through six holes, but Wilson had pushed five clear by the turn-and-a-half mark at the 12th and six ahead with three to play, and the margin never came back. Levin took runner-up honors.
Division 2 produced the day’s best golf and the day’s best theater. Alex Lederer of Topeka, Kansas chipped in for eagle at the par-5 18th to force a three-way playoff at 4-over 76 between Lederer, Austin Perry of Kansas City, Missouri and Doug Schumacher of Weatherby Lake, Missouri — and then needed three extra holes to settle it, with Lederer taking home another win. The comeback that made it possible was remarkable in itself: Lederer went out in 7-over 43 and sat seven behind both of his eventual playoff opponents through twelve holes before coming home in 3-under 33, playing the last six in 5-under with birdies at the 13th, the par-5 15th and the par-3 17th ahead of that pitch at the last. Perry had led the way early, a shot clear after six, and turned in 3-over 39 with birdies at the par-5 7th and the par-4 11th before a 1-over 37 inward. Schumacher was two ahead of Lederer after six and never wobbled, matching 2-over 38s on each nine with a birdie at the par-4 4th. All three 76s stood as the low rounds of the day, and six players in the division finished within five of the lead.
Division 3 belonged to Brian Empson of Kansas City, Kansas, who arrived fresh off his 2026 Player of the Year title and snagged his first win of the new season with a 7-over 79. Empson was five behind Brandon Hale and Karl Mckinney after six holes and then flipped the switch: an eagle two at the par-4 11th sparked a 1-under 35 on the inward nine, he played the last six holes in even par, and he had the division by three with three to play. Hale, of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, and Mckinney, of Raytown, Missouri, shared runner-up honors at 11-over 83. Hale’s lone birdie came at the par-4 2nd, a hole that gave up just one birdie all day and played nearly two over par for the field, before he came home in 6-over 42. Mckinney turned in 4-over 40 with birdies at the par-3 6th and the par-5 9th.
In Division 4, JJ Gladden of Columbia, Missouri won his first tournament since 2024, and he did it with a stellar round — a 9-over 81 that was the only number in the eighties-or-better bracket in the division and good for a seven-shot win. Gladden, who plays out of the St. Louis chapter, went out in 5-over 41 with a birdie at the par-5 7th, picked up another at the par-4 10th, and closed by playing the final three in 1-under with a birdie at the par-5 18th. Darrick Kimberlin of Lee’s Summit, Missouri actually held a one-shot edge after six holes, but Gladden was in front by the 12th and pulled away from there. Kimberlin and Alan Parker of Olathe, Kansas finished tied for second.
Division 5 came down to the last hour, and Irving Beeks of Kansas City, Missouri came from behind to win his first event since 2024. Beeks and Travis Bryan of Independence, Missouri finished tied at 25-over 97, with Bryan two clear through twelve holes and still a shot ahead with three to play before Beeks caught him at the post and won the playoff. Brody Simpson of Kansas City, Kansas was right there as well, a 26-over 98 leaving him a single shot out of the playoff in third. Three players finished within two of the lead.
The Mid-Am Net game was a runaway. JJ Gladden signed for a net 7-under 65 to win by six, completing the double-dip after his Division 4 victory. Rocky Metcalfe of Kansas City, Missouri took second, and he had the better of it early, three ahead of Gladden through six holes before Gladden’s middle stretch settled it. Irving Beeks backed up his Division 5 title with a net 1-over 73 in third.
Senior Net went the other way entirely — one stroke, and eleven players within seven of the lead. Brian Empson completed a double-dip of his own, adding a net 3-under 69 to his Division 3 win. Rob Vincent, visiting from the Iowa chapter and playing out of Polk City, Iowa, pushed him all the way with a net 2-under 70 and was three ahead of Empson after six holes before the inward nine turned it. Brandon Hale and Karl Mckinney tied for third at net even-par 72 to round out the money positions, each of them cashing in a second contest after their Division 3 finishes.
Three eagles were made on the day. Beyond Lederer’s chip-in at the 18th and Empson’s two at the 11th, Bret Reicks holed out for a three at the par-5 9th.
The closest-to-the-pin contests were a two-hole affair. Jay Jones hit a dart to 13 inches at the par-3 3rd, while Winston Lewis snagged the win at the par-3 17th from 4.5 feet.
Along with Vincent, the chapter welcomed Gladden in from St. Louis — and both visitors left with hardware, Gladden with two titles and Vincent with runner-up honors in Senior Net.
That is one stop down in the 2027 season for the Kansas City chapter, with Lederer, Empson, Gladden and Beeks all on the board early and the Player of the Year race underway. The schedule rolls on from here across the Kansas City metro, Johnson County and beyond.
