The Gateway Tour was a third-level men's professional golf tour headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona that ran series of tournaments in Arizona, California, Florida, Alabama and Texas.
History The tour was founded as the Gateway Pro Tour in 2001 by former Arizona State All-American golfer Chris Stutts, with sponsorship from Gateway, Inc.. The tour was modelled on the Golden Bear Tour, based in West Palm Beach, Florida, which Stutts had competed on, winning 4 tournaments and leading the money list in 1997. Its aim was to help players to win a place on the Nationwide/Web.com Tour, or jump directly to the PGA Tour. The tour's board of advisers included Phil Mickelson and Tom Lehman.
The first season in 2002 had 14 tournaments, all in Arizona, and paid out in prize money, primarily funded by the players' entry fees. Regular tournaments were 54-hole events, with four series championships played over 72 holes, and a 72-hole Tour Championship for the top players in all four series. In 2003, a "Beach Series" was created, based in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, with the Arizona events becoming known as the "Desert Series". A "Pacific Series" was held in 2004, based in San Diego, California. The Beach Series proved less popular than the Desert Series, and after two seasons, it was decided to relocate it to Florida. In March 2005, in order to avoid being in direct competition, the Golden Bear Tour merged with the Gateway Tour. Also in 2005, a "Robert Trent Jones Trail" series was held, which was played on Robert Trent Jones courses in Alabama. In 2008 and 2009, a "DFW Series" was held, based in the Dallas–Fort Worth area in Texas. The leading players in each series qualified to play in the Tour Championship.
In 2013, operations were merged with the All-American Tour, and the tour became known as the All-American Gateway Tour. There were subsequent joint-ventures with the NGA Pro Golf Tour (the NGA Gateway Tour) and the eGolf Professional Tour (the eGolf Gateway Tour). For sponsorship reasons, at different times, the tour was titled as the Grey Goose Gateway Tour (2004–2007) and the OnCore Gateway Tour (2015–2017). Tour alumni include Sean O'Hair, Notah Begay III, J. B. Holmes, Steve Marino, Kevin Stadler, and Bubba Watson.
Seasons
Money list winners
YearWinnerPrize money(US$)2013 Nathan Tyler 92,6752012 Benoit Beisser 53,7752011 James Drew 70,3752010 Eric Meierdierks 71,7932009 Charlie Beljan 159,1802008 Jesse Mueller 171,1682007 Ryan Dillon 134,1322006 2005 2004 Jerry Smith 198,4232003 Brian Smock 156,4122002 David Howser 124,032
References
External links