The National Golf Association Pro Golf Tour (formerly the NGA Hooters Pro Golf Tour) is a developmental men's professional golf tour in the United States.[1][2] It includes approximately twenty 72-hole Pro Series events and three 54-hole Qualifying School Prep Series events each year throughout the US South and Midwest. The NGA Pro Golf Tour is a private company founded by T.C. "Rick" Jordan in 1988 and later sold to Hooters restaurant chain owner Robert H. Brooks in 1994. Hooters was the title sponsor from 1988 thru 2011. The Tour is owned by the Brooks estate. The Tour is headquartered in Longs, South Carolina. The NGA Pro Golf Tour predates the PGA Tour owned Nationwide Tour as the longest running developmental tour in the United States.
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Three men's pro golf tours based in the United States pay out more in prize money than the NGA Pro Golf Tour. The richest competition is in the highest-paying PGA Tour. The second-tier Nationwide Tour offers prizes smaller than the PGA Tour but attracts many up-and-coming golfers trying to obtain their PGA Tour cards. The Champions Tour, which is restricted to competitors over aged 50 or older, has prize levels between the PGA and Nationwide Tours. The NGA Pro Golf Tour is the third largest tour in the US after the PGA and Nationwide Tours.[3]
Unlike the PGA Tour and Nationwide Tour, for which prize funds are provided by sponsors, the bulk of the prize fund paid out in NGA Pro Golf Tour events comes from player entry fees. Like poker tournaments, players are competing to win back their entry fees (and the entry fees from others). However, thanks in part to national sponsorship, the NGA Pro Golf Tour players actually play for over 110% of their entry fees, while other developmental tours typically pay back only 80-90% of entry fees. In 2011 the total prize fund was over $5.7 million dollars, the leading money winner, Brandon Brown (Shelbyville, KY), had earnings of $150,864. Jeff Corr (Longwood, FL) earned $142,545, Philip Pettitt Jr (Murfreesboro, TN) earned $ 111,109 while 16 others made $50,000 or more. The NGA Pro Golf Tour paid PGA Tour Qualifying School entry fees for 33 players (Typically $4500 per person) in 2011. In 2011 the NGA Pro Golf Tour received 6 exemptions into individual Nationwide Tour events and one exemption into the annual Hootie and the Blowfish Monday After The Masters Tournament.
In 2012 The NGA Pro Golf Tour's top members on the season ending points list will once again get their PGA Tour Qualifying School fees reimbursed.
The 2012 schedule features 32 events; 18 Pro Series events with guaranteed purses of $150,000 to $200,000 in guaranteed prize funds and one Members Only Shootout, three Q School Prep Series events, and 10 Carolina events with estimated purses of $132,000 each.[4] This is approximately one-fifth of the prize money available on the second-tier Nationwide Tour, which has over thirty events with prize pools of $525,000 to $1,000,000, and little more than twelve percent of that on the PGA Tour, which has forty-seven events with an average prize pool over $6.3 million dollars per event.
Each Pro Series event on the NGA Pro Golf Tour follows the same structure. Entry fees range from $750 to $1400, depending on Tour membership, amateur status, and if one plays in the qualifier. A field of 156 to 168 players start on Thursday, playing one round of 18 holes each day. After two rounds, the top 55 to 65 players and ties continue on to the third and fourth round of play. Players that make the second-round cut are in the money, which ranges (approximately) from $1000 to $30,000. The fields are first filled by exempt members of the Tour. Most years the top 120 points leaders from the previous year are granted exempt status. Any player may request one of limited number of exemptions granted each year. A player will usually be granted exemption by good performance in previous years (e.g. by being one of the highest money winners in the previous season), by having a successful professional career elsewhere and looking to move up to the Hooters Tour, or by having an outstanding amateur career. Exempt status can also be earned by performing well during one of the four ranking schools held by the Tour each winter. Only the top 10-15% of players from the ranking school are fully exempt; the rest gain exempt status partway through the season. Ten players from a qualifier played the Monday before the event are also granted entry; less than ten if there are fewer than 16 players in the qualifier, but more players if there are open spots in the field. More detailed information on events, membership, etc. can be found in the Player's Handbook [1].
The NGA Pro Golf Tour has helped Hundreds of players acquire PGA Tour and Nationwide Tour cards, more than any other developmental tour, because the NGA Pro Golf Tour events mirror PGA and Nationwide Tour events. Like the PGA and Nationwide Tours, NGA Pro Golf Tour players may not use electronic distance measuring devices, must wear long pants, walk (no carts), follow the same strict play and scoring rules, and exhibit professional conduct both on and off the course.
The NGA Pro Golf Tour also runs a winter called The Bridgestone Winter Series featuring 12 events and located in Central Florida, a Carolinas Winter Series played in Myrtle Beach, SC, as well as a summertime Carolina Series featuring 14 events located mainly in Charlotte, NC & Myrtle Beach, SC.
Major championship winners:
Other golfers who have won at least one PGA Tour event:
| Year | Money leader | (US$) |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Brandon Brown | 150,864 |
| 2010 | Michael Thompson | 111,817 |
| 2009 | Ted Potter, Jr. | 202,517 |
| 2008 | David Skinns | 134,809 |
| 2007 | Casey Wittenberg | 122,881 |
| 2006 | Ted Potter, Jr. | 102,609 |
| 2005 | Dave Schreyer | 86,682 |
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