GOLF
New Mexico Open brings stars, record purse
The state tournament begins Monday at Turtleback Mountain with former PGA Tour players, a $137,000 purse and an AI-assisted broadcast.
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One of New Mexico鈥檚 premier golf tournaments tees off next week.
The New Mexico Open returns Monday at Turtleback Mountain Golf and Resort, the second-year host of the state open.
All three rounds of the 54-hole tournament will be contested at the Elephant Butte-based course. The open concludes Wednesday.
Three things to know about the New Mexico Open:
Notable names are scheduled to play
For the second year in a row, Albuquerque native and former PGA Tour professional Notah Begay III is set to play in the New Mexico Open.
He won鈥檛 be the only notable name in the field: Fellow former PGA Tour professionals Sean O鈥橦air and Matt Every are expected to compete alongside golf influencer Evan Thompson, former World Long Drive champion Maurice Allen and 2022 NCAA champion Travis Vick.
Aidan Thomas 鈥� the winner of last year鈥檚 New Mexico Open and an Albuquerque native 鈥� is also expected to play in next week鈥檚 tournament.
The purse is the largest in the event鈥檚 history
The New Mexico Open鈥檚 purse is listed at $137,000, which would be the largest in the tournament鈥檚 history. The winner of the tournament will receive $30,000, a $10,000 increase from last year鈥檚 prize.
The tournament鈥檚 broadcast will have a unique wrinkle
In addition to playing in the New Mexico Open, Begay will help broadcast the event via a livestream available on Facebook, YouTube Live, Instagram Live, KRQE NOW in Albuquerque and KTSM+ in El Paso.
That broadcast will have a unique wrinkle: Begay and fellow analyst Ryan Burr will be joined by 鈥淒uff Foreman,鈥� an AI-generated golf personality that will provide 鈥渂anter, golf rules, course insights, and swing analysis,鈥� per a Turtleback release.
Sean Reider covers college football and other sports for the Journal. You can reach him at sreider@abqjournal.com or via X at .
