The Gateway Tour was a third-level men's

professional golf tour Professional golf tours are the means by which otherwise unconnected professional golf tournaments are organized 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 ( ) 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 over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

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 Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is one of the largest ...

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

golfer Chris Stutts, with sponsorship from

Gateway, Inc. Gateway, Inc., previously Gateway 2000, Inc., was an American computer company originally based in Iowa and South Dakota. Founded by Ted Waitt and Mike Hammond in 1985, the company developed, manufactured, supported, and marketed a wide range of ...

. The tour was modelled on the

Golden Bear Tour The Golden Bear Tour was an American third-tier professional golf tour based in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It was founded in 1996 by Jack Nicklaus, nicknamed the ''Golden Bear'', through his company ''Golden Bear International'' a ...

, based in

West Palm Beach West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, Florida, Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lag ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

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

and

Tom Lehman Thomas Edward Lehman (born March 7, 1959) is an American professional golfer. A former #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 the Pla ...

. 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 Myrtle Beach is a resort city on the East Coast of the United States in Horry County, South Carolina. It is located in the center of a long and continuous stretch of beach known as the "Grand Strand” in the northeastern part of the state. Its ...

, with the Arizona events becoming known as the "Desert Series". A "Pacific Series" was held in 2004, based in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. 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 Robert Trent Jones Sr. (June 20, 1906 – June 14, 2000) was a British–American golf course architect who designed or re-designed more than 500 golf courses in 45 U.S. states and 35 countries. In reference to this, Jones took pride in saying, ...

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 Pro Golf Tour was a developmental golf tour based in the United States. The tour consisted of around 25 professional golf tournaments, making it the third largest series in the United States after the elite PGA Tour and its developmenta ...

(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 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 s ...

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

, J. B. Holmes,

Steve Marino Stephen Paul Marino Jr. (born March 10, 1980) is an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour. Early life A military brat, Marino was born in Altus, Oklahoma, where his father, Steve Sr., was stationed as a navigator in the U.S. A ...

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 and Susan B ...

, and

Bubba Watson Gerry Lester "Bubba" Watson Jr. (born November 5, 1978) is an American professional golfer. He has two major championships, with victories at the Masters Tournament in 2012 and 2014, and a total of 12 PGA Tour wins. In February 2015, Watson reac ...

Seasons

Money list winners

References

External links

*{{official site, https://web.archive.org/web/20141018090532/http://gatewayprotour.com/ Professional golf tours Golf in Arizona Golf in Florida Sports in Phoenix, Arizona