The mini-tour grind.
10 mini and developmental tours below the Korn Ferry and Epson level. Florida, Arizona, Texas, the Carolinas, where pros grind small purses trying to build the résumé that gets them through Q-School.
Men's Mini Tours
7 entriesMinor League Golf Tour
MLGTThe largest mini tour in the U.S. by event count. ~150 events a year, mostly in South Florida, with weekday one-day and two-day formats. Affordable entry fees, generous payouts. The workhorse circuit for Florida-based pros and Monday qualifier hopefuls.
150+ events a year, the highest-volume mini tour in the U.S.
All Pro Tour
APTTexas-based mini tour running ~20 events a year, mostly three-day stroke play with $100K+ purses. Considered the highest-purse mini tour below Korn Ferry. Produces consistent KFT and PGA Tour graduates.
Highest-purse mini tour below Korn Ferry, common KFT pipeline.
Asher Tour
AsherFlorida-based mini tour built around a season-long points race (the Golden Cup). Multi-day events with larger purses than the typical MLGT weekday, pitched at pros looking for a Korn Ferry / PGA Tour Americas résumé builder.
Season-long Golden Cup points race + KFT exemptions on offer.
Outlaw Tour
OutlawArizona-based mini tour running ~30 events a year, primarily Scottsdale and Phoenix-area venues. Two-day stroke play format. The southwestern mini tour grind for Korn Ferry hopefuls who don't want to be in Florida.
Arizona-based, the southwestern alternative to MLGT.
Swing Thought Tour
Swing ThoughtNorth Carolina-based mini tour running across the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Three-day stroke play, $50K-$100K purses. Strong reputation as a developmental circuit feeding Korn Ferry Q-School.
Carolinas-based developmental circuit feeding Korn Ferry Q-School.
GPro Tour
GProMid-Atlantic / Carolinas-based mini tour, hosted on the BlueGolf platform. Multi-day stroke-play events at member-club venues across Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Solid résumé-builder for pros aiming at Korn Ferry Q-School and PGA Tour Americas.
Mid-Atlantic mini tour on the BlueGolf event platform.
APGA Tour
APGAAdvocates Professional Golf Association Tour, created in 2010 to bring greater diversity to professional golf. Develops Black and other minority pros via a national schedule of pro-am-format events at PGA Tour, Korn Ferry, and APGA-only venues. Partners with the PGA Tour for an annual exemption pathway.
Annual PGA Tour exemption awarded to top APGA performer.
Women's Mini Tours
2 entriesThe Cactus Tour
Cactus TourArizona-based women's mini tour, founded by Mike Brown. ~50 events per season, primarily in the Phoenix metro. The primary mini-tour grind for LPGA / Epson hopefuls in the Southwest. Lydia Ko, Brooke Henderson, and many other LPGA pros logged early reps here.
Women's Phoenix-area grind: Lydia Ko, Brooke Henderson are alums.
ANNIKA Women's All Pro Tour
WAPTU.S. women's developmental mini tour, branded under the ANNIKA Foundation since 2024. National schedule of 54-hole events with top finishers earning Epson Tour status. Pitched as the step between college and Epson, the women's equivalent of the men's mini-tour grind into the Korn Ferry pipeline.
Top finishers earn Epson Tour status, direct LPGA pipeline.
Qualifier Services
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About the mini-tour pipeline
The mini-tour grind sits one tier below the official developmental tours: Korn Ferry Tour for men, Epson Tour for women. Pros who miss those status levels through Q-School spend their season playing mini tours (small purses, low entry fees, fields stacked with hungry pros) trying to build the body of work that gets them back to the qualifier with a real shot. Most mini tours also take amateur entries, information-only and outside the prize list, so a top amateur can test their game without touching their amateur status.
The geographic grind is mostly Florida (MLGT, Asher, plus the South Florida Monday Qualifier scene), Arizona (Outlaw Tour, Cactus Tour for women), the Carolinas (Swing Thought Tour out of North Carolina), and Texas (the All Pro Tour, the highest-purse mini tour below Korn Ferry). Most events run two or three days at $50K–$150K total purses. Top finishers can win $20K–$40K, enough to fund the next few weeks of entries, hotels, and rental cars. Playing an unfamiliar course every week or two makes a yardage book worth building fast, and a tight tournament-week routine matters more when you're funding the trip yourself.
Once a pro builds enough results, the next step is Korn Ferry or LPGA Q-School, Monday qualifiers (tracked through MondayQ), and the cumulative climb toward a card on one of the major professional tours.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Minor League Golf Tour (MLGT)?
The Minor League Golf Tour is a Florida-based mini tour headquartered in Jupiter, running events year-round in South Florida since 2004. It's one of the highest-volume mini tours in the country by event count, which is why it's a common first stop for pros and top amateurs based in Florida who need reps against a real professional field.
Do you need to be a professional to enter a mini tour event?
Most mini tours allow amateurs to enter, usually for an information-only spot with no prize money, so a top amateur can test their game against pros without turning pro. Check each tour's own entry terms; policies differ and some require pro status or a release from amateur status to collect a prize check.
How do I find a mini tour event near me?
Each tour publishes its own schedule; the tours listed above cover the highest-density regions (Florida, Arizona, Texas, the Carolinas), but new regional tours start and fold every year. Monday qualifiers for Korn Ferry and PGA Tour Americas events, tracked through MondayQ, are a separate and more competitive route into professional fields for players not attached to a specific mini tour.