PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – APGA Tour officials announced the latest APGA Collegiate Ranking for the 2022-2023 season with our very own Gregory Odom still holding the top spot. By leading the APGA Collegiate Ranking as of November 18, Odom earned an exemption to play as an amateur in the 2023 APGA Farmers Insurance Invitational at Torrey Pines in January and finished 3^rd in difficult weather conditions.

The APGA Collegiate Ranking was announced in October 2020 through a partnership between the PGA TOUR and the APGA Tour. Eligible players are black golfers from NCAA Division I or 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. 

Michigan State's Troy Taylor III holds second place in the most recent standings while HU teammate Everett Whiten Jr. sits in third place. The Class of 2023 Ranking includes Golfstat-ranked college tournaments played in Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022 and Spring 2023.

In addition to the exemption into the APGA Farmers Insurance Invitational, the top five players in the final APGA Collegiate Ranking will receive:

• Scholarship access to APGA TOUR events through the remainder of the 2023 APGA Tour season
• Scholarship access into the Korn Ferry Qualifying School for the 2024 season
• The final No. 1-ranked player will receive a sponsor exemption into the 2023 REX Hospital Open on the Korn Ferry Tour

On Tuesday, the PGA TOUR formally announced its Pathway to Progression player development program, a comprehensive effort to achieve greater diversity in golf through an increased focus on developing talent from diverse and historically underrepresented groups. Pathway to Progression, in alignment with the APGA Tour partnership and the Collegiate Ranking program, will provide a path for talented junior and collegiate golfers from diverse backgrounds to continue their development in professional golf. More information on the Pathway to Progression can be found here.

Rankings as of March 10, 2023:  

• Any player who wants to be removed from the list because they have decided to come back and complete their last year of eligibility needs to inform the APGA no later than April 15
• Players interested in opting into the program can register here: https://registrations.pgatourhq.com/forms/apga/
• A player must complete a tournament in each of the last three semesters (Spring 2022, Fall 2022 and Spring 2023) to be eligible for the APGA Collegiate Rankings top five benefits

Full rankings will be updated monthly at https://www.apgatour.org/apga-collegiate-ranking. At the end of the 2022-23 season, APGA Tour officials will determine the minimum number of rounds to qualify.

ABOUT THE APGA TOUR

The APGA Tour 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. In addition to conducting an expected 18 tournaments awarding close to $1 million in prize and bonus money in 2023, the APGA has organized a Player Development Program to aid young minority golfers as they work to chase their goals in professional golf.