Christian Heavens and Quinn Riley capture APGA Two-man Classic at TPC Louisiana
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Written by Staff
Avondale, LA– Christian Heavens and Quinn Riley combined forces to capture the first team competition in APGA Tour history, using an 18th hole birdie for the margin of victory to defeat Kamaiu Johnson and Gabe Lench Tuesday at TPC Louisiana.
Heavens and Riley fired a six-under par 66 in the alternate-shot format, highlighted by an eagle and six birdies, to overcome a seven-shot deficit and win the $10,000 first prize from the $30,000 purse. The APGA Tour now heads to St. Louis for the APGA Ascension Classic at Glen Echo Golf Club August 8-10. The regular season culminates August 13-15 with the Mastercard APGA Tour Championship at TPC Sugarloaf in suburban Atlanta.
Johnson and Lench ended up tied for second with Andrew Walker and Zachary Juhasz at nine-under 135 after delivering an 11-birdie 61 to take a two-stroke lead after Monday’s first day of competition under a better-ball format.
Heavens, a St. Louis native now residing in Scottsdale, Arizona, rolled in a 30-footer for eagle on the par-five, 561-yard seventh hole after Riley coaxed a 210-yard five iron out of the rough around a tree and onto the green. That lifted them into contention and the birdie on 18 was set up by Heavens’ 35-foot bunker shot to three-feet. Riley dropped the putt and the pair watched the final groups come in, celebrating when their 10-under, 68-66-134 won the day.
“We felt like we didn’t execute in the better-ball format on Monday,” offered Riley, the former Duke University standout who was the No. 1 player in the 2022 APGA Collegiate Rankings. “Today, we stuck to our plan, stayed out of trouble and gave ourselves some looks. The format was different, pressure-packed.” The win is Riley’s first on the APGA Tour.
For Heavens, it was his fourth victory on the APGA Tour and his first since 2017, when he won the season-opening event at Perdido Bay Golf Club in Pensacola, Florida. “It’s nice, for sure,” said Heavens. “This gives me the confidence to play well heading into St. Louis, my hometown.” After playing together in the APGA Farmers Insurance Invitational in January, Heavens and Riley decided to team up when they heard that the 2023 schedule would include a new, two-man format at the 7,425-yard, par 72 TPC Louisiana venue. It was the APGA Tour’s ninth event of the season.
Tied for fourth place at 136 were the teams of Kevin Hall/Andrew Fernandes (66-70), Daniel Augustus/Wyatt Worthington II (65-71) and Joe Hooks/ Logan Batiste (63-73).
The Advocates Professional Golf Association 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. The APGA Tour consists of eighteen tournaments nationwide offering over $1 million in prize money.