Once again, the Advocates Professional Golf Association (APGA) Tour tees off at TPC Las Vegas, a PGA Tour owned and operated layout. The APGA continues with huge momentum and Las Vegas golfer Kendel Hodges is in the field. Here’s a sneak peak of the $25,000 APGA Las Vegas event that is scheduled for April 10-11.
Marcus Byrd, who recently played in two PGA Tour events on sponsor exemptions, is seeking to win three of the first four APGA Tour events of 2023. Byrd, 25, played in The Genesis Invitational and The Honda Classic on the PGA Tour, shortly after winning the APGA Tour Farmers Insurance Invitational at Torrey Pines. The Farmers event was the first of the season and was carried live on GOLF Channel.
Kamaiu Johnson won the 2021 and 2022 events held at TPC Las Vegas en route to winning the season-long Lexus Cup in 2022. Johnson is scheduled to play in Vegas, as are other former APGA tournament champions including two-time winner Ryan Alford; Wyatt Worthington, who qualified for and played in the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills; Andrew Walker, winner of the APGA Tour Cisco Invitational at Baltusrol last year; and Kevin Hall, who is seeking his second victory in 2023.
Hodges, the Vegas favorite, plays and practices at Angel Park and works as a club fitting specialist at Las Vegas Golf Superstore. Now in his second year on the APGA Tour, he grew up in Temecula, Calif. He was a four-year varsity starter at Great Oaks High and earned All-Southwestern League honors all four years and was the league MVP as a sophomore.
Hodges, 24, then played at California Baptist University where he was named to the 2017 All-PACWEST Second Team before concluding his college career at South Mountain Community College as an Academic All-American. In the early years of the APGA Tour, he played as an amateur in a tournament at Chester Valley Golf Club in Los Angeles.
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, mentoring programs and by introducing the game to inner city young people. In addition to conducting an expected 18 tournaments and 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.