APGA Tour Valley Forge will return to the Philadelphia market and Montgomery County for the second year this September, the Valley Forge Tourism and Convention Board (VFTCB) announced today in advance of its annual Travel Rally Day/Montco Golf Classic Monday at Green Valley Country Club.
APGA Tour Valley Forge debuted successfully last September as a VFTCB initiative to promote Montgomery County’s 50-plus golf courses through its Montco Golf program. The APGA Tour’s top players competed over 36-holes at Bluestone Country Club with Marcus Manley of Washington D.C. winning the $7,500 first prize out of the $25,000 purse. It was the APGA Tour’s first ever visit to the Northeastern United States, a major step for the 13 year-old circuit that has become a force in driving diversity in the sport. www.apgatour.org.
On September 19-21, again at Bluestone Country Club, an expanded field of 54 players will battle for another $25,000 in prize money during a tournament week that will include a lifeskills symposium for underprivileged youth plus sponsorship programs focused on diversity and inclusion.
“The APGA Tour has carved out a prominent niche on the professional golf landscape,” said VFTCB CEO Mike Bowman. “Each tournament receives coverage in the major golf media outlets and Valley Forge Tourism is playing a role in advancing the cause of diversity in the sport with our September event. We persevered through COVID-19-related constraints to launch the tournament last year and we’re on the road to making it bigger and better in 2022.”
The 13 year-old tour joined forces with the PGA TOUR and Farmers Insurance in 2019 and has grown dramatically with seven events in 2020, 14 last year and now 18 offering over $700,000 in prize money in 2022.
“APGA Tour players are earning exemptions into PGA TOUR and Korn Ferry Tour events on a regular basis now as we’ve gained more traction these past two years,” offered Cole Smith, Executive Director of the APGA Tour. “APGA Tour Valley Forge is important as the major-market home to a vibrant golf community that is supportive of bringing greater diversity to golf and players pursuing their dreams of careers in professional golf both on and off the course.”
The field of players is expected to include most of the top players on the APGA Tour and in the season-long Lexus Cup Point Standings, including Willie Mack III, who made the cut in two PGA TOUR events last summer, and Kamaiu Johnson, who played in three PGA TOUR competitions as a sponsor exemption last year. The APGA Tour will also add to the field Philadelphia-area golfers with the credentials to compete at the APGA Tour level.
The tournament will be the second event of the Farmers Insurance Fall Series, which also offers a bonus pool to the top players in the four-event autumn competition. The APGA Tour reached another milestone on January 30, when the APGA Tour Farmers Insurance Open Invitational received almost three hours of live coverage on GOLF Channel from famed Torrey Pines Golf Club in San Diego.
Sponsorships for APGA Tour Valley Forge are available and information can be obtained by contacting Steve Griffith at 484 433 7757 or sgriffith@viziongroup,net.
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