The Advocates Professional Golf Association countrywide tour is making a pit stop this week at the 1912 Club in Plymouth Meeting for the second annual Jefferson Health APGA Classic.
The three-day event kicked off on Sunday with a pro-am featuring several Philadelphia notables from the sports and entertainment world before a youth clinic took over the links. Next, 56 tour players started competing across the span of 36 holes on Monday and Tuesday to determine who will claim shares of the $80,000 purse.
“The APGA does a fantastic job of exposing some of these talented guys and giving them an opportunity,” said Mike Quick, the former Eagles wide receiver and current broadcaster. “That partnership with Jefferson now and having an $80,000 purse, it’s a big deal for these guys.”
The APGA provides amateur minority golfers with numerous opportunities in hopes that they will one day become professional golfers.
“Statistically, a lot of minorities come from inner cities and don’t have prestigious golf courses like this to pursue the opportunity of being on the big tour,” said Jameer Nelson, the former NBA All-Star from St. Joseph’s who is now an assistant general manager of the 76ers. “This is a segue for these guys to be able to come out and work on their craft and hopefully progress, and we see them on CBS on Saturdays and Sundays now and then.”
They’ve already seen one golfer go pro: Chase Johnson, the champion of last year’s inaugural Jefferson Health APGA Classic. Johnson was the only APGA tour member to play in the 2025 U.S. Open, beating out PGA Tour stars Rickie Fowler and Max Homa in a qualifying playoff to earn his spot.
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Sunday’s pro-am not only served as a practice round for these tour players, but also gave them a chance to talk to some famous local figures. Quick, Nelson, Brandon Graham, Ike Reese, Kamal Gray, Hollis Thomas, and Chill Moody highlighted the star-studded lineup at the pro-am.
“I love supporting great causes,” Graham said. “For me, it’s all about the community of people that you have. And for me, I feel like I have a duty to be on this platform to spread the love. Jameer [Nelson] called me and said, ‘Hey, man. You want to do this?’ And it was a no-brainer.”
But before heading to the first tee, Graham made sure to spend some time practicing on the range.
“I’m hoping to get better and better so I can talk my stuff out here like I do on the field,” he said.
While most of the participants in Sunday’s pro-am have retired from playing, Nelson, Quick, and Reese are all still closely involved in their respective sports. For Quick, it’s just a month out until he rejoins Merrill Reese in the broadcast booth for the Eagles’ Sept. 4 opener against the Dallas Cowboys.
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“I’ve been with Merrill longer than I’ve been with my wife,” Quick said with a laugh. “It’s a great relationship and, you know, we get on each other from time to time but it’s all love, and I’m very fortunate that I get to sit next to him every time the Eagles tee it up and talk football.”
And Week 1 is rapidly approaching.
“That’s going to be a big game,” Quick added. “You drop the [championship] banner that night, and it’s the Dallas Cowboys. It’s already special as soon as you say Cowboys, but then when you throw in all the other stuff, it just makes it very special.”
In any of the previous 15 Eagles seasons, Graham would be in full pads getting ready to face off against the Cowboys. But not this year. Instead, the Eagles legend traded in his helmet and shoulder pads for a driver and putter.
“[Retirement’s] been up and down. Sometimes you get the itch to want to go back because you’re so used to doing this for over 15 years, but I’m just dealing with it one day at a time,” Graham said. “I’m excited to watch the Birds, though. I really do feel like they got an opportunity of a lifetime again this year.
“I want to see [Saquon Barkley] break the [rushing] record if he can. But I want to see people get better that I know [were] like right in the middle and then they take off to stardom. I feel like the offensive line is going to be really good this year. Jihaad Campbell is going to fall right in place, and the defensive line — I can’t wait to watch Moro Ojomo. He’s a guy that is going to make a big name for himself. Jalyx [Hunt], too.”
But the Eagles aren’t the only team nearing a return.
While the 76ers’ season didn’t end nearly the same way that the Eagles’ did, they just added a new piece with the No. 3 pick in the NBA draft, VJ Edgecombe, who they hope can develop into a star. Development was a big part of the Sixers season, as Justin Edwards started the year in the G League with the Delaware Blue Coats and ended it as a key young piece in the Sixers rotation.
“We drafted [Edgecombe] to help develop him into what we think he can be, and that’s a star at some point,” Nelson said. “We have a good core of older guys and younger guys at this point, so the main thing is to just continue to grow.
“I’m not sure how old these guys and girls are here, but they’re aspiring to be on a tour at some point, so it’s just making it about the work and development, and it goes for basketball, football, golf, anything like that.”
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