Golf Insider

LPGA International hosts Suncoast Series Credit: VISIT FLORIDA

If you're competitive like I am, you probably play better golf when something is on the line, whether it's money, prestige or the chance to mock your rivals.

You can play competitive golf in Florida without having to man up against Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson or even those studs on the Nationwide Tour.

There are several golf tours in Florida, for pros and amateurs, often competing in the same field. You don't hear much about them, which is a shame because I'm always running into golfers who want to know more about organized competition.

Here's a little bit about some minor league tours in the state.

-- The Florida Professional Golf Tour is a developmental tour based in Orlando. It's been around since 2006 and plays from October through March, with around 15 tournaments. For more info, click here.

-- Mid-Florida Senior Golf Tour is for golfers 47 years and older, including PGA pros, unaffiliated golf professionals, and amateurs with a handicap of 10 or less. It holds weekly events throughout the year. Click here.

-- The Fuzion/Minor League Golf Tour claims to be a training ground for those aspiring for the Nationwide or PGA Tour. The tour also has a year-round schedule and payout comes mostly from fees; the tour says half the field in any given tournament earns a check. Click here.

-- The Gateway Tour has paid out $40 million in over nine years, according to tour officials. It's a big tour with tournaments in Arizona as well as Florida. It also claims to be a training ground for aspiring players who want to work their way up to one of the bigger, richer tours. It absorbed the Golden Bear Tour several years ago. Click here.

-- The Suncoast Series is a mini-tour for women pros and amateurs, with purse size based on the number of pro entries. The tour pays the top 30 percent and ties in a given tourney. Click here.

-- NGA-Hooters is another one of the larger, well-known developmental tours, with rowdy John Daly as its most famous former member. It holds events in Florida at various courses, like Golden Hills Golf and Turf Club in Ocala and Amelia National Golf and Country Club. Click here.