APGA Tour week in Montgomery County got off to a rousing start Sunday, when the APGA Foundation Youth Clinic educated and entertained some
60 youths from First Tee Philadelphia in advance of the second annual professional golf tournament Tuesday and Wednesday at Bluestone Country Club in Blue Bell.
APGA Tour Valley Forge has returned to the Philadelphia Region under the sponsorship of the Valley Forge Tourism & Convention Board as part of its MontcoGolf initiative promoting the 50-plus courses in the region. The tournament is open to the public with free admission for both the first round on Tuesday and the final round on Wednesday. The pros will tee off beginning at 8 am with the leaders expected to be finishing Wednesday around 2:30 p.m.
The 36-hole competition will award $25,000 in prize money with a $7,500 first prize to the winner from a field of over 50 of the top minority players in the country. It is the second event of the Farmers Insurance Fall Series, which continues in Houston and Los Angeles in October and November as the 18-event, 2022 season comes to a close.
The APGA Foundation Youth Clinic was hosted by The Club at Shannondell in Audubon, where the participants engaged with a financial advisor, lawyers, and experts in health/wellness, mental health, career choices and the sport of golf. The APGA Foundation awarded $2,400 in educational grants to the winners of an essay contest. It was the first full-scale APGA Foundation Youth Clinic since the global pandemic sidelined all such programs back in 2020.
“There was a real buzz about the clinic and I think it could triple in size next year, now that we are back in action with lunch, prizes, our experts, and the educational grants,” said Cole Smith, Executive Director of the APGA Tour and the APGA Foundation. “We expect more community organizations to get involved next year now that we have established the event here in conjunction with the APGA Tour Valley Forge tournament and Valley Forge Tourism.”
The APGA Tour was founded in 2010 with three tournaments awarding $40,000. It has grown dramatically in the past three years with seven events in 2020 and 14 last year. The APGA Tour will award some $900,000 in purses and bonus awards in 2022.
