Julian Suri hangs on to win APGA Tour event at Slammer & Squire

ST. AUGUSTINE, Florida – Gary Bullard, a skinny African American golfer in a white Army cap, tried to soak it all in as he birdied the 18th hole at the Advocates Pro Golf Association Tour event at the Slammer & Squire course in World Golf Village on Friday.

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A rising sophomore on West Point Academy men’s golf team, Bullard, 19, shot 75-73 and reports for training at 6 a.m. next Thursday. He won’t touch his clubs for nearly a month.

“I won't have this, and I'll miss it,” said Bullard, one of a handful of amateurs in the field. “The caliber of players out here is so high, it makes me wonder: Why are these guys not on TOUR? The only difference is the number of people around.”

Indeed, the quality of golf at this two-day tournament on the APGA Tour, which promotes diversity by providing playing opportunities for aspiring touring professionals, was first rate. Patrick Newcomb of Benton, Kentucky, shot 65-64 to force a playoff with Julian Suri (62-67), a Jacksonville-based on-and-off TOUR pro. Suri won.

Tim O’Neal (64-67) of Savannah, Georgia, finished alone in third, two shots back.

An American with both Indian and Mexican heritage who reached a high of 60th in the world, Suri has seen his career stall with injuries. Perhaps this will be a springboard in his comeback.

For Kamaiu Johnson (69-67, T6) and Willie Mack III (71-67, T10), both of whom landed sponsorships from Farmers earlier this year – Rickie Fowler tweeted his congratulations – the tournament was just more seasoning.

Others, having finished well back, were just soaking it in.

That part – being around others in the game, getting mentorship and cell numbers, networking – is not inconsequential. The APGA will increase its number of tournaments to 10 by 2022. It is expected to reach 2,000 young people a year, and develop a database of qualified minority candidates upon which golf organizations and manufactures will be able to draw.

Whether or not West Point’s Bullard winds up playing on TOUR after college and his five-year military commitment, he wants to remain in the game. Maybe he’ll work for the TOUR, instead.

“The goal is to stay around something you love,” said Bullard, who after signing his card joined fellow competitors for pictures and socializing on the clubhouse veranda. “There’s nothing I love more than golf. I’ve been around it my whole life.”

Nearby, Michael Herrera of Moreno Valley, California, about an hour east of Los Angeles, rested his legs after posting a second-round 74 to go with his opening 75. Asked about the logo on his cap and shirt, he spoke of Mike Love Golf & Training (mikeloveapparel.com), his new side project, which after launching sold 35 hats in just a week and a half.

“I love the golf business,” said Herrera, 22, “and I’m hoping this one that I’m starting helps me with travel and tournament entry fees to chase the dream. I signed up for Canadian Q school this year, but it got cancelled. I just play and practice as much as I can.”

The Slammer & Squire event marked the APGA’s second tournament back since the pandemic, and the circuit will quickly move to its third, at Dubsdread Golf Course in Orlando, Monday and Tuesday. Then comes the Midwest swing – Chicago Harborside International – before the circuit concludes its season with a pair of Southern California tournaments Aug. 30-Sept 2.

“Everything has just been so compressed since the break,” said Adrian Sills, who played the PGA TOUR in the 80s and started the APGA with Ken Bentley in 2010.

When Sills played the TOUR there were more African Americans than there are now, and he and Bentley are trying to do something about that. So is the PGA TOUR itself, which began to support the APGA in 2012 with access to TPC courses and the PGA TOUR Performance Center at TPC Sawgrass.

“Some of these guys like Kamaiu and Willie are right on the verge of breaking out,” Bentley said in an extensive interview with the PGA TOUR last month. And they don’t lack for inspiration; TOUR pros Joseph Bramlett, Harold Varner III and Tony Finau have played in APGA events.

“Golf has to change, but I’m optimistic,” Bentley added.

He isn’t the only one. For the APGA, it was on to Orlando.