Blades Brown‘s 2026 has been packed with milestones, from playing alongside Scottie Scheffler at the American Express to becoming the youngest player ever to graduate from the Korn Ferry Tour. The 19-year-old’s season also took him to some unusual places, and not every stop came with a normal welcome. One of the wildest moments unfolded outside the course.

Speaking with Golf Channel’s Brentley Romine in a wide-ranging Q&A, Brown was asked about the craziest travel story of this past year. It’s been a season that took him through cities most people never get the chance to visit, and he picked Bogotá, Colombia, where he encountered something unexpected outside the tournament gates.

“I would say one of the coolest events was in Bogota, Colombia, and there were a couple of reasons for that. I remember we were spinning 8-irons back; I remember I hit an 8-iron from 115 yards just to control the spin, just because it had rained a lot and the greens are so soft. But one of the coolest things was we were walking up to the entrance of the golf tournament, and there were a couple of guys holding AK-47s,” he said.

“I was like, all right, I hope they are our security guards, and they’re here to protect us. My sister got a good kick out of that. She was like, ‘They’re what? Are you OK?’ And I said, ‘We’re all good down here in Bogotá, Colombia.'”

Brown usually has a happy-go-lucky attitude, and naturally, his first reaction to seeing the men holding AK-47s was a hopeful one. Romine joked that it was perfectly normal to see something like that but admitted that the sight would be unnerving regardless of whose side the men were on.

For a teenager walking into a professional golf event, an armed welcome is the last thing on his mind. Brown, to his credit, turned the frightening first encounter into a funny anecdote.

The reason he was there was the Astara Golf Championship, held February 5-8 at Country Club de Bogotá. It is the Korn Ferry Tour’s only stop in Colombia, and the 2026 edition was its 16th, with 144 players chasing points. For Brown, it was his fourth Korn Ferry Tour start of the year, after two events in the Bahamas and one in Panama, with a trip to the American Express in between.

His performance on the course was worth remembering, too. He opened the tournament with a 70 on Thursday, followed it with a 65, and added a 73 and a 68 over the weekend. He tied for 25th at eight under, well behind winner James Nicholas, but earned $7,045.

Interestingly, that wasn’t the only wild moment he shared. In the same interview, Brown recalled his first tee shot at the American Express, when Scheffler’s name was announced, and Brown instinctively started applauding. His caddie, Brett Swedberg, quickly reminded him that they were playing against Scheffler, not cheering for him. Brown shrugged it off, saying he was just locking in. Regardless, he tied for 18th that week, even after a second-round 60.

Between the big stages and the unusual moments, Brown’s results have kept pace. He has nearly 20 top-20 finishes across the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour this year, including four runner-up or third-place finishes, along with more than $1.5 million in on-course earnings. He also finished second at the Tulum Championship and again at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship, where a 54-hole lead slipped away.

But the miles aren’t slowing down for him. Brown holds special temporary membership on the PGA Tour and has as many as four fall starts left. If 2026 is any guide, there will be plenty more stories for Brown to collect before he takes on a full PGA Tour schedule in 2027.