The East Valley is a haven for those who play the pro tours -- great golf courses, outstanding practice facilities, an abundance of nationally known instructors, wonderful weather, and a full-time job that’s hard to beat.

There are approximately 20 PGA Tour players who reside here, with an equal number from the LPGA. Mix in the Champions (10 players), Nationwide (12), Grey Goose Gateway (150) and Futures (six), and the ranks swell to over 200 players.

Yes, there seems to be a tour and a place to play for everyone -- except the 75 to 80 former members of the East Valley-based West Coast Ladies Golf Tour, which closed its doors last week due to financial difficulties.

Summer Lovett, who moved to Tempe from Hawaii for the sole purpose of competing on the WCLGT, is one of those affected by this unfortunate turn of events. Lovett rented an apartment she barely could afford, and now has to return home to get a “real job’’ so she can pay for an apartment that will set empty for the next two months.

“I feel bad for everybody, because this puts us all in limbo right in the prime of our season,’’ said Lovett, who is out $5,200 and counting. “It’s not the money we’ve lost, it’s the fact we have no place to play.’’

Apparently the curtain call for the WCLGT came last Wednesday night during a two-hour debate at the Legacy Golf Resort between founder/director Mark Canevari and the young women who played on the developmental tour. Among the details that came out during the two-hour confrontation was the figure $338,000, which was the amount of tournament fees ($238,000) and earnings ($100,000) the women still are owed.

According to Canevari, the WCLGT failed for three reasons: 1) The NGA Hooters Tour and the Grey Goose Gateway were not interested in bailing it out; 2) There is little interest in women’s golf beyond the LPGA, and that’s why the WCLGT could not attract sponsors; and 3) The media did not support the WCLGT, and that made attracting sponsors even more difficult.

Canevari is not completely off the mark, even if his reasons for failure are skewed.

Women’s golf is a tough sell even at the LPGA level, but the critical flaw in the WCLGT was its business plan, or the lack of one.

Asked repeatedly by the players to explain what happened behind the scenes and what was his backup plan, Canevari kept pointing fingers when he should have looked in the mirror.

“I got lied to,’’ Canevari said about the NGA Hooters, who he claimed he had a “verbal agreement’’ with to pick up what was left of the WCLGT.

Not true, said Steve White of the NGA Hooters.

“(Canevari) jumped the gun,’’ said White, whose tour wanted the players to pay a $700 membership fee and then $1,000 per event to change affiliations.

Canevari then said that the Grey Goose “passed’’ on picking up the WCLGT.

Once again, not exactly, said Chris Stutts, the founder/director of the Grey Goose.

“(Canevari) wanted an obscene amout of money ($300,000) to let him continue to run his tour,’’ Stutts said. “Why would we do that considering what already had happened?”

What happened was Canevari paid purses of $100,000 per tournament, rented courses for approximately $20,000 and took in about $65,000 to $70,000 in entry fees per tournament. Obviously, you don’t have to have an accountant to figure out that if you’re paying out $120,000 per event (purse plus course) while taking in a little over half that much, it’s not going to add up. No wonder the WGCLT was deep in the red by the time it got to Long Bow Golf Club in Mesa in mid-April for what turned out to be its last event.

There was precedent, as last year Canevari also folded the WCLGT -- for one day -- citing $500,000 in operational losses for the tour’s previous three years. But since the women only played for $20,000 to $25,000 purses in 2004, it was easier to get back on track. Not so this time, as Canevari had upped the ante to $100,000 in an effort to upstage the rival Futures Tour, which pays out between $60,000 and $70,000 per event.

Even though Canevari said it will take an audit to figure out just how much money he owes the players, chances are total losses are much greater than $338,000. The range goes from a low of $1,750 to over $20,000, with the average being about what Lovett is out -- $5,200. Once again, do the math and its more like $400,000-plus. It might go even higher, as several players reported that checks Canevari wrote for other tournaments are bouncing.

What was amazing , in the end, was Canevari had the audacity to make statements like, “If this tour owes anybody expenses, I’m first in line,’’ and, “You guys (yes, he was referring to the women) got thrown under the bus. It’s not me, I did my darnest to keep you in the front seat.’’

Despite no sincere apology on Canevari’s part, the mood of the players was more about the future than the past. One who managed a smidgeon of a smile was Scottsdale’s Dodie Mazzuca, a former LPGA player who was working on a comeback.

“You hate losing that kind of money, and for some it’s a lot more than others,’’ said Mazzuca, who is owed $9,600. “I really feel for those girls who invested their futures here, and then this. . . .