Fifty years separate Marc Apps and Luke Duval. One, Apps, is a 66-year-old seasoned competitor in AZ GOLF events, the other, Duval, a 16-year-old just beginning to carve his path, but this week, they share the same cart, the same scorecards, and the same pursuit.
Along with the other 77 players in the field of the 9th AGA Championship at Aguila Golf Course, Apps and Duval seek the Kachina trophy, earned by the winner of the three-day stroke play event.
Despite the wide range of competitive experience, familiar faces found themselves on top of the round one leaderboard. Cody Massa, AZ GOLF's 2025 Mayfair Award winner and Austin Fisher, 2025 Arizona Match Play champion, co-lead through 18 holes at -6.
"The greens were very good. I made a lot of putts, that was definitely the key," Massa said. "I drove it good, I didn’t hit the irons like I would want to but got up and down, hit a bunch of good chips actually and made a lot of putts."
The AGA Championship, formerly the Public Links Championship, has been hosted by Aguila since 2018. This year, AZ GOLF staff pushed the tee-set on No. 8 back, making the previously drivable par-4 a greater challenge for the field this year.
"I really like this golf course. I wish they would have let us be able to drive 8 and 17 still," Massa said. "The new tees they added are good. They made the course a little bit easier when they cleaned up all the stuff outside the fairways. I always enjoy coming here, it’s always in great shape too. It’s one of the better courses we get to play which is surprising with it being a public course."
The tournament continues Friday for the second round of play before a cut filters the field to the top-42 players on Saturday.
Notable
- Two players in the field are committed to play golf at the University of Arizona — Hogan O'Malley and Joseph Nelson
- Four 16-year-old golfers are competing in the tournament
- Two father-son duos care playing this weekend: Luke and Ryan Duval; Chase and Grant Cesarek
- The AGA Championship was formerly named the Public Links Championship, and had been hosted by Randolph North GC each year.