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,[1] Alabama and Texas.
The first season in 2002 had 14 tournaments, all in Arizona, and paid out US$2,400,000 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.
