It isn't the big leagues and doesn't pretend to be. But the eGolf Professional Tour is about as good as you're going to get without having the PGA Tour involved.

David Siegel, a professional golfer looking for a place to compete, started the Tarheel Tour in 2002 with nothing more than a dream and strong sense of integrity. Now, with eGolf having become the tour's title sponsor, purses are in the $220,000 to $300,000 range, and payoffs for first place can be as high as $50,000.

Siegel's dream has materialized into a vibrant professional tour that seems to be growing each week, and the sense of integrity may be the most important factor behind the success.

"It all started with a couple of guys wanting to play some extra golf," eGolf Chief Operating Officer Stewart Moore said last week during the Bushnell Championship being played at Seven Lakes Country Club and Little River Resort. "They put some fliers on the walls and they had 39 players in the first tournament at Charlotte National. First place paid $4,000.

"David played a lot of mini-tours and he wasn't impressed with the way they were run or the courses they played," Moore said.

Most of the events were held in the Charlotte area for the first couple of years. Siegel was enjoying it so much, he was the Tour's leading money-winner. But as the Tarheel Tour's reputation as a class organization grew, so did the fields, the purses, the schedule and the demands on Siegel's time.

"We've been welcomed with open arms," Moore said. "We've got a good reputation, and we've created brand awareness out there. This year we're staging 20 events, including the Tour Championship at Pine Needles and Mid Pines Oct. 14-16."

By all accounts, the eGolf Tour has been welcomed to the Sandhills, too. It took seven years for the tour to make an appearance in Moore County, but the experience has been enjoyable and beneficial to all concerned.

"Bringing in events such as the eGolf Tour is one of the ways we have of battling the weakened economy," said Pine Needles-Mid Pines CEO Kelly Miller.

Craig Luckey, general manager of Little River Golf Club and Resort agreed after hosting last week's event.

"This was a great tournament," he said. "It was very well organized and we're certainly looking for ways to present the facility, so we hope to get even bigger and better events. These guys are first class and they did a great job. They made it easy for us and we hope to do business with them again."

From all indications, the tour's visit to the Sandhills won't be a one-time deal.

"A little Southern hospitality goes a long way," Moore said. "Coming to this area has been a great experience. We've been thrilled by the way we've been received at all four facilities.

"The conditioning of the courses -- especially the greens -- is the most important thing to us, and it has been perfect at all four courses here. The greens at Little River were great. We had to tell them, 'Don't get the greens any faster. Don't go crazy.' But at all four courses, the players were impressed. They knew that if they hit a five-footer on line, it was going in."

Moore sees the next step for the tour as being recognized by the PGA Tour in some fashion.

"Our leading money-winner is probably going to exceed $200,000 this year," he said, "and just finishing up the season and going to the PGA Tour Qualifying School isn't enough. We're hoping to work out something with the PGA Tour that will allow our top players to graduate to the Nationwide Tour.

"Comparing it to baseball, the PGA Tour is the major leagues, the Nationwide is Triple A, and we're Double A. Obviously, we're biased, but we consider ourselves the No. 3 Tour in America. We have the biggest purses, and we traditionally play the best courses. Put that together -- good courses and the most money -- and I don't see why we can't call ourselves No. 3."

Moore sees the tour's move to the tradition-rich Sandhills as just another step in the status progression.

"Having the Tour championship at Pine Needles is a great send-off for the tour," he said. "After all the great sites we've been to this year, we had to have it at a name place. Pine Needles, with three U.S. Women's Opens, is perfect."

Andy Bare, one of the tour's success stories, is a native of West End and enjoyed the two events in his old stomping grounds.

"The first event I played in had 70 players, and first place paid $7,000," Bare said. "The guys have done a great job running this Tour and they're getting better golf courses every year."

As good as the Tour and the players are, most of the events are played without galleries, but Stewart understands.

"Basically the spectators are wives, girlfriends and parents," he said. "But we play during the week, not on weekends, so that's understandable. I think if people did come out to see them play, though, they'd be surprised at how good these guys are.

"They're going to look at someone like Andy Bare hit the ball and think, 'What's the difference in this and the PGA Tour?'"