15-year APGA veteran earned the accolade honoring APGA co-founder by a vote of his peers
Kevin Hall photos available here (Photo credit: APGA Tour)
LOS ANGELES – The APGA Tour – a non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring an inclusive future through the game of golf – announced today that Kevin Hall has been named the winner of the 2025 APGA Adrian Stills Award presented by Cisco. A Cincinnati native and the only deaf golfer on the APGA Tour, Hall earned the honor as determined by a panel of judges and voted on by his fellow players.
The award is named for Stills, who, following a successful playing career that included a number of PGA TOUR events, co-founded the APGA Tour in 2010.
Hall, 43, won the APGA Daugherty Foundation Championship in St. Louis this past September – one of his five top-10 finishes in 12 APGA events this season. The victory was his eighth on the APGA Tour, and third in as many years. He has played on the APGA Tour since it debuted.
Hall will receive $25,000 to support his golf career and $10,000 to donate to the charity of his choice. Additionally, Cisco has offered Hall exemptions into the two limited-field Cisco-sponsored Invitational events for the 2026 APGA Tour season – the APGA Cisco Invitational and the APGA Billy Horschel Invitational presented by Cisco.
“It is an honor to present the Adrian Stills Award to Kevin Hall, who has such an inspiring background of overcoming obstacles and been such an integral part of the APGA going back to our first season,” said Ken Bentley, the APGA’s co-founder and Chairman. “Kevin is a terrific golfer, an even better person, and the type of player that so many of the younger guys on our tour can look up to and learn from as they map their own paths in professional golf.”
Added Stills: “Since the APGA’s first season, I have had the privilege of getting to know Kevin and watching him grow as both a person and a golfer. Because of that long-standing relationship, it’s incredibly meaningful to have him earn this award with my name on it. In a lot of ways, this feels like a full-circle moment.”
Hall lost his hearing at age two. He was introduced to golf at age nine by a family friend and went on to become the first African American athlete to play college golf at Ohio State, where he earned a journalism degree. In addition, the golf pioneer captured the 2004 Big Ten Golf Championship by 11 strokes and served as co-captain during his junior and senior years. After turning pro in 2005, Hall broke through in 2016 to win his first APGA title at the APGA Tour Championship.
“Earning the Adrian Stills Award is incredibly meaningful,” Hall said. “The APGA Tour has been such a big part of my professional golf career and opened so many doors not only for me, but for many other amazing golfers. None of it would have been possible without Adrian’s vision and unwavering dedication over the past 15 years.
“I am also grateful to everyone at Cisco, a company that has put its full support behind the APGA Tour and our players. I have been fortunate to experience several great moments in my golf career, and receiving this award is one of the biggest highlights.”
Last season, Hall won the Butterfield Bermuda APGA Championship, earning an exemption into the PGA TOUR’s 2025 Butterfield Bermuda Championship in mid-November. However, Hall chose to forgo that sponsor exemption to compete in the 2025 Deaflympics in Tokyo, where he earned a silver medal.
Inducted into the African American Golfers Hall of Fame in April 2022, Hall was one of seven APGA players to advance to the second stage of PGA TOUR Q School earlier this month. The St. Rita School for the Deaf graduate has made seven PGA TOUR starts, most recently at the 2021 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and as the Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption recipient at the 2017 Genesis Open.
“Kevin’s dedication to his craft and commitment to inspiring the next generation of golfers is why Cisco is proud to recognize him as the fourth annual recipient of this prestigious award,” said Brian Tippens, Senior Vice President and Chief Social Impact & Inclusion Officer at Cisco. “We are excited to continue our support of the APGA Tour, Kevin and additional Tour golfers to help make golf more inclusive and accessible for all.”
In addition to serving as the title sponsor of the APGA Tour’s season-long points race (the Cisco Cup), Cisco also sponsors three additional APGA Tour events: the Cisco APGA Black History Month Classic, the APGA Cisco Invitational and the APGA Billy Horschel Invitational presented by Cisco. Support of these events includes offering highly competitive prize money, as well as providing enrichment, mentorship and development opportunities for golfers off the course. Cisco’s relationship with the APGA Tour builds on the brand’s ongoing investment in the game of golf, as seen through partnerships with leading organizations, such as the United States Golf Association, events, and the individuals on Team Cisco across the PGA, LPGA and APGA Tours.
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About the APGA Tour
The APGA Tour was established in 2010 as a non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring an inclusive future through the game of golf. The APGA Tour Board of Directors works diligently 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 16 tournaments awarding more than $1 million in prize and bonus money, the APGA has organized a Player Development Program to aid golfers as they work to chase their professional golf goals.
Media Contacts
Cisco
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APGA Tour
Greg Ball – BZA Public Relations
