Stephen Stallings with caddy Laney Frye at last year’s Barbasol Championship. (Larry Vaught Photo)
One of many things I liked about the PGA Tour event in Jessamine County is the way young, rising golfers were given a chance to compete against seasoned PGA players.
The Barbasol Championship annual gave exemptions to unrestricted players and now the new tournament sponsor is doing the same for the ISCO Championship July 11-14 at Champions at Keene Trace.
Kentucky all-American Alex Goff is one of those who got an exemption.
He tied for 14th at the SEC Tournament this spring and had a 70.2 scoring average for the season, the best in program history since at least 1993-94. He ranks second in UK history with 78 rounds of par-or-better and holds the best career-scoring average of any UK player (minimum 45 rounds) at 71.41.
He was also the Men’s Golf Southeastern Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Goff, a graduate-student pursuing a master’s in business administration, had a 3.899 grade-point average while earning his bachelor’s degree in business administration in finance.
Two other former UK golfers — Stephen Stallings and Cooper Musselman — also received exemptions. Stallings, a three-time academic all-SEC pick, played in the Barbasol in 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023. The 29-year-old Stallings turned pro in 2018 and has played in 12 PGA events.
Cooper Musselman played in the 2019 Barbasol Championship. He also turned pro in 2018 and has been on the Korn Ferry Tour.
Other exempted players are J.M. Butler of Louisville, the recent NCAA national champion. He won the 2021 Kentucky State Amateur Championship and also won the state high school tournament playing for Louisville Butler. He now plays at Auburn.
Florida State golfer Luke Clanton, eighth in the World Amateur Golf rankings and a first-team all-American, is also in the field along with Ohio State’s Neal Shipley, the low amateur at the Masters and U.S. Open this season.
“This is a time-intensive process, with a number of factors to consider. We will always be intentional about who we award an exemption to and strive to offer these opportunities to the most deserving athletes who support the health of the tournament as well as providing a platform for local Kentucky talent to launch their professional careers,” said tournament director T.R. Hollis.
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Tickets to the ISCO Championship are available here.
