Charles Howell III takes action to support minority mini-tour

Charles Howell III pledged performance-based cash contributions to the APGA Tour, a mini tour geared to developing minority golfers.

As Charles Howell III traveled the country to events in what is his 20th season as a member of the PGA Tour, he reflected on all that the game has given him and concluded it was time to give back.

And then on May 25, George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, was killed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an arrest, and Howell zeroed in on a cause he could get behind. Howell, a three-time PGA Tour winner, pledged to make performance-based cash donations to the APGA Tour, a 10-year-old mini-tour for minority players, and its affiliated Advocates Foundation, through an initiative named #CharlesHowell4APGATour.

“Given the current situation in our country, I thought it would be really neat to do something via the game of golf,” Howell said. “It’s been my life since I was 7 years old. There’s a way here to help other golfers to reach their dreams and goals. I thought the Advocates Tour was a really good fit.”

But that’s only half the story. Howell is the first to admit that he’d never heard of the Advocates Tour until he was paired with one of its founders, Ken Bentley, during the pro-am a couple of years ago at the Farmers Insurance Open. It turns out that Howell’s caddie, Nick Jones, who played collegiately at USC, had competed in three APGA events, including a playoff loss, and knew Bentley, a retired Nestle executive, who made a lasting impression on Howell that day. On June 24, Howell left a voicemail for Bentley, saying he’d like to talk to him about how he could be part of the APGA’s effort to create more opportunities for minorities within the game of golf.

“It was a shock, a pleasant shock. He called out of the blue and said he wanted to help. He was feeling like he had to do something to make the world a better place, and being a golfer he felt like what he wanted to do should involve golf. He did some research and he wanted to be a part of it,” Bentley said.

The Advocates Pro Golf Association’s mission is to bring greater diversity to the sport by developing African Americans and other minorities for a variety of careers in golf. This grassroots effort began as 20-30 friends organizing three events in its first year has blossomed to eight events this year with $250,000 in prize money, including its first 72-hole tournament. Bentley said he expects to grow to 12 tournaments next year.

Howell committed to donate $50 for every birdie he makes and $100 for every eagle, but his involvement will extend far beyond monetary concerns to something far more valuable – his time.

“He wants to talk to the players and play with the guys. He really wants to make a difference. It adds another layer to guys understanding what it takes to get to the PGA Tour and stay on Tour,” Bentley said.

Initially, Howell didn’t want to bring attention to his good deed. It took some coaxing from Bentley, who explained, “if we tell people what you’re doing, it could help other people get involved. I can envision other players doing the same thing.”

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The past few months have given me a lot of time to reflect and think about what I would like to do in the future.  As I watched many of the events that unfolded throughout the country, my heart felt heavy and I wanted to take action – to listen, to understand and to help as much as possible. I am not perfect, and much like golf, I always learn more from my mistakes than my successes.  In an effort to learn and understand better, I attended a Diversity and Inclusivity training. In addition, I reached out to many of my friends in the African American community in an effort to learn and listen more.   Moving forward, I plan to use my platform through the PGA Tour to help and encourage others by partnering with the APGA Tour (www.apgatour.org), to create more opportunities for minorities within the game of golf.  I believe in a better America, and I want to be a part of the solution.

A post shared by Charles Howell (@charleshowell3) on

Bentley’s prediction already has come to fruition to some extent. When Farmers heard about Howell’s involvement, the company agreed to match Howell’s financial contributions based on the birdies and eagles of Willie Mack III and Kamaiu Johnson, two APGA players that Farmers is supporting financially to the tune of $25,000 per year through 2021.

The APGA has made steady progress since its humble beginning with three tournaments at inner-city courses. The PGA Tour’s involvement in 2012 provided a boost of credibility as well as an upgrade to tournament-tested courses – TPC Scottsdale, TPC Deere Run, Innisbrook Resort and Torrey Pines among them – and a glimpse of what it takes to be on Tour. Bentley believes that having a player of Howell’s pedigree could be the missing ingredient in establishing a platform for minority golfers to succeed in the professional ranks.

“Charles is a game-changer. It’s inspirational for our guys to know that Charles is interested in their development, but also Charles can tell them what it takes to get where they want to get to,” Bentley said. “We have four or five guys who are a putt away from the Korn Ferry Tour or PGA Tour. With Charles’s involvement in player development, I think that his impact will result in that one or two putts they need to make it on the PGA Tour.”

Despite Tiger Woods being the dominant golfer and the formation of youth golf development programs such as First Tee, there are currently only four Black golfers on the PGA Tour, roughly the same number as when Howell grew up in Augusta, Georgia, and had minority golfers Jim Dent and Jim Thorpe as influences in his own development.

“We’ve been talking for a long time about how we can diversify golf, but other than the PGA Tour we haven’t gotten a lot of support from the golf community,” Bentley said. “Now everybody is talking about how we need to expand the game. I think the George Floyd situation heightened attention that golf needs to change. If I had a crystal ball, I really think golf will look more like America in the next five years.”

Howell can’t explain why more minorities haven’t progressed to the highest levels of the game, and concedes he doesn’t have an answer. But as he wrote in an Instagram post, “I believe in a better America, and I want to be a part of the solution.”

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PGA Tour, APGA Tour expand strategic partnership

The APGA is set to kick off its 11th season having grown from three events in its debut to a full-fledged eight-event series.

When Tony Finau, Harold Varner III and Joseph Bramlett were coming up through the ranks, they each teed it up in tournaments that were part of the Advocates Pro Golf Association (APGA).

Designed to bring greater diversity to the game by developing African-Americans and other minorities for careers in golf, the APGA is set to kick off its 11th season having grown from three events in its debut to a full-fledged eight-event series.

On Jan. 21, the PGA Tour and the APGA announced significant enhancements to the existing strategic partnership between the two organizations, including 2020 tournaments hosted by TPC properties and funded by the PGA Tour, access and instruction at the PGA Tour Performance Center at TPC Sawgrass and additional financial assistance.

With the support of the PGA Tour, the APGA Tour has elevated the quality of courses on its schedule in recent years, hosting tournaments at TPC Craig Ranch (2018), TPC Scottsdale (2019) and Innisbrook (2019). The enhanced venues provide a platform for minority golfers to succeed in the professional ranks.

That partnership continues in 2020 as the APGA Tour will play three events held at TPC courses: TPC Scottsdale (April 27-28), TPC Louisiana (May 11-12) and TPC Sugarloaf (June 15-16). Competition rounds for those three tournaments will be financially covered by the PGA Tour. In addition, the Torrey Pines North Course will host a one-day tournament on Saturday, January 25, during the third round of the Farmers Insurance Open.

Another benefit added to the partnership is the ability for APGA Tour players to receive instruction at the state-of-the-art PGA Tour Performance Center at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Several benefits will continue in 2020, including access to the First Stage of Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament for the season-long APGA champion. In addition, each tournament winner is granted a scholarship for Open Qualifiers on the Korn Ferry Tour, while the winner of the Senior Pro Classic receives one for Open Qualifiers on PGA Tour Champions.

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. In 2006, they formalized the group as Advocates USA, a 501(c)(3) organization comprised of African-American men from across the country.

The APGA Tour, which has been supported financially by the PGA Tour since 2012, began in 2010 with three professional tournaments, 80 participants and $40,000 in prize money. In 2019, it hosted seven events with 103 participants (25 amateurs) and $250,000 in prize money, as well as an APGA Senior Pro Classic.