- Gateway Tour
The Gateway Tour is a third-level men's
professional golf tour headquartered inPhoenix, Arizona that runs tournaments inArizona andFlorida . The top-level of men's professional golf in theUnited States is thePGA Tour and the second-level is theNationwide Tour , which is the official developmental tour run by the PGA Tour. The Gateway Tour and rival ventures such as theNGA Hooters Tour are the level below that. The fourth and lowest level of tour golf is the mini-tour circuit.The Gateway Tour was founded in 2001 by former
Arizona State All-American golfer Chris Stutts. The first season had 14 tournaments and paid outUS $ 2.4 million in prize money. By 2006 it had expanded to 59 tournaments with a pay-out of $7.2 million. It should be noted that the prize money is partly funded by the players' entry fees and that it isn't possible to play in all the tournaments as some of them run concurrently. The 2007 tour consists of four series of events:*Desert Winter Series: runs January to March, based in
Phoenix, Arizona
*Desert Spring Series: runs March to May, based inPhoenix, Arizona
*Beach Winter Series: runs January to March, based inWest Palm Beach, Florida
*Beach Spring Series: runs March to May, based inWest Palm Beach, Florida The West Palm Beach series originate in the Golden Bear Tour, which the Gateway Tour purchased in March 2005. The regular tournaments are 54 hole events and the four Series Championships are played over 72 holes. There is also a 72 hole Tour Championship for the top players in all four Series.
The sporting aim of the Tour is to help players to win a place on the Nationwide Tour or ideally to jump directly to the PGA Tour. The tour's board of advisors includes
Phil Mickelson andTom Lehman . In 2006 Gateway Tour players earned 10 PGA Tour and 15 fully-exempt Nationwide Tour cards. Tour alumni includeSean O'Hair ,Notah Begay III ,J. B. Holmes ,Kevin Stadler , andBubba Watson .ee also
*
Alps Tour ,EPD Tour ,PGA EuroPro Tour - the three third-level tours in Europe.External links
* [http://www.thegatewaytour.com/home/tourdetail.aspx?d=history Official site]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
