The Grey Goose Gateway Tour grew significantly last week when the Scottsdale-based developmental golf circuit gobbled up the Florida-based Golden Bear Tour in a merger that was completed late last week.

According to Chris Stutts, the founder and executive director of the GGG, there will now be two series -- the Desert and the Beach -- played in two seasons -- the spring and summer all under the Grey Goose Gateway umbrella. In addition, all current Golden Bear Tour players will automatically be protected an playing spots ensured through the Grey Goose Gateway’s 2005 season.

“(The merger) means the Grey Goose Gateway Tour is now the world’s largest developmental tour,’’ said Stutts, who was the Golden Bear Tour player of the year in 1997 before founding the Grey Goose in 2001.

“We will offer 49 events this year (39 72-hole events and 10 54-hole events), with full-field purses paying out $180,000 and a season-ending tour championship in December paying approximately $700,000.

“And by taking in the Golden Bear, we have in essence picked up about 170 more players, which means we are most likely looking at about 500 members this year.’’

Membership-wise, that would make the new and improved GGG the largest golf tour in the world. By comparison, the PGA, Nationwide, European PGA, LPGA and Austral-Asian tours have current memberships that range from 150 to 300 members.

The Golden Bear Tour, which is based in West Palm Beach, Fla., has been in existence for 10 years, and was generally regarded as the No. 1 developmental tour until the GGG made a bold move in the past two years. Named after Jack Nicklaus, its founder, the Golden Bear had placed 30 players on either the PGA and Nationwide tours.

The GGG also has a proven track record, with eight current or former members on the PGA and Nationwide tours. Perhaps even more impressive, it has almost doubled its prize money each year, including a record $4.9 million in 2004.

According to Nicklaus, the merger “solidifies and enhances’’ the Golden Bear, even if the name is going away.

“(The GGG) was created by one of our former players . . . and it only makes sense not to dilute the effectiveness of either tour, but instead to created one strong, consolidated tour for these young players,’’ Nicklaus said in a prepared statement.

As part of the deal, the GGG has agreed to make an annual contribution to the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation, which had been the designated charity of the Golden Bear Tour. The GGG also will continue to fund local charities in the East Valley.