The Pro Golf Tour, formerly the EPD Tour (European Professional Development Tour), is a developmental

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 ...

based in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It is a third-level tour, the highest level of men's golf in Europe being the

European Tour The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fift ...

, and the second level being the

Challenge Tour The Challenge Tour is the second-tier men's professional golf tour in Europe. It is operated by the PGA European Tour and, as with on the main European Tour and the European Senior Tour, some of the events are played outside Europe. History The ...

. The other third-level tours in Europe are the United Kingdom-based

PGA EuroPro Tour The PGA EuroPro Tour was a men's developmental professional golf tour. It was created in 2002 by the merger of two development tours, the EuroPro Tour and the PGA MasterCard Tour, as the Professional Golfers' Association and Barry Hearn's Matchr ...

, the

Alps Tour The Alps Tour is a developmental professional golf tour for men which is sanctioned by the national golf associations of France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland and Morocco. Established in 2001, it is a third level tour, the highest level of men's gol ...

, which is sanctioned by the national golf unions of several countries, including France and Italy, and the

Nordic Golf League The Nordic Golf League is one of the four PGA European Tour-recognised third-tier men's professional golf tours that are known as the Satellite Tours. The top five players on the rankings list at the end of each season earn a place on the second t ...

in the Nordic countries. Beginning in July 2015, the four third-level tours carry

Official World Golf Ranking The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of professional golfers. It was started in 1986. The rankings are based on a player's position in individual tournaments (i.e. not pairs or team events) over a "rolli ...

points. The EPD Tour was established by Canadian golf professional Wayne Hachey in 1997 and has been recognised as an official third level tour by the

PGA European Tour The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fift ...

since 2001. In 2005 the PGA of Germany took over the EPD Tour. The top ten players on the Order of Merit are awarded a bypass to the second stage of European Tour

Qualifying School In professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of the ...

. The five leading players earn an additional perk with status on the second-tier

. EPD Tour alumni include

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

winner

Martin Kaymer Martin Kaymer ( ; born 28 December 1984) is a German professional golfer. A winner of two major championships, he was also the No. 1 ranked golfer in the Official World Golf Ranking for eight weeks in 2011. Kaymer achieved his first major vict ...

, as well as

Tobias Dier Tobias Dier (born 29 September 1976) is a German professional golfer. Dier was born in Nürnberg. He won the 1998 German Amateur Open Championship and turned professional later that year. He won a European Tour card by finishing sixth on the Cha ...

and

Marcel Siem Marcel Siem (born 15 July 1980) is a German professional golfer who plays on the European Tour. Career Siem was born in Mettmann. He turned professional in 2000 and came through Qualifying School to join the European Tour in 2002. He was again su ...

Order of Merit winners

Notes

References

External links