The Gateway Tour, title sponsored as the OnCore Gateway Tour, is a third-level men's

professional golf tour Professional golf tours are the means by which otherwise unconnected professional golf tournaments are organised into a regular schedule. There are separate tours for men and women; most are based in a specific geographical region, although some to ...

headquartered in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

that runs tournaments in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, and

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. The top level of men's professional golf in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

is the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...

. The second level is the

Korn Ferry Tour The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at that level. Th ...

, which is the official developmental tour run by the PGA Tour. The Gateway Tour and rival ventures such as the

Swing Thought Tour SwingThought, formerly the NGA Pro Golf Tour, is the oldest developmental golf tour based in the United States. The tour was acquired by Golf Interact in 2014 and rebranded as SwingThought. The tour consists of around 25 professional golf tourna ...

are the level below that. The fourth and lowest level of tour golf is the mini-tour circuit. The Gateway Tour was founded as the Gateway Pro Tour in 2001 by former

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

All-American golfer Chris Stutts. The first season had 14 tournaments and paid out US$2.4 million in prize money. By 2006 it had expanded to 59 tournaments with a pay-out of $7.2 million. The prize money is primarily funded by the players' entry fees. A full season of 14 events cost the player around $17,000, not including travel expenses (2004 prices). It is not possible to play in all the tournaments as some of them run concurrently. The tour has also been previously titled as the All-American Gateway Tour and the Grey Goose Gateway Tour. The

West Palm Beach West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...

series in

originated as 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 Korn Ferry Tour, or to jump directly to the PGA Tour. The tour's board of advisers includes

Phil Mickelson Philip Alfred Mickelson (born June 16, 1970), nicknamed Lefty, is an American professional golfer who plays for LIV Golf. He has won 45 events on the PGA Tour, including six Men's major golf championships, major championships: three Masters To ...

and

Tom Lehman Thomas Edward Lehman (born March 7, 1959) is an American professional golfer. A former number 1 ranked golfer, his tournament wins include one major title, the 1996 Open Championship; and he is the only golfer in history to have been awarded th ...

. In 2006 Gateway Tour players earned 10 PGA Tour and 15 fully exempt Korn Ferry Tour cards. Tour alumni include

Sean O'Hair Sean M. O'Hair (born July 11, 1982) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. Early life O'Hair was born in Lubbock, Texas. Rather than play college golf, O'Hair turned professional in 1999 after his junior year at high sc ...

Notah Begay III Notah Ryan Begay III (born September 14, 1972) is a Native American professional golfer. He is one of the only Native American golfers to have played in the PGA Tour. Since 2013, Begay has served as an analyst with the Golf Channel and NBC Spor ...

J. B. Holmes John Bradley "J.B." Holmes (born April 26, 1982) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. Early life Holmes, born in Campbellsville, Kentucky, began to play on the varsity golf team at Taylor County High School in Campbel ...

, Steve Marino,

Kevin Stadler Kevin Stadler (born February 5, 1980) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and formerly on the European Tour. Early life Stadler, the son of former Masters champion and 13-time PGA Tour winner Craig Stadler (known affect ...

, and

Bubba Watson Gerry Lester "Bubba" Watson Jr. (born November 5, 1978) is an American professional golfer. He has played predominantly on the PGA Tour, and is a multiple major champion, with victories at the Masters Tournament in 2012 and 2014. In February 201 ...

Overall money leaders

References

External links

* {{Men's Professional Golf Tours Professional golf tours Golf in Arizona Golf in Florida Sports in Phoenix, Arizona