PRESS ROOM: 2023 APGA Farmers Insurance® Fall Series Finale

EVENT:  The 2023 APGA Farmers Insurance® Fall Series Finale will take place November 7-9 at Tustin Ranch Golf Club in Tustin, CA. The Advocates Professional Golf Association (APGA) Tour was established in 2010 as a non-profit organization with the mission to bring greater diversity to the game of golf.  The event will include a diverse field of approximately 50 golfers playing for a $45,000 purse and will allow players to establish a position in the Farmers Insurance Fall Series bonus pool.

The APGA Farmers Insurance Fall Series is a three-event series 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. Chase Johnson won the first two events of the 2023 series at both the APGA Farmers Insurance Cincinnati and APGA Farmers Insurance Austin.

Leading up to the Fall Series Finale, the APGA Foundation is hosting a golf clinic for underserved youth on Sunday, November 5th at Chester Washington Golf Course in Los Angeles from 12-4:30 pm. The day will include a mental health and wellness discussion run by clinically trained personnel, a career development program with the APGA Foundation, and a fun-filled golf clinic conducted by APGA Tour pros. Youths ages 13-17 will attend and are asked to write an essay on the importance of mental health and well-being for the opportunity to earn a scholarship. Please find further details here.

MEDIA:  Media are invited to cover the practice rounds or competition rounds of the tournament. Please find details below for reference. For story ideas, specific times, onsite questions or additional information, please contact the below:

CONTACTS:  Chris Reimer, CR PR Group, reimer@crprgroup.com

Erin Alexander, APGA Director of Marketing & Sponsorships, erin@apgatour.org

DATE:   November 7-9, 2023

FORMAT:   Approximately 50 players, two-day, 36-hole stroke-play competition, no cut

          Nov. 7: Practice Round: starting at 10 AM PST

          Nov. 8: Round 1 of competition, starting at approximately 8 AM PST

          Nov. 9: Round 2, the final round of competition, starting at approximately 8 AM PST

SITE:                             Tustin Ranch Golf Club, Tustin, California

PURSE:                         $45,000 purse, $15,000 to the winner

Tournaments in the APGA Tour Farmers Insurance Fall Series: 

• 3-5 – APGA Farmers Insurance @ Sharon Woods Golf Course – $25,000 purse, $7,500 to the winner
• 2-4 –    APGA Farmers Insurance Austin – $25,000 purse, $7,500 to the winner
• 7-9 –   APGA Farmers Insurance Fall Series Finale – $45,000 purse, $15,000 to the winner

The top-performing players from the three events will receive additional money from the Fall Series Bonus Pool

Current Top 5 in the APGA Tour Farmers Insurance Fall Series 

Jeff Dailey Award 

In January 2023, the APGA Tour announced that the top player at the end of the season will receive the Jeff Dailey APGA Tour Player of the Year award. This honor will be given to the APGA Tour member who earns the most combined points in the APGA Tour competition throughout the Lexus Cup season, the APGA Farmers Insurance Fall Series, and two Cisco Invitational events. The award, which is named after former Farmers Insurance CEO Jeff Dailey in recognition of his long-time support of the APGA Tour, will include a $25,000 bonus for the winner.

“We launched the APGA Tour in 2010 thanks to a $10,000 contribution that came from Farmers Insurance and through the support of Jeff Dailey,” said APGA Tour CEO Ken Bentley. “The APGA Tour has made incredible progress over the years and Jeff has been a catalyst of our momentum and success. As we look at the future, we want to make sure that his impact on our Tour isn’t forgotten. Having this award in his name is fitting and will serve as a reminder that with the sustained help of dedicated and passionate supporters, change can happen.”

Current Top 5 in the APGA Tour Jeff Dailey Award Standings

Player Profiles 

Marcus Byrd has enjoyed one of the best seasons in APGA Tour history with four victories in five Lexus Cup tournaments and an additional victory at the season-opening APGA Farmers Insurance Invitational (not an official Lexus Cup event). This record-setting streak earned him the Lexus Cup title earlier this year and the $20,000 Lexus Cup bonus. By winning the Lexus Cup, Byrd also takes home the 2023 APGA Mastercard Player Achievement Award winner which includes status on 2024 PGA TOUR Americas and an additional $50,000 bonus from Mastercard to cover travel costs for next season. His record-setting season consisted of four APGA Tour victories at the APGA Farmers Insurance Invitational at Torrey Pines, APGA Florida, APGA at Deere Run, and APGA Valhalla. He also secured a 7th-place finish at the Mastercard APGA Tour Championship, a 5th-place finish at the APGA Cisco Invitational, and a 4th place finish at the APGA Billy Horschel Invitational just last month. Byrd is also an ambassador with Invited Clubs for their Gateway Club program which provides select First Tee participants in Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Washington D.C., and Scottsdale with complimentary memberships to help support diversity in golf in the recreational space. Byrd, who lives in Atlanta, recently spent time with First Tee Metro Atlanta Gateway Club participants at a local Invited Club.

Wyatt Worthington II won the APGA Tour event in Las Vegas earlier this year and added a second win this season at the APGA Cisco Invitational @ Pebble Beach Resorts. Just last month, he finished T5 at the APGA Farmers Insurance Austin and T10 at the Billy Horschel APGA Invitational presented by Cisco. Earlier this year, he qualified and competed at this year’s PGA Championship for the third time in his career – he also competed in the 2016 and 2022 PGA Championships. In 2016, he was the first African-American head professional to qualify for the PGA Championship in 25 years. In 2021, Worthington won the 76th Southern Ohio PGA Professional Championship by five strokes.

Varun Chopra earned his first-ever professional victory in August at the APGA Mastercard Tour Championship. His strong play has continued since then with a runner-up finish at the APGA TOUR Farmers Insurance Cincinnati, T7 at the APGA Cisco Invitational @ Pebble Beach Resorts, and T9 at the APGA Farmers Insurance Austin. Chopra played collegiately first at Illinois in 2018 and transferred to Northwestern in 2021 where he was named to multiple all-academic Big-10 teams.  Chopra has also made two Korn Ferry Tour starts in 2023, successfully Monday Qualifying for both events.

Troy Taylor II is the son of Ohio State Basketball player Troy Taylor, Sr. He recently graduated from Michigan State and finished No. 1 in the APGA Collegiate Rankings this summer before turning professional last month. Taylor has finished 11th or better in his first five professional starts, including a solo fourth-place finish most recently at the APGA Cisco Invitational @ Pebble Beach Resorts. Taylor was joined by Joel Basalaine of Livingstone College (#2), Gary Bullard of Army (#3), Troy Stribling Jr. of Florida A&M University (#4), and Jason Johnson Jr. of Alabama A&M University (#5) in this year’s top 5 of the APGA Collegiate Rankings.

Quinn Riley earned his first career APGA Tour victory at the two-man team event at TPC Louisiana with partner Christian Heavens. Riley finished as the No. 1 player in the 2022 APGA Tour Collegiate Rankings as the top black college golfer in the country following his career at Duke University. Riley has nearly won multiple times on the APGA Tour since joining midseason in 2022 but was able to break through in Louisiana as part of a solid season that saw him finish third in the Lexus Cup Standings. In college, Riley was the individual medalist at the Stitch Intercollegiate in April 2022 at Lonnie Poole GC in Cary and led the Blue Devils with a top-20 finish at the ACC Championship in Panama City Beach. He started playing at a local First Tee program in Raleigh and attended the REX Hospital Open when he was 11 years old for a First Tee Clinic.

APGA TOUR 2023 SCHEDULE/RESULTS 

Cisco Junior Series presented by the APGA and the Cameron Champ Foundation 

The Cisco Junior Series presented by the APGA and the Cameron Champ Foundation is designed to promote the growth of the game in young people of diverse backgrounds. The series creates new opportunities for male and female junior golfers to gain valuable playing experience and exposure to the game from a young age. The APGA Farmers Insurance Fall Series Finale will be the third event in this series and will feature six male and two female junior golfers playing alongside APGA Tour players at Tustin Ranch Golf Course. The male winner of the four-event series will earn a spot in the 2024 APGA Farmers Insurance Invitational at Torrey Pines, while the female winner will earn a spot in the 2024 Farmers Insurance Open pro-am and an exemption into 2024 AJGA Annika Invitational.

ABOUT THE 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, and mentoring programs, and by introducing the game to inner city young people. In addition to conducting an expected 18 tournaments awarding close to $1 million in prize and bonus money in 2023, the APGA has organized a Player Development Program to aid young minority golfers as they work to chase their goals in professional golf.

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