Lakers’ Star Austin Reaves Shocks Everyone with a Stunning 76 in Korn Ferry Tour Qualifier!

Reaves was playing in a one-day qualification at Holston Hills Country Club for the Visit Knoxville Open, which is held later this week. Reaves was competing in Knoxville, Tennessee’s Willow Creek location, which is a portion of the Three Ridges Course. Reaves triple-bogeyed the par-3 sixth hole after starting the round with a bogey on the par-4 first, according to his scorecard on the Tennessee PGA of America website. He bogeyed five of the final seven holes after birdieing the next three par-5s around the turn. It was a par-4 that he birdied.

Reaves finished the front nine and back nine with scores of 3-over 38. For the par-3s and par-4s, he shot 4-over. Right now, he is in 73rd place. In California, Reaves has a handicap index of +2.2 (source: PGATour.com). Reaves frequently plays golf with D’Angelo Russell, another guard with the Lakers. (LeBron James owns stock on the PGA Tour.)

Stephen Curry fired a 71 in a Korn Ferry Tour match in 2018. Steph won the pro-am at the American Century Championship in Lake Tahoe last summer after draining an eagle putt and a hole-in-one. (John Smoltz told me recently about the higher calibre of play on the pro-am circuit.)

“The Rigorer design team has let me use the AR1 as a canvas to share my journey and life, and now we are combining two of my passions,” Reaves told ClutchPoints. “I’ve been playing golf my whole life, and to be able to combine it with my signature basketball shoe means everything to me.” Reaves also started a golf-focused TikTok and YouTube channel, entitled Hillbilly Bogey.

That All-NBA match play event is still pending. Michael Corvo is Senior Associate Editor of golf + culture at ClutchPoints. From 2021–24, he covered the Lakers as a beat reporter. He dreams of watching the New York Jets win a playoff game one day. Paul Giamatti, Shane Falco, and Phife Dawg served as inspirations.