NGA Hooters Tour
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The NGA Hooters Tour is the third-level men's golf tour in the United States after the PGA Tour and the Nationwide Tour. It should be noted that this actually means it is the fourth-most lucrative men's tour based in the United States, as it is also well behind the Champions Tour in prize money, but that tour plays mostly 3 day (54 hole) events and is restricted to competitors over the age of 50.
Using a baseball analogy, the Hooters Tour could be seen as double -A (AA), with the Nationwide Tour being triple-A (AAA), and the PGA Tour being the Majors.
Unlike the Nationwide Tour, which is an official developmental tour organized by the PGA Tour, the NGA Hooters Tour is a private company started by an individual, T.C. "Rick" Jordan, who founded it in 1988 and later sold to Hooters restaurant chain owner Bob Brooks in 1994. The Tour is headquartered in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. In 2006 the total prize fund was over $3.4 million dollars, and in 2005 the leading money winner had earnings of $87,000. This is a small fraction of the prize money available on the second-tier Nationwide Tour, and little more than one per cent of that on the PGA Tour, so the incentives for players to win promotion to a higher tour are very strong indeed. The 2006 schedule features 22 events including four with $200,000 prize funds.
The tour claims to have helped more players acquire PGA Tour, Champions Tour, and Nationwide Tour cards than any other developmental tour, mainly because Hooters Tour events mirror PGA and Nationwide Tour events in that they are week long, 72 hole events, with pro-ams, and practice rounds. Like the PGA and Nationwide Tour's, Hooters Tour players must wear long pants and walk (No carts). The Hooters Tour prepares golfers for life on the bigger tours.
[edit] Former players on the NGA Hooters Tour
Major championship winners:
Other golfers who have won at least one PGA Tour event:
[edit] See also
- Alps Tour - a third-level tour played in France, Italy and several nearby countries
- EPD Tour - a third level tour based in Germany
- PGA EuroPro Tour - a third-level tour based in the United Kingdom
- The Quicksilver Classic - Tournament part of Hooters Tour
