ATLANTA (Oct. 15, 2021) – The APGA Tour returns to the Atlanta area for the second event of the three-tournament Farmers Insurance® Fall Series for the APGA Tour Farmers Insurance Atlanta Championship to be held at White Oak Golf Club at the Clubs of Peachtree City on October 17-19.
The Advocates Professional Golf Association (APGA) was established in 2010 with the mission to bring greater diversity to the game of golf by hosting and operating professional golf tournaments, player development programs, mentoring programs, and introducing the game to inner-city young people. In addition to conducting up to 14 events awarding over $350,000 in prize money annually, the APGA conducts the Player Development Program to aid young minority golfers on their path through professional golf.
Several of the Tour’s biggest names will be on-hand with youth mentoring and teaching events scheduled along with practice rounds on Sunday, October 17 and then competition rounds for the 36-hole event on October 18-19. The tournament will showcase APGA Tour golfers Kamaiu Johnson, Marcus Byrd, Ryan Alford, Mulbe Dillard and Rovonta Young as well as a host of other standouts and up-and-coming stars.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Ryan Alford Seeks 3rd Straight Victory on Diversity-Focused Tour
Byrd finished the regular season ranked No. 2 in the 2021 Lexus Cup standings in a season which included his first APGA Tour victory at the APGA Tour New Orleans. Byrd was a standout at Middle Tennessee State with multiple victories and was named Conference USA’s 2019 Player of the Year. Alford brings two APGA Tour victories this year with him having won back-to-back events at APGA Tour Scottsdale and APGA Tour Louisville.
This is the second event of the APGA Tour Farmers Insurance Fall Series, where the players are competing for $25,000, including a $7,500 check to the winner. Another $15,000 in bonus money will be awarded to the top points earners in the Fall Series culminating Nov. 7-9, at the APGA Tour Farmers Insurance Fall Series Finale ($30,000 purse), at Wilshire Country Club in Los Angeles.
On Sunday, October 17, APGA Tour players will host youth participants from First Tee – Metro Atlanta at the Farmers® Advocates Foundation Youth Event, which will include a golf clinic and mental and emotional wellness conversations. Included in the program will be four members of the ClubCorp’s ClubLife Gateway Program that offers complimentary memberships to select First Tee – Metro Atlanta students. The ClubLife Gateway Program was launched by ClubCorp to help remove institutional barriers in the golf world and increase access to high-quality golf courses, training facilities and mentorship opportunities to a more diverse population.
Four standout students from First Tee – Metro Atlanta include BJ Little, Benjamin Harper and sisters Olivia and Sophie Li. These students range in age from 15-17 years old.
Little is a high school junior and has been involved with First Tee for more than eight years. He holds a 4.0 GPA and his career aspirations include running for the U.S. Senate and eventually he would like to be President of the United States. In 2020, Little struck the opening tee shot at the PGA TOUR’s TOUR Championship.
Harper, now a Junior at Drew Charter School, was a freshman on the school state championship golf team, becoming the first Atlanta Public Schools team and first team comprised entirely of African-American players to win a state golf championship.
Olivia Li has a 4.46 GPA and was recently named Georgia’s Girls’ Golf Positive Athlete for her strong academic and community giving. Olivia and her younger sister, Sophie, a standout golfer in her own right, have each dedicated time to fight against pancreatic cancer after their father passed away from the disease in 2018.
RELATED: Miles Richardson, 17-year-old Senior at Drew Charter High School and was also a member of the state championship team. He was recently a participant in the 2021 PGA TOUR PURE Insurance Championship, held at Pebble Beach.
Marcus Leonard, 16, and a junior at Drew Charter High School is the third member of the group from the schools state championship squad. He will be apart of the inaugural First Tee National Championship to be held at Clemson University in 2021, and was selected as the male participant to hit the Hope Tee shot at the 2021 Tour Championship.
All of these incredible young First Tee participants have recently been introduced to the Gateway Program where they receive memberships to local private ClubCorp facilities to continue to advance both on and off the golf course.
The APGA Tour Farmers Insurance Fall Series is the latest in a series of actions Farmers has taken to help advance its commitment to diversity and growth in the game of golf. The national insurer has provided funding for APGA Tour events and the organization’s athletes, sponsored players including Kamaiu Johnson and Willie Mack III, hosted the first-ever APGA event at a PGA TOUR tournament at the 2020 Farmers Insurance Open® and provided Mack with a sponsor’s exemption into the 2021 Farmers Insurance Open.
The APGA Tour Farmers Insurance Atlanta Championship will be conducted under health/safety guidelines In conjunction with regional authorities.
