It’s another first for the Advocates Pro Golf Association. The organization, focused on ensuring players have access to the tools and support they need, allowing them to better focus on their career path and development in the game is succeeding in its mission. The APGA Black History Month Classic at Indian Canyons Golf Resort in Palm Springs will be the first full-field event of the 2023 APGA Tour season for the Advocates Professional Golf Association (APGA) Tour and its work to grow diversity in golf.
The tournament will take place February 26-28, 2023 with a $25,000 purse. The event is formatted for 50 players, two-day, 36-hole stroke-play competition, no cut.
FIELD SUMMARY:
Joey Stills enters the event coming off a strong runner-up finish at the APGA Farmers Insurance Invitational at Torrey Pines at the first event of the year. Stills’ best finish on the APGA Tour in 2022 came at the Billy Horschel APGA Tour Invitational presented by Cisco, where he finished 3rd at TPC Sawgrass. He also won the 2022 Jim Thorpe Invitational and recorded two wins on the OGA Tour. The son of PGA TOUR player Adrian Stills, Joey played at the University of West Florida and was a participant, and later a coach, at First Tee Gulf Coast.
Michael Herrera will make his first APGA Tour start of the 2023 season after teeing it up on the PGA TOUR at the Farmers Insurance Open and missing the cut by two strokes. Herrera has excelled on the APGA Tour, with victories in each of the last two seasons – in Carlsbad in 2021 and at TPC Scottsdale in 2022. He finished the 2022 season ranked No. 4 in the season-long APGA Tour Lexus Cup standings. Herrera, who grew up in nearby Moreno Valley, California, attended the Farmers Insurance Open as a fan and fulfilled a lifelong dream of teeing it up at the event for his first-ever PGA TOUR start.
The last two players to finish No. 1 in the APGA Collegiate Rankings Mulbe Dillard (Florida A&M-2021) and Quinn Riley (Duke University-2022) are in the field. Riley came to the APGA Tour mid-season after finishing No. 1 in the 2021-22 APGA Collegiate Ranking. Since joining the APGA Tour last summer after a strong college career at Duke University, he has had three top-10 finishes.
Ryan Alford teed it up at the 2022 Farmers Insurance Open on the PGA TOUR and was a two-time APGA Tour winner in 2021, Alford struggled through health-related COVID-19 complications and looks to rebound in 2023. He finished T7 in the APGA Farmers Insurance Invitational and finished 4th at the Jim Thorpe Invitational, two shots back of the winning score.
Daniel Augustus, who finished 6th in the Lexus Cup standings had 8 top-10 finishes and two runner-up finishes on the APGA Tour last year. Earlier this year, Augustus conducted an interview with Golf Digest and the Fire Pit Collective revealing a childhood of tragedy and abuse. Augustus finished T9 at Torrey Pines to start the year.
APGA Tour veteran Montrele Wells will tee it up for the first time in 2023 after being named as the recipient of the inaugural APGA Tour Adrian Stills Award presented by Cisco in December 2022. The award created to honor the APGA Tour player who best embodies the qualities of character, sportsmanship, courage and giving back to the game and community. Stills was one of the last African American golfers to reach the PGA TOUR through PGA TOUR Qualifying School before the Q-School process changed several years ago.
Andrew Walker is in his second full season on the APGA Tour and captured his first APGA Tour win at the APGA Cisco Invitational at Baltusrol in August of 2022.
Gabriel Lench, who won the Jim Thorpe Invitational earlier this month, will tee it up as well.
APGA BLACK HISTORY MONTH CLASSIC HONOREES
As part of the APGA Black History Month Classic, the APGA Tour will honor several influential figures who have made significant contributions to the growth of the game and the APGA Tour. On Monday, February 27, at 4:00 p.m. PT, APGA Tour CEO Ken Bentley will lead a presentation of the awards to the following recipients:
- Kenyatta Ramsey, Vice President, Player Development, PGA TOUR – Ramsey leads the efforts of the PGA TOUR in overseeing the relationships and functions of the PGA TOUR and other golf organizations to help create a pipeline for minority golfers both on and off the course throughout the industry and through all levels of PGA TOUR competition. Ramsey’s consistent support of the APGA Tour and its players have been instrumental in the APGA’s growth over the last several years.
- Jeff Champ, Cameron Champ Foundation – Through Champ’s leadership, the Cameron Champ Foundation is committed to unlocking the potential in and transforming the lives of youth from underserved and underrepresented communities. Examples of these efforts include:
- Mack Champ Invitational – This tournament was established for the game’s best junior golfers of diverse backgrounds in 2020. In addition to providing an annual showcase for these players, the tournament is helping players and families navigate the world of competitive junior golf and college recruiting while building a sense of community for players who are too often the only players of color when they compete. This event is connecting with the APGA Tour in many ways to develop a pipeline and pathway for golfers from Junior through college and into professional play.
- Golf Programs – The Champ family manages Foothill Golf Course in Citrus Heights, CA, with the intention of making golf accessible to the community and especially its young people.
- Scholarships – The foundation has established college scholarships named after legends who overcame obstacles to make golf more diverse and inclusive.
- Will Lowery, Beyond the Fairway Co-Host and on-air talent for Golf Channel and PGA TOUR Live – Known for his signature cross-handed grip as a player where he continues to balance his playing career with APGA Tour events and his additional contribution to the game as a content creator and on-air talent, Will’s reverse swing style and dreadlocks are shattering the perception of what a golfer looks like. In everything he does, Will uses the power of education and storytelling to create opportunities that change the landscape of golf and remove the illusion of inclusion. Will brings personality and purpose to all his partnerships and uses his relationships and platforms to create a sustainable path into golf and upward mobility for multicultural athletes. As a champion for youth mentorship, Will partners with a number of organizations to create access and opportunity for the youth they serve.
- Olajuwon Ajanaku, Founder of Eastside Golf – Olajuwon Ajanaku, the Founder of Eastside Golf grew up in East Atlanta. He gained a golf scholarship to Morehouse College and won a National Championship alongside his co-founder, Earl Cooper. Together, the two formed Eastside Golf with a mission to build a lifestyle golf brand developed to raise awareness about golf among youth and non-golfers and to inspire the culture, promote diversity and continue to be authentic. He continues to play in APGA Tour events and will part of the field at at the APGA Black History Month Classic.
Awards will be presented at a ceremony at Indian Canyons where each recipient will be acknowledged and recognized for their efforts to promote diversity in golf.
