After winning the Advocates Pro Golf Association (APGA) Tour Farmers Insurance Invitational on Sunday, Patrick Newcomb has decided to pass his exemption into the Korn Ferry Tour on to fellow APGA Tour player Tim O’Neal. Newcomb won the event with a birdie on the 36th hole at Torrey Pines South Course, edging out O’Neal. Following the win, social media was filled with a mixture of both congratulations and rage for the non-Black player, with many posts directly referencing the mission of the APGA Tour as posted on its website: “to bring greater diversity to the game of golf by developing African Americans and other minorities for careers in golf.”
“Comments flooded our inbox” says, publisher of the African American Golfer’s Digest, Debert Cook. “After we shared the news of Newcomb’s win on our platform, emails, texts and even phone calls to our office—and even my personal cell phone— started to arrive immediately from readers and fans.”
One texter said, “…reminds me of the same thing that happened to the National Minority Collegiate Championship (now rebranded as the PGA WORKS Collegiate Championship) when white golf teams at HBCU’s started taking all of the wins.”
Another said: “What part of ‘minority’ is not understood? For DECADES, we couldn’t play in the PGA. Now that we finally have OUR tournament, ‘they’ are free to enter.”
One reader texted: “I thought that the APGA Tour was for African Americans and ‘other minorities’ so how was a caucasian able to join this tournament, much less win it?).
Another said: “Many Blacks were banned from the PGA just because we were Black, no matter how good we were.”
Another: “Why did a caucasian win? I thought that the tournament was jus for ‘us’.”
The tournament was the first APGA Tour victory at a landmark event for the APGA Tour which included the Tour’s first ever nationally televised broadcast on GOLF Channel and the largest purse ($100,000) and winner’s check ($30,000) in APGA Tour history.
The APGA is a tour that was founded to give minorities more opportunities to play professional golf, but it has not closed the door on anyone either, according to GolfDigest.com. Tour officials estimate that about 15 percent of the competitors are white, and Newcomb is one of those golfers. He qualified for the Farmers Invitational by finishing fourth on last year’s APGA money list, having started to play the tour in 2021 because it offered more events than other circuits during the pandemic.
“We are thrilled that Patrick Newcomb’s request to pass along his exemption to Tim O’Neal has been approved. Tim has been a tremendous player on our Tour since its inception and has been an incredible role model to the younger generation on our Tour today. He proved on Sunday at Torrey Pines that he still has the game to compete on PGA Tour level courses and it is exciting to see him get the opportunity at the Simmons Bank Open for the Sneaker Foundation. Patrick’s decision to pass along this exemption to his friend, Tim, is a perfect example of the inclusivity and togetherness that best represents what the APGA Tour stands for,” wrote APGA Tour CEO Ken Bentley on the organization’s Facebook page Feb. 2.
When asked about his experience in being on the APGA Tour, 31-year-old Newcomb told GolfDigest.com, “They’ve been great, open arms. They had no issues with me coming out and playing. It’s been a fantastic atmosphere. What they’re doing is great for guys to grow their game and don’t have the money to. You know, this last year I didn’t really have the money to do it, so it’s been fantastic.”
Established in 2010, the APGA Tour is a non-profit organization with the mission to prepare African Americans and other minority golfers to compete and win at the highest level of professional golf, both on tour and in the golf industry. This is accomplished through professional tournaments, career development and mentoring sessions. The 2022 season marks the 10th year the PGA TOUR has supported the APGA Tour.
The Korn Ferry Tour’s Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation will be played May 5-8, at The Grove in College Grove, Tennessee.
