A group from the upcoming Advocates Professional Golf Association (APGA) Tour at Bally’s Golf Links at Ferry Point joined students at Preston High School on Monday in Throggs Neck to promote golf among young women in the Bronx.
Two tour competitors, Chase Johnson and Greg Odom Jr., and aspiring golf pro Zoe Slaughter, talked with the all-girls High School about the ways golf enriched their lives and the opportunities it offered them along the way.
“APGA is a stepping stone and they’ve given us a great platform,” said Odom Jr., who recently won two events in this season’s tour that paid out $50,000 each. “We’re all just trying to get to the PGA as fast as possible.”
The students from Preston High School were excited, cheering and screaming for the young players – especially Slaughter, the only woman on stage.
Dedicated to increasing diversity in professional golf, the APGA hosts professional tours, develops talented players from underrepresented backgrounds, provides its players mentorship, and introduces inner city youth to the sport of golf, according to its website. Founded in 2010, APGA now hosts 18 events across the country with over $1 million in prize money.
Teachers and administrators at Preston High School said they hope to start a golf club, emphasizing the scholarship opportunities for women in the sport.
“We had a student who received a scholarship to Perdue as a caddy,” said Cristina Fragle, Senior Director of Recruitment and Development for Preston High School. “That was in 2015.”
Cole Smith, Executive Director of the APGA Tour and NYC native, said that many golf scholarships for women go unused.
“Even if you don’t become a professional golfer, why not go to college on a golf scholarship?” Smith said.
As the team completed the informational portion of the assembly, General Manager of Bally’s Golf Links at Ferry Point, Brian Crowell, moved the event into something more interactive.
“We’re actually going to hit some shots into the crowd,” said Crowell as murmurs and gasps rippled through the crowd.
The players opened a box of foam golf balls and started shooting them into the crowd of screaming teenage girls, hands outstretched to grab the flying golf balls from the air. This was just a warm up before a little healthy competition.
The objective: try and hit a foam golf ball across the room and hit the backboard of the basketball hoop. The winner would get bragging rights over the other two players and the admiration of a gymnasium full of teenagers.
Johnson went first, shooting low to start, and then much too high, bouncing the golf ball back off the rafters in the gym.
Then Slaughter stepped up. She seemed to be on track to hit the backboard with one ball sailing just off to the side of the target. The students started to chant.
“Zoe…Zoe…Zoe,” the room full of young women chanted her name.
But Slaughter’s last few shots were too high and bounced back into the crowd from the rafters.
In the end, it was Odom Jr. who made the shot successfully. The audience cheered as Johnson grabbed Odom Jr’s wrist and raised it in the air in victory.
Bally’s Link invited students from Preston High School to join on Wednesday for a free junior clinic and panel discussion on the power of golf.
But even though golf shaped the APGA players’ lives and opened doors for them, Slaughter reminded the young women of Preston High School to keep it all in perspective.
“Make sure you’re still having fun on the golf course,” she said. “At the end of the day, it’s a game.”
