Florida A&M star sees APGA Tour as key to reaching next level

Mulbe Dillard has interned at private equity firms each of the past two summers. He’s undertaking a different apprenticeship this summer.

He’ll be on a golf course instead of an office.

Dillard is competing as an amateur on the Advocates Pro Golf Association Tour this year. The APGA, which was formed in 2008, is a professional circuit that promotes diversity in the sport. The tour’s next stop begins Thursday at the World Golf Village’s Slammer & Squire Course in St. Augustine, Florida.

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Dillard is one of several amateurs in the field, indicative of the APGA Tour’s desire to grow the game at both the professional and amateur levels.

“After doing those two internships, I sat back and thought about how my golf game has developed at each level I’ve played,” Dillard said. “Each situation I’ve put myself in for golf, I’ve figured out a way to work my butt off and get to the top of that section that I’m in. I want to give (pro golf) a shot. I don’t want to be 50 years old and say I never had the opportunity to go pro because I was sitting in an office.

“I’m dedicated to being the best I can by any means possible.”

As a junior golfer growing up in Chicago, Dillard would make the 45-minute commute to Mistwood Golf Club several times a week. He moved to Florida to play Division I college golf, and still has two seasons remaining at Florida A&M to prepare for a pro career.

He won twice in his junior season for the Rattlers, and had two other top-5s, before the COVID-19 pandemic brought things to a halt. His 72.7 scoring average was the lowest on a team that won four consecutive tournaments this season.

With the NCAA granting student-athletes impacted by the pandemic an extra year of eligibility, Dillard plans to spend an extra season in Tallahassee, Florida, and pursue a master’s degree in sport management.

A graduate degree offers a strong safety net, but pro golf is Dillard’s first priority. The APGA has already played an important role in Dillard’s development. He also competed on the tour last year.

Playing the longer, tougher courses of a professional tour and seeing how experienced players handle the inevitable hardships that happen on the course helped Dillard during this most recent collegiate season. His two victories, at the Gulf Shores Invitational and BCGCA Intercollegiate, were the first two of his career.

“The competition that I get from playing against these guys who are striving to be on bigger tours is great for the development of my game,” Dillard said. “The main difference that I see is the mental game. … From playing on this tour and playing with people who are at a more advanced level, I can see that they don’t get down on themselves. If something bad happens, they say, ‘I’m about to hit a spectacular shot to get out of this predicament.’”

Kamaiu Johnson, a fellow APGA competitor from Tallahassee, has mentored Dillard the past few years. Johnson received some attention earlier this year after the Monday Q Info Twitter account shared his story of perseverance as he climbs the ladder in pro golf.

Earlier this week, Dillard and Johnson traveled from Tallahassee to Orlando before heading up to St. Augustine for a practice round.

“He’s taken me under his wing,” Dillard said. “He has definitely helped me out with my game, with being able to talk to people … he’s helped me out with networking, and my thought process on the golf course. For how my game has changed this summer, I don’t think I owe anything to anyone else other than Kamaiu. He has helped me out tremendously.”

Dillard will soon have the opportunity to learn even more about his game. As part of the APGA’s development program, Dillard will received lessons from Todd Anderson, the Director of Instruction at the PGA TOUR’s Performance Center at TPC Sawgrass. Anderson’s students include former FedExCup champion Billy Horschel.

“That’s an incredible opportunity because for the longest time I’ve been trying to figure out what I need to do to get to that next level,” Dillard said. “His understanding of the game will definitely give me the resources to get to that next level.”

That’s why the APGA was created -- to help players reach the next level. Dillard is taking advantage of the opportunity.