(WXYZ) — Cisco announced a new partnership with the APGA Tour with the goal of bringing greater diversity to the game of golf.
The APGA Tour, which was established in 2010, has a mission to prepare African Americans and other minority golfers to compete and win in professional golf.
Under the partnership, Cisco will add four APGA Tour players as brand ambassadors and invest in another APGA Tour event.
The company will sponsor Kevin Hall, Aaron Beverly, Eastside Golf Founder Olajuwon Ajanaku and Michigan State University senior golfer Troy Taylor II.
Taylor will get a Name, Image, Likeness deal and participate in APGA Tour Cisco-sponsored events
Also, Cisco will continue to serve as the presenting sponsor of the Billy Horschel APGA Invitational and the APGA Tour event held at Baltusrol in August will now be known as the Cisco Invitational at Baltusrol.
"We are proud to expand our commitment to the sport of golf and work together with the APGA towards a shared vision of fostering greater inclusivity in the game we all love," said Mark Patterson, SVP and Chief of Staff to the Chair and CEO at Cisco. "We are thrilled to welcome Kevin, Aaron, Troy and Olajuwon to Team Cisco and to support them as they work to achieve their goals both on and off the course. Today’s announcement marks another important step forward toward achieving our purpose to power a more inclusive future for all."
Cisco also announced that the APGA will create the Adrian Stills Award honoring the tour's co-founder and board member. Stills was one of the last African American golfers to reach the PGA TOUR before the qualifying school process changed.
