AVONDALE, Louisiana (July 31, 2025) – A self-described foodie and connoisseur of fine dining, Luis Gagne returned this week to the APGA Two-Man Classic at TPC Louisiana – about 80 miles east, along Interstate 10, from his collegiate stomping grounds, Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge – in search of the type of home cooking that cures the ails of his near misses on the Advocates Professional Golf Association (APGA) Tour.
Thanks to some familiar Louisiana comfort and a partnership with the APGA’s winningest active professional golfer, Gagne found what he’s been craving – that first APGA ‘W.’
Gagne teamed up with Willie Mack III for the APGA’s only team tournament of the year and the Orlando, Florida residents carded a final-round 3-under-par 69 Thursday to win the APGA Two-Man Classic by three strokes, sporting an overall 36-hole score of 11-under 133 on a golf course that annually hosts the PGA TOUR’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
Flint, Michigan native Mack III and Gagne split a $10,000 winner’s prize, from a $30,000 overall purse, and 800 Cisco Cup Series points.
The tease and torture of Gagne’s APGA bridesmaid tale is over. In 2025, he has finished runner-up (via sudden-death playoffs) at the APGA’s season-opening Farmers Insurance Invitational and the APGA at Magnolia Grove, and he placed T3 at the APGA at TPC Deere Run two weeks ago.
“Great week! I’ve lost in, I think, three (APGA) playoffs, so that was my first one,” Gagne said. “Really proud of how me and Willie played. We kind of talked about it earlier in the year and decided to play together. I think our games are pretty similar. We roomed together, which was good. Did some team-building. We went to the movies last night.”
Added Mack III: “That was kind of exciting, to be able to get a win with him, and him getting his first one. We used to go to the same coach, Todd Anderson. We knew each other but we’d actually never played together … outside of practice rounds. We both got along well and it kind of just worked out pretty good for both of us this week.”
Gagne moved from his native Costa Rica to the United States at age 3 and he was competing in golf by age 5. He finished as the low amateur in the 2018 U.S. Open – his best moment in golf – and he also played in the 2019 and 2021 U.S. Opens.
It wasn’t too long ago that Gagne was a three-time NCAA All-American, and a roommate of five-time PGA TOUR champion Sam Burns, while playing collegiately at LSU from 2015-19.
Of his triumphant return this week, Gagne said: “We’re only 45 mins away (from LSU) so kind of felt like home. It was awesome. I love it in Louisiana. It’s always good to come back and see some of my friends and go to some familiar places. It was a lot of fun.”
On the other end of the spectrum from Gagne, Mack III collected his 16th career APGA Tour win. The APGA’s leading active legend was the only APGA golfer to tee it up in the 2024 U.S. Open, and he made his 10th career PGA TOUR start at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines GC in January.
Similar to Gagne, this week’s APGA Two-Man Classic qualified as his first APGA victory of the year.
“I haven’t had one in a while,” Mack III said. “I’ve been trying out some new clubs and shafts and stuff, trying to figure some things out before (PGA TOUR) Q-School so, yeah, it’s been kind of a rough year. But I was glad to get the win and get some points and move up the points list.”
Gagne-Mack III entered Thursday’s final round – playing to an Alternate Shot format – one shot off the lead after turning in a clean 8-under 64 in Wednesday’s first round, which included four birdies on either side of the turn. They started fast with birdies on the first two holes and finished strong with birdies on the closing three holes.
Gagne-Mack III made three of their five birdies on Thursday on the first, third and eighth holes, taking a lead on the front nine that they never relinquished after they made the turn. They added birdies on Nos. 11 and 18, both of TPC Louisiana’s par-5 holes on the back nine.
The team of Hobe Sound, Florida resident and Rwanda native John-Baptiste Hakizimana and Troy Taylor II, a Westerville, Ohio native and Michigan State graduate, finished as tournament runner-up from the 14-team field with a score of 8-under 136 over the regulation 36 holes. Like Gagne-Mack III, they checked into the clubhouse with a first-round 8-under 64 on Wednesday. But they could not get much going and keep pace with Gagne-Mack III following a 72 on Thursday that included just a pair of birdies (on the par-4 fourth and 10th holes).
Wednesday’s first round was played under a Best Ball format and displayed a tightly bunched leaderboard with Florida residents Cameron Riley and Joey Stills tied with Indonesian Kci Lindskog and Illinois native Marcus Smith, Jr. for the 18-hole lead at 9-under 63.
The bogey-free first round from Riley and Stills (a runner-up in this tournament a year ago) was energized by an eagle on the par-5 seventh hole, followed by notching four of their seven overall birdies from holes 8-11.
Lindskog and Smith Jr., both of whom completed their collegiate golf careers in the last couple months at Texas Southern University and Howard University, respectively, tallied their nine birdies in a 13-hole stretch (from Nos. 2-14). Lindskog-Smith Jr. combined for a 3-over 75 on Thursday to place in a tie for fifth place at 6-under 138.
Riley-Stills shot a 2-over 74 in the concluding round and finished at 7-under 137, in a third-place tie with Sacramento, California resident Aaron Beverly and two-time reigning APGA Player of the Year Chase Johnson. Beverly and Johnson, the Barberton, Ohio native and Boynton Beach, Florida resident who was the only APGA golfer to play in June’s U.S. Open, tied Gagne-Mack III for the low final round at 3-under 69. They played the closing nine in 3-under with birdies on Nos. 10, 16 and 17.
The APGA Tour lands in the greater Philadelphia area next week for its tenth tournament of the year at the Jefferson Health APGA Classic, August 3-5 at The 1912 Club in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania. The 2025 season runs through November with 16 tournaments from coast to coast.
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.
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