By STEVE HUFFMAN

Dave Hardison said organizers of the Carolina Golf Tour are hoping to build on successes they enjoyed a year ago.

"We didn’t know what to expect, but for the first year, I thought we did well," said Hardison, president and tour director of the CGT. "We’re expanding this year. We’re hoping to reach more golfers."

The CGT is aimed at golfers who have dreams of playing on the PGA, Senior PGA or LPGA tours.

With thousands of dollars in prize money offered at each tour stop, and competition that includes some of the best golfers in the region, the CGT allows players the opportunity to compete under pressure-packed conditions similar to those found on more established tours.

As the CGT describes its tour: "(It’s) intended to develop better physical and mental capabilities (so golfers can) endure the rigors of competing at golf’s highest level."

Or, as Hardison puts it: "We’re trying to prepare golfers for the challenges they’ll face on their respective tours."

Amateurs are allowed to compete in the CGT as a means of gauging their talents against some of the best golfers around.

Entry fees for all golfers are based on the number of tour events in which they’ll be participating as well as whether or not they plan to participate as pros or amateurs.

All professional golfers compete for the same purses.

Golfers who have dreams of making it to the PGA Tour play from tees that make the courses measure better than 7,000 yards in length. Golfers 48 years old and over and shooting for the Senior PGA Tour play from slightly shorter tees while female golfers play from tees that make the courses measure the equivalent of an LPGA Tour event.

There were eight tour stops on the CGT a year ago. That number will be expanded to 16 this year. The first tournament will be played May 7-11 at Salem Glen Country Club in Clemmons. The season-ending event will be held Nov. 4-8 at Greensboro’s Grandover Resort.

In between those events, CGT participants will play throughout the Triad as well as in the Raleigh-Durham area, Pinehurst, Charlotte and even Jefferson.

Hardison said the increase in number of tournaments and range of playing sites represents the biggest changes from last year’s inaugural tour. A year ago, tournaments were played almost exclusively in the Triad.

"We’re going to different parts of the state this year to include more golfers," Hardison said.

Jimmy Flippen Jr. of Danville, who won two tournaments, was the biggest money winner on last year’s CGT. He took home more than $13,000 in winnings.

A year ago, purses for individual tournaments totaled about $15,000, with $4,000 awarded to the winner. This year, that amount will be upped to $30,000, with officials planning to give away $75,000 in prize money at the final tournament at Grandover based on meeting a minimum number of participating golfers. Only the CGT’s top 30 golfers will be allowed to compete in that season-ending event.

Hardison said enthusiasm for the tour, which was initially met with much curiosity, increased as last year’s events went on. He said between 35 and 45 golfers competed in the CGT’s final five tournaments a year ago.

Hardison said several players who participated a year ago have gone on to find success on more prestigious tour events. He said Joe Meade participated in three or four CGT events a year ago and afterwards made it to the finals of the PGA Tour qualifying school.

Meade is now playing on the Buy.com Tour. Several other participants from a year ago, Hardison said, are now playing on the National Golf Association Tour, an event that was for years known as the Hooters Tour. Hardison said CGT officials are still working to secure additional sponsors for the coming year. He said news of the success they achieve in finding such sponsors, and the names of players who plan to participate on the tour, will be released in coming weeks.