2027 KY/CINCY/COL NCR SOUTH (ELEVATED)

The Kentucky Amateur Players Tour headed north on Monday, October 26, 2026 to NCR Country Club in Kettering, Ohio for a premier amateur golf tournament, one of the marquee stops on the Kentucky amateur golf tournaments calendar. A field of 77 players competed across five divisions, with two net games running alongside, as the tour’s Kentucky, Cincinnati/Dayton and Columbus chapters came together for an Elevated Event on the renowned South Course. Players are flighted into divisions based on their APT Tournament Index, and more than $2,000 in prize money was on the line. What follows is the APT Tournament Recap from NCR Country Club.

The South Course is one of the most demanding layouts on the tour’s schedule, and its résumé explains why. NCR hosted the 1969 PGA Championship, won by Raymond Floyd, the 1986 U.S. Women’s Open, won by Jane Geddes, the 1998 U.S. Mid-Amateur, won by Spider Miller, the 2005 U.S. Senior Open, won by Allen Doyle, the 2013 USGA Women’s State Team Championship, won by New Jersey, and the 2022 U.S. Senior Women’s Open, won by Jill McGill. The PGA Junior Championships are scheduled there in 2027. The par-71 South Course signs off with its teeth bared: the 18th played nearly a shot and a half over par and gave up exactly one birdie all day, and the par-5 6th surrendered just one birdie of its own.

The weather was absolutely beautiful, giving the field perfect conditions. However, the South Course was anything but easy. Lightning-fast greens, demanding approach shots and a layout that required precision and patience combined to make NCR a true professional-level tournament challenge. Every shot mattered, and the course tested every aspect of the players’ games.

In Division 1, Ben Palmer of Parkersburg, West Virginia delivered the performance of the day, firing a 2-over 73 to take the title by four strokes. On a course where scoring chances were scarce, Palmer’s round stood up as the low round of the field. He went out in 2-over 38 with the division bunched behind him, and he was still being chased at the turn — Josh Earnest of Lawrenceburg, Kentucky had actually edged a stroke in front through twelve holes. Palmer answered where it mattered most, birdieing the par-3 13th and coming home in even-par 35 with 14 pars on his card and only three bogeys. By the time the group reached the 16th tee, Earnest and Jonathan Feldkamp of Maineville, Ohio were both two back, and neither could close the gap. The two shared runner-up honors with matching rounds of 6-over 77 — Feldkamp out in 2-over 38 after a birdie at the par-5 5th, Earnest making three birdies, at the par-4 7th, the par-3 8th and the par-4 11th. Completing the Division 1 top five finishers, Dustin Fields of Xenia, Ohio finished fourth with a 9-over 80, and Troy Boswell of Reynoldsburg, Ohio rounded out the top-5 with a 17-over 88. Palmer’s victory came against a very demanding golf course, and it was the standout round of the event.

Division 2 produced the drama of the day. Three players signed for 8-over 79, and the division was settled in a playoff. Kaiden Evans of Columbus, Ohio and Sean Harrington of Westerville, Ohio finished level at the top, with Paul Baker of Lexington, Kentucky third on the same number. Evans had trailed all afternoon — Baker was four clear of him after six holes and three clear at the twelfth — before Evans came home in 3-over 38, with birdies at the par-5 5th and the par-3 13th, to force the issue. Harrington birdied the 5th as well and turned in 2-over 38. Baker made the best start in the division, 1-over 37 to the turn with birdies at the par-3 2nd and the par-5 5th. The next closest player was five shots adrift of the 79s.

Division 3 belonged to Bradley Dunaway of Springboro, Ohio, who posted a 14-over 85 for a two-shot win in the largest flight of the day. Dunaway was a stroke behind both of his closest pursuers after six holes and did his best work late, pulling three clear through fifteen. Ross Richardson, playing out of the Indianapolis chapter, took runner-up honors at 16-over 87, with Ray Conley of Hilliard, Ohio third on the same score. Behind them the division jammed up in a way the South Course encourages: six players signed for 93.

Division 4 came down to a single stroke. Shaun Shipp, representing the Kentucky chapter, held on for a 16-over 87, and he had to withstand a mid-round charge — Don Hubbard of Independence, Kentucky was three in front of him after twelve holes. Shipp, who birdied the par-4 4th on his way out in 6-over 42, drew the race level again by the fifteenth and never let it slip. Hubbard, who birdied both the par-4 4th and the par-5 10th, and Richard Navratil of the Cincinnati/Dayton chapter shared second at 17-over 88. Navratil’s day turned on the inward half: after going out in 11-over 47, he came home in 6-over 41.

Kevin Forwith of Morrow, Ohio took Division 5 with an 18-over 89, three clear of Kevin Filby of Lewis Center, Ohio. Filby led by two after six holes and birdied the par-5 6th, but Forwith had flipped the race by the turn, leading by two at the twelfth and three at the fifteenth. Adrienne Edwards of Rockbridge, Ohio finished third at 27-over 98.

Mid-Am Net ended in a tie at the top, with Navratil and Feldkamp both signing for net 1-over 72 and sharing the points and the purse. Navratil’s day was a productive one — second place in Division 4 and a share of the Mid-Am Net lead. Filby was a stroke back in third at net 2-over 73, and four players finished within five of the number.

Senior Net was Forwith’s second trip to victory lane. He posted a net 5-under 66, the lowest net number of the day, to win by five and complete the double-dip alongside his Division 5 title. Hubbard was next at net even-par 71 after being two ahead of Forwith through twelve holes, and Baker made it a two-result day of his own, finishing third at net 1-over 72 to go with his third place in Division 2.

The day’s only eagle belonged to Tyler Philo, who holed out for a two at the par-4 14th.

Next up in the Kentucky chapter — a trip to Frankfort Country Club on Sunday, November 8th. Space is limited and registration closes November 4th. Two weeks later the three chapters reconvene for the Four Bridges Fall Final, an Elevated Event on Sunday, November 22nd, with registration closing November 19th.