The eGolf Professional Tour, formerly the Tarheel Tour, is a third-level men's professional golf tour based in Charlotte, North Carolina with about twenty tournaments conducted annually in the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Georgia.
The Tarheel Tour was founded in 2002 by Paul Wortham and David Siegel. It was purchased by Five Oaks Capital in August 2008 and renamed the eGolf Professional Tour the following year. In its first season, the tour had ten tournaments and $234,000 in prize money. In 2008 the Tour expanded to 19 tournaments with a total purse of over $2.4 million. Following the takeover by eGolf, prize money has increased significantly and the tour was slated to pay out over $4.5 million in 19 tournaments during 2009. Prize money varies between $220,000 and $300,000 each week, and is funded in part by the players' entry fees.
As a development tour, the eGolf Professional Tour is designed to be a stepping stone for players trying to ascend to higher level tours. Many players on the tour have gone on to play on the second tier Web.com Tour, and a few have reached the top level on the PGA Tour, including Will MacKenzie, Steve Marino, Jason Bohn, Tommy Gainey, Matt Bettencourt and David Mathis.
The eGolf Tour reimburses the top twenty money earners (provided they compete in at least twelve events) the fees for the PGA Tour's qualifying school and distributes a number of exemptions for Nationwide Tour events .
Read more about EGolf Professional Tour: Money Leaders
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