NCCU Golfer Jackson Earns Spot on APGA Tour
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Travis Jackson of the North Carolina Central University men’s golf team capped his college career among the final top five players in the 2021-22 APGA Collegiate Ranking, earning a spot on the APGA Tour.
Jackson, a native of Laurinburg, North Carolina, joins Quinn Riley (Duke), Jeffrey Cunningham (Drexel), Kasoma Paulino (Henderson State), and Xavier Williams (North Carolina A&T) among the top players from the APGA (Advocates Pro Golf Association) Collegiate Ranking list to receive the following benefits for the current season once they turn professional after the completion of their collegiate career:
- Entry into all remaining full-field APGA Tour events through May 2023
APGA TPC Sugarloaf – June 19-21
APGA TC Deere Run – July 10-12
APGA Valhalla – July 18-20
APGA Tour Championship – August 7-9
APGA Farmers Insurance Fall Series Events (4)
September 4-6 (St. Louis)
September 19-21 (Valley Forge, PA)
October 16-18 (Houston)
November 8-10 (Los Angeles)
Travel costs associated with each full-field APGA Tour event entered through end of 2022 season
Scholarship into this year’s Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament
“I’m really excited to start competing with and learning from the tour guys,” said Jackson. “I just want to take advantage of this great opportunity and see how far this thing goes.”
During his senior campaign, Jackson posted a 78.4 scoring average, including a career-low round of 69 in his final college event at the PGA WORKS Collegiate Championship in Philadelphia. He also placed fourth out of 50 golfers in the HBCU Invitational with rounds of 74 and 71.
“This is a big day for NCCU men’s golf program,” said NCCU golf head coach Kendra Greene. “Travis joins the likes of NCCU alumni such as Jordan Bohannon and Zane Lewis that continue to play the game they love at the professional level. We are excited for this next chapter for Travis and know that his hard work paid off, and we are extremely proud of him.
“We also want to acknowledge the PGA and APGA, and appreciate them for creating opportunities for minority golfers to chase their dream of playing on tour,” Greene added.
“As we continue to grow our impact on the game, we are proud to welcome the second class from the APGA Collegiate Ranking to the APGA Tour,” said Ken Bentley, co-founder and CEO of the APGA Tour. “By establishing a direct path for young Black players to enter professional golf with playing opportunities and additional funding and resources will go a long way towards furthering our mission and creating more diversity in golf.”
Eligible players are Black golfers from NCAA Division I and II programs – including HBCUs – who exhaust a minimum of four years of college eligibility. The APGA Collegiate Ranking is based on players’ Golfstat adjusted scoring average, designed to evaluate the top players positioned to qualify for APGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament access.
Full rankings and more information is available at https://www.apgatour.org/apga-collegiate-ranking.