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 wins Chris Smith (3)
Money list Chris Smith
Player of the Year Chris Smith
← 1996
1998 →

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 1997 season.[1][2]

DateTournamentLocationPurse
(US$)		Winner[lower-alpha 1]Notes
Feb 2Nike Lakeland ClassicFlorida200,000 Ryan Howison (1)New tournament
Feb 23Nike Inland Empire OpenCalifornia200,000 Mark Carnevale (1)
Mar 16Nike Monterrey OpenMexico225,000 Mike Small (1)
Mar 30Nike Louisiana OpenLouisiana300,000 Joe Daley (1)
Apr 6Nike Greater Austin OpenTexas200,000 Eric Booker (1)New tournament
Apr 20Nike Mississippi Gulf Coast ClassicMississippi200,000 Jeff Brehaut (2)
Apr 27Nike Alabama ClassicAlabama200,000 John Elliott (2)
May 4Nike South Carolina ClassicSouth Carolina200,000 Harrison Frazar (1)
May 11Nike Carolina ClassicNorth Carolina200,000 Ahmad Bateman (1)
May 18Nike Dominion OpenVirginia225,000 Jeff Julian (1)
Jun 1Nike Upstate ClassicSouth Carolina200,000 Chris Smith (3)
Jun 8Nike Knoxville OpenTennessee200,000 Dave Rummells (2)
Jun 15Nike Miami Valley OpenOhio200,000 Trevor Dodds (2)
Jun 22Nike Cleveland OpenOhio200,000 Mike Small (2)
Jul 6Nike Hershey OpenPennsylvania200,000 Barry Cheesman (2)New tournament
Jul 13Nike Laurel Creek ClassicNew Jersey200,000 Matt Gogel (2)
Jul 20Nike St. Louis Golf ClassicMissouri200,000 Todd Gleaton (1)
Jul 27Nike Wichita OpenKansas200,000 Ben Bates (1)
Aug 3Nike Dakota Dunes OpenSouth Dakota200,000 Chris Smith (4)
Aug 10Nike Omaha ClassicNebraska200,000 Chris Smith (5)[lower-alpha 2]
Aug 17Nike Ozarks OpenMissouri200,000 Chris DiMarco (1)
Aug 24Nike Permian Basin OpenTexas200,000 Paul Gow (1)
Sep 7Nike Colorado ClassicColorado200,000 Pat Bates (2)
Sep 14Nike San Jose OpenCalifornia200,000 R. W. Eaks (3)
Sep 21Nike Boise OpenIdaho275,000 Iain Steel (1)
Sep 28Nike Tri-Cities OpenWashington200,000 Todd Gleaton (2)
Oct 5Nike Puget Sound OpenWashington200,000 Kevin Johnson (1)
Oct 12Nike Shreveport OpenLouisiana200,000 Mark Wurtz (1)
Oct 19Nike Tour ChampionshipAlabama300,000 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.[4][5] The top 15 players on the money list earned status to play on the 1998 PGA Tour.[6]

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

Awards
AwardWinnerRef.
Player of the Year Chris Smith[7]

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.[3]

References
  1. "Web.com Tour chronology". PGA Tour. Archived from the original on October 5, 2016. Retrieved October 4, 2016.
  2. "1998 Nike Tour Media Guide" (PDF). PGA Tour. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
  3. "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.
  4. "1997 money list". PGA Tour. Archived from the original on November 2, 2007. Retrieved September 2, 2023.
  5. "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...
  6. "Web.com Tour past players gaining exempt PGA Tour status". PGA Tour. Archived from the original on October 5, 2016. Retrieved October 4, 2016.
  7. "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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