Advocates Pro Golf Association Celebrates 10th Season
Eleven years ago, former PGA TOUR pro Adrian Stills was invited to conduct a golf clinic in Las Vegas. He stood on the fourth tee at Rio Secco Golf Club when one of the other members of his foursome, Ken Bentley, asked him to explain why it had been nearly 25 years since an African-American had made it through the TOUR’s Qualifying School.
Sure, Tiger Woods had bypassed it altogether in 1996, and emerged as the World No. 1, but where were all the other minorities that were supposed to follow in his footsteps? The floodgates never opened.
Bentley, an executive with Nestle USA, recently had watched “Uneven Fairways: The Story of the Negro Leagues of Golf,” a 2009 documentary chronicling the victories and struggles of African-American golfers. He couldn’t understand why there were fewer minorities playing at the game’s highest level than when Stills earned his TOUR card for the 1986 season.
Stills ticked off several reasons for their lack of progress, but as far as he was concerned, the lack of a place to play topped the list. He explained how in his day, he competed and honed his game in tournaments organized by the United Golf Association, a series of professional events for blacks conceived during the era of racial segregation in the United States.
“Ken looked me in the eye and said, ‘Let’s re-create it,'” Still recalls.
Adrian Stills, PGA
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And thus was born the Advocates Pro Golf Association, designed to bring greater diversity to the game by developing African-Americans and other minorities for careers in golf. Stills developed the blueprint. Celebrating its 10th season, the APGA has grown from three events in its debut to a full-fledged seven-event series, including its first 72-hole tournament, which was won by former Web.com Tour player Brad Adamonis on Feb. 3.
This year’s schedule features tournaments at TPC Scottsdale and Innisbrook Resort, the same courses that host PGA TOUR events. In doing so, the APGA has re-established a platform for minority golfers to succeed in the professional ranks.
Tim O’Neal, who has earned playing privileges on the Web.com Tour and PGA TOUR Latinoamerica during his career, has witnessed the Advocates Tour’s evolution, having finished tied for second in the inaugural event in 2010 at historic Rogers Park in Tampa and winning the Lexus Cup Player of the Year award in 2018.
“It’s been huge for everyone who plays in it,” says the 46-year-old O’Neal. “It’s a chance for us to see where our game is, how it stacks up and learn where we need to improve.”
O’Neal was recently selected by Tiger Woods for the Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption at next week’s Genesis Open, an event run by Woods’ foundation. “I’m looking forward to seeing Tim compete in the Genesis Open,” Woods said in a press release announcing the exemption. “Like Charlie did as a player, Tim has shown great determination in his professional career.”
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RELATED ARTICLE:To its everlasting credit, the Advocates is a grassroots effort that began as a group of 20-30 friends that gathered a couple times a year and bonded over golf outings. On one occasion, Bentley purchased a set of golf clubs and sold raffle tickets, donating the money raised to a local charity.
In 2006, they formalized the group as Advocates USA, a501(c)(3) organization comprised of African-American men from across the country. Advocates membership has grown steadily as has its purpose: mentoring youngsters and contributing more than a $1 million to charities and scholarships.
The non-profit organization does more than just sponsor professional golf tournaments. Every event combines health and wellness and career fairs. APGA also sponsors Diversity Symposiums where leaders of the minority golf community gather to discuss ways too best introduce diversity at all levels of the game.
To bring greater diversity to golf, the APGA Tour has partnered with inner-city youth organizations to host golf clinics that introduce both boys and girls ages 14-22 — most of whom have never touched a club before — to the game.
“Everyone talks about who is the next Tiger Woods? I think he or she is somewhere in one of our youth classes,” Bentley says.
Read more at PGATour.com
