Event Summary:
- Field of 18 top APGA Tour players
- August 16-17 at historic Baltusrol Golf Club
- Players to compete for $125,000 in total prize money with a $30,000 winner’s purse
- Earlier this year, Cisco announced a partnership with the APGA Tour as part of an ongoing effort to promote a more inclusive and diverse sport of golf through enhanced playing opportunities, financial investment and mentorship programming.
- Through the partnership, three APGA professionals and one aspiring collegiate standout — Kevin Hall, Aaron Beverly, Olajuwon Ajanaku and Michigan State University’s Troy Taylor II – join Cisco’s large and diverse roster of brand ambassadors which already included recent APGA Mastercard Tour Championship and Lexus Cup winner Kamaiu Johnson.
- This partnership builds on Cisco’s existing support of leading organizations, events and individuals who are making a positive impact in the world of golf.
Coming off the exciting conclusion to the 2022 APGA Mastercard Tour Championship which saw Kamaiu Johnson sink a birdie putt on the final hole to win the event and lock up the season-long Lexus Cup bonus competition, the APGA Tour tees it up for the second of two elite-field invitational events sponsored by Cisco. The APGA Tour Cisco Invitational will host 18 top APGA Tour players at historic Baltusrol Golf Club for 36 holes of competition on August 16-17.
In addition to the 36 holes of competition, the event will include a visit from a Cisco executive, APGA Tour CEO Ken Bentley and APGA Tour golfers Kevin Hall and Olajuwon Ajanaku to St. Benedict’s Preparatory School to meet and speak with students. While explicitly dedicated to serving minority youngsters, and those from low-income backgrounds, St. Benedict’s welcomes students from all racial, religious, and socioeconomic groups to create real diversity. Students gain the strength and resilience to achieve their goals, often overcoming personal obstacles and challenging backgrounds and the enduring legacy of poverty and racism. St. Benedict’s prepares young men and women to fulfill their potential as emotionally mature, morally responsible, well-educated, and confident citizens, eager to contribute his or her full range of gifts to their family, community and an ever-changing world.
– HOST VENUE –
Baltusrol Golf Club, synonymous with championship golf, sits at the base of Baltusrol Mountain in northern New Jersey, only a stone’s throw from New York City. With a rich heritage that dates back to 1895, Baltusrol remains true to founder Louis Keller’s vision to create a world-class golf club befitting America’s leading city. Baltusrol’s two championship courses, the Lower and Upper, have played distinguished roles on the national golf stage since their creation by architect A.W. Tillinghast. The Club has hosted 17 major championships in its 127-year history, including seven U.S. Opens, two U.S. Women’s Opens, and two PGA Championships. Baltusrol is the only club to have hosted U.S. Open championshipsp for men and women on both of its courses.
In 2014, Baltusrol became one of just four golf clubs in America to be designated a National Historic Landmark in recognition of its importance to Tillinghast’s career as a course designer. Baltusrol will again welcome the best golfers in the world when it hosts the 2023 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and the 2029 PGA Championship.
– TOURNAMENT COMPETITORS-
The field includes a mix of young up-and-coming minority golfers such as Aaron Beverly, Marcus Byrd, Ryan Alford, Michael Herrera, Kamaiu Johnson, Everett Whiten, Joe Hooks and Toks Pedro as well as veteran standouts Tim O’Neal, Kevin Hall, Daniel Augustus, Wyatt Worthington and Willie Mack III. Beverly, Herrera, Johnson, Hall, O’Neal, Mack and Pedro have all won APGA Tour events within the last year, while Witten is a standout college player at Howard University. Johnson, O’Neal and Mack each won twice on the APGA Tour this year with Mack winning the most recent Cisco-sponsored event when he defended his title earlier this season at the Billy Horschel APGA Tour Invitational presented by Cisco at TPC Sawgrass. Worthington qualified and played in his second major championship at the PGA Championship earlier this year and recently won the John Shippen Invitational earning him a spot in his second PGA TOUR event of the year at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Of the top 15 players from this season’s APGA Tour Lexus Cup standings, 13 are represented in the field.
APGA Tour Cisco Invitational at Baltusrol field:
Olajuwon Ajanaku
Daniel Augustus
Aaron Beverly
Marcus Byrd
Jarred Garcia
Kevin Hall
Michael Herrera
Joe Hooks
Kamaiu Johnson
Willie Mack III
Tim O’Neal
Toks Pedro
Troy Taylor II
Trey Valentine
Andrew Walker
Davin White
Everett Whiten
Wyatt Worthington II
– CISCO SUPPORT –
Held at two of the most prestigious golf courses in the country, both Cisco-sponsored events on the APGA Tour in 2022 feature not only significant prize money ($125,000 each – the second largest purses on Tour this season), but also offer participants enrichment and development opportunities off the course, with professional and personal development sessions, mentoring opportunities and networking events with business and golf industry leaders.
Additionally, Cisco and the APGA have created the Adrian Stills Award in honor of the Tour’s co-founder and current Board Member. 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. The first annual Adrian Stills Award will be given at this year’s Tour’s year-end event to the player who best exemplifies character and sportsmanship, as determined by a panel of judges and voted on by fellow players.
Cisco’s support of the APGA Tour builds on the brand’s ongoing investment in the game of golf, as seen through partnerships with leading organizations, such as the United States Golf Association; events, including the AT&T Pro-Am and the Billy Horschel APGA Tour Invitational presented by Cisco; and the individuals on Team Cisco across the PGA, LPGA and APGA Tours. Together with the APGA, Cisco’s goal is to drive inspiration to participation in the sport by fostering greater inclusion and making it accessible for more people.
APGA TOUR 2022 SCHEDULE/RESULTS
Jan. 29 APGA Tour at Farmers Insurance Open Invitational Winner: Patrick Newcomb
Feb 14-15 APGA Tour at TPC Harding Park Winner: Tim O’Neal
March 7-8 APGA Tour at TPC Winner: Landon Lyons
March 21-22 APGA Tour at Queens Harbour Winner: Willie Mack III
April 2-3 APGA Tour Port St. Lucie Winner: Tim O’Neal
April 11-12 APGA Tour at TPC Las Vegas Winner: Kamaiu Johnson
April 18-19 APGA Tour at TPC Winner: Michael Herrera
May 5-6 Billy Horschel APGA Tour Invitational Presented by Cisco Winner: Willie Mack III
June 20-21 APGA Tour Sugarloaf Winner: Toks Pedro
July 11-12 APGA Tour Deere Run Winner: Landon Lyons
July 19-20 APGA Tour at Valhalla Winner: Brad Adamonis
Aug. 8-9 Mastercard APGA Tour Championship Winner: Kamaiu Johnson
Aug. 16-17 APGA Tour Cisco Invitational at Baltusrol
UP NEXT, FARMERS® FALL SERIES – The APGA Tour Farmers Insurance® Fall Series has expanded from three events to four in 2022, with tournaments taking place in the greater St. Louis, Philadelphia, Houston and Los Angeles areas. The APGA Tour Farmers Insurance Fall Series is designed to further the APGA Tour’s mission of bringing greater diversity to the game of golf and to provide additional playing and earning opportunities to APGA Tour players.
Tournaments in the APGA Tour Farmers Insurance Fall Series include:
- Sept. 7-9 – APGA Tour at Glen Echo Country Club, St. Louis, MO, $30,000 purse
- Sept. 19-21 – APGA Tour Valley Forge, Blue Bell, PA, $25,000 purse
- Oct. 25-26 – APGA Tour at Kingwood Forest Golf Club, Houston, TX, $25,000 purse
- Nov. 8-10 – APGA Tour Farmers Insurance Fall Series Finale at Tustin Ranch Golf Club, Tustin Ranch, CA, $30,000 purse
The APGA Tour Farmers Insurance Fall Series will also feature a $20,000 bonus pool that pays an additional $10,000 to the player who is awarded the most points from each of the four events. Additionally, the top three players from the APGA Tour Farmers Insurance Fall Series who are not already qualified will be invited to play in the 2023 APGA Tour Farmers Insurance Invitational®, an APGA Tour event that is played opposite the PGA TOUR’s Farmers Insurance Open® at Torrey Pines Golf Course. The top six players in the Lexus Cup standings, which were finalized following the APGA Mastercard Tour Championship, have already qualified for the 2023 APGA Tour Farmers Insurance Invitational. These qualifiers, along with Quinn Riley who qualified as the top player in the 2021-2022 APGA Collegiate Rankings include:
Rank Player Final 2022 Lexus Cup Points
1 Kamaiu Johnson 2290
2 Tim O’Neal 1972
3 Willie Mack III 1639
4 Michael Herrera 1612
5 Marcus Byrd 1531
6 Daniel Augustus 1428
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About APGA Tour
The APGA Tour was established in 2010 as a non-profit organization with the mission to bring greater diversity to the game of golf. The APGA Tour Board of Directors works to accomplish this by hosting and operating professional golf tournaments, player development programs, mentoring programs and by introducing the game to inner city young people. In addition to conducting up to 18 tournaments awarding more than $800,000 in prize money and nearly $100,000 in bonus money in 2022, the APGA has organized a Player Development Program to aid young minority golfers as they work to chase their goals in professional golf.
