1997 Nike Tour

The 1997 Nike Tour was the eighth season of the Nike Tour, the official development tour to the PGA Tour.

1997 Nike Tour season
DurationJanuary 30, 1997 (1997-01-30) – October 19, 1997 (1997-10-19)
Number of official events29
Most winsUnited States Chris Smith (3)
Money listUnited States Chris Smith
Player of the YearUnited States Chris Smith
← 1996
1998 →

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 1997 season.[1]

DateTournamentLocationPurse
(US$)		Winner[lower-alpha 1]Notes
Feb 2Nike Lakeland ClassicFlorida200,000United States Ryan Howison (1)New tournament
Feb 23Nike Inland Empire OpenCalifornia200,000United States Mark Carnevale (1)
Mar 16Nike Monterrey OpenMexico225,000United States Mike Small (1)
Mar 30Nike Louisiana OpenLouisiana300,000United States Joe Daley (1)
Apr 6Nike Greater Austin OpenTexas200,000United States Eric Booker (1)New tournament
Apr 20Nike Mississippi Gulf Coast ClassicMississippi200,000United States Jeff Brehaut (2)
Apr 27Nike Alabama ClassicAlabama200,000United States John Elliott (2)
May 4Nike South Carolina ClassicSouth Carolina200,000United States Harrison Frazar (1)
May 11Nike Carolina ClassicNorth Carolina200,000Canada Ahmad Bateman (1)
May 18Nike Dominion OpenVirginia225,000United States Jeff Julian (1)
Jun 1Nike Upstate ClassicSouth Carolina200,000United States Chris Smith (3)
Jun 8Nike Knoxville OpenTennessee200,000United States Dave Rummells (2)
Jun 15Nike Miami Valley OpenOhio200,000Namibia Trevor Dodds (2)
Jun 22Nike Cleveland OpenOhio200,000United States Mike Small (2)
Jul 6Nike Hershey OpenPennsylvania200,000United States Barry Cheesman (2)New tournament
Jul 13Nike Laurel Creek ClassicNew Jersey200,000United States Matt Gogel (2)
Jul 20Nike St. Louis Golf ClassicMissouri200,000United States Todd Gleaton (1)
Jul 27Nike Wichita OpenKansas200,000United States Ben Bates (1)
Aug 3Nike Dakota Dunes OpenSouth Dakota200,000United States Chris Smith (4)
Aug 10Nike Omaha ClassicNebraska200,000United States Chris Smith (5)[lower-alpha 2]
Aug 17Nike Ozarks OpenMissouri200,000United States Chris DiMarco (1)
Aug 24Nike Permian Basin OpenTexas200,000Australia Paul Gow (1)
Sep 7Nike Colorado ClassicColorado200,000United States Pat Bates (2)
Sep 14Nike San Jose OpenCalifornia200,000United States R. W. Eaks (3)
Sep 21Nike Boise OpenIdaho275,000Malaysia Iain Steel (1)
Sep 28Nike Tri-Cities OpenWashington200,000United States Todd Gleaton (2)
Oct 5Nike Puget Sound OpenWashington200,000United States Kevin Johnson (1)
Oct 12Nike Shreveport OpenLouisiana200,000United States Mark Wurtz (1)
Oct 19Nike Tour ChampionshipAlabama300,000United States Steve Flesch (1)Tour Championship

Money list

For full rankings, see 1997 Nike Tour graduates.

The money list was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in U.S. dollars.[3][4] The top 15 players on the tour earned status to play on the 1998 PGA Tour.[5]

PositionPlayerPrize money ($)
1United States Chris Smith225,201
2United States Mark Carnevale184,997
3United States Chris DiMarco135,513
4United States Steve Flesch133,190
5Namibia Trevor Dodds130,983

Awards
AwardWinnerRef.
Player of the YearUnited States Chris Smith[6]

Notes
  1. The number in parentheses after each winner's name is the number of Nike Tour events they had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for Nike Tour members. It is rare for someone to accumulate many wins on the Nike Tour as success at this level usually leads to promotion to the PGA Tour.
  2. Smith earned immediate promotion to the PGA Tour, as this was his third win of the season.[2]

References
  1. "Web.com Tour chronology". PGA Tour. Archived from the original on October 5, 2016. Retrieved October 4, 2016.
  2. "Hoosier Shatters Nike Tour Records". Times-Union. Albany, New York. August 11, 1997. p. 11 (2B in paper). Retrieved September 2, 2023 – via Google News Archive. Chris Smith completed a record-breaking performance in the Omaha Classic to earn the Nike Tour's first "Battlefield promotion" to the PGA Tour.
  3. "1997 money list". PGA Tour. Archived from the original on November 2, 2007. Retrieved September 2, 2023.
  4. "Flesch wins Nike tourney". The Albany Herald. Albany, Georgia. October 21, 1997. p. 1 (4D in paper). Retrieved September 2, 2023 – via Google News Archive. Chris Smith, a three-time winner this year who topped the money list with $225,201...
  5. "Web.com Tour past players gaining exempt PGA Tour status". PGA Tour. Archived from the original on October 5, 2016. Retrieved October 4, 2016.
  6. "Smith gets hungry". The Rochester Sentinel. Rochester, New York. March 9, 2000. p. 1. Retrieved September 2, 2023 – via Google News Archive. That year he was first on the Nike money list and Nike player of the year.
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