- March 25, 2026
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The then-Web.com Tour had its sights set on Lakewood Ranch in 2018. It saw a golf-crazed community and the perfect market to sustain a professional tournament.
Word about that interest soon reached Global Golf Management, which plans and runs golf events, and Icon Management, which managed golf at Lakewood National. Both entities wondered if the PGA Tour would accept the course as a Web.com event.
“They came up with a game plan and presented it to the tour,” said Justin Kristich, tournament director of the LECOM Suncoast Classic. “That’s how that all came together.”
Eight years later, the Suncoast Classic has become a staple of the now-Korn Ferry Tour’s annual calendar. It will be held at Lakewood National from April 2-5, bringing together 156 golfers with a $1 million purse.
That connection between Global Golf and Icon — now Sportfive and Troon Golf, respectively — brought the tournament to Lakewood National. Without their shared vision, it could’ve ended up elsewhere in Lakewood Ranch, or not in this community at all.
Icon oversaw construction of both courses at Lakewood National. The Commander Course opened in January 2017, followed by the Piper Course in November 2019.
Even in those pre-COVID-19 pandemic years, Lakewood Ranch’s population was on the rise and businesses came in accordingly. A market for pro golf was growing.
Kristich said the then-Web.com Tour — still the official pathway to the PGA Tour — had begun to explore courses in the area before Global Golf and Icon made their pitch.
“Everything was starting to move out east. Lakewood National (was) being built, and there wasn't much else around it at the time,” Kristich said. “From the Lakewood Ranch community’s perspective, it was going to become a boomtown, which obviously, it did.”
So the Commander Course at Lakewood National was selected as host. It later reached an agreement with LECOM to be the title sponsor.
Since the first year, nothing has changed in either of those regards.
“It isn't your typical Florida course,” said Warren Lee, general manager at Lakewood National. “There's a lot of undulations, the fairways are wide, our bunkers are very different."
Kristich, too, has been a constant. After a call from a former colleague, he left the baseball diamond behind in favor of the golf course.
He served as assistant general manager for the Bradenton Marauders and manager of ticket sales at LECOM Park from 2015-17 following a stint as coordinator of ticketing there from 2010-15. During those last few years, though, he contemplated a move.
Golf was a sport he watched often in his youth despite growing up as a tennis player. While pursuing his bachelor of science in sports management at the University of Florida, he worked at the Mark Bostick Golf Course, becoming more appreciative of the game.
In the lead-up to the Suncoast Classic’s debut, one of Kristich’s former colleagues who had taken a new job at Global Golf called with an idea — Kristich should run the tournament.
Kristich had dinner with the owners of Global Golf, and was hired with only five months of preparation to bring pro golf to Lakewood Ranch.
“The first year, you just drank out of a fire hose,” Kristich said. “You had nothing in place. Whatever you're trying to do, you don't know if it's going to work until you actually put it in motion.”
The inaugural tournament was held Feb. 14-17, 2019, and was successful enough to return the following year. It tournament continued to be held in February until 2023, when it was pushed back to April.
As he went about building a brand for the Suncoast Classic, Kristich wasn’t sure how strong the spectator or volunteer support would be. He assumed it would take time for the community to embrace the tournament.
He soon found the contrary was true.
“We didn’t have to educate every single person on, at the time, what was the Web.com Tour,” Kristich said. “A lot of people understood who we were, (which) made the conversations easier. Volunteer recruitment, I remember, being very easy.”
Kristich also said revenue generation was low in the first year because of fewer sponsorships, but that wasn’t the case for long. Local businesses rose to meet the already-heavy support from volunteers.
The area continued to grow as well. Population in the Lakewood Ranch area grew to approximately 80,000 in 2026 with another 10,000 homes on the way.
For Lee, this will be the fifth edition of the tournament since he took over at Lakewood National. There have been three playoff finishes in that time.
Neal Shipley won last year — shooting 18 under par — in a five-hole playoff against S.T. Lee. Preceding champions Tim Widing (-20 in 2024) and Scott Gutschewski (-21 in 2023) also needed extra holes to secure their respective victories.
“The (Lakewood National) members enjoy the time here," said Warren Lee. "Even just stepping in my first year, you could see how much they enjoyed being out on the course, seeing the level of play."
This year, though, is the first in the tournament's history where it will share April with the Senior PGA Championship, which is scheduled for April 16-19 at The Concession Golf Club.
When the PGA of America reached a three-year agreement with The Concession for hosting rights, the Suncoast Classic was booted from its usual spot in the third weekend of the month. Its fourth and final round will be on Easter Sunday.
Kristich and Lee aren't worried. They believe the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour Champions events can coexist because they offer two different types of golf.
“We’ve had a mark on this area. (We’re) going to be here for a long time,” Kristich said. “And we've got a pretty good method to the madness.”
