Former Kansas University Golfers Ryan Vermeer, left, and Chris Thompson are frequent road-trip partners as they play in mini-tour events, chasing the same goal — making the PGA Tour.

The shorter, more outgoing one settles in behind the wheel and puts the hammer down. The taller, more laid-back guy rides shotgun, listening to music and reading the paper.

Ryan Vermeer and Chris Thompson, former teammates on the Kansas University golf team that won the Big 12 title in 1999, make for good travel partners on frequent road trips from Lawrence to North Carolina, where they play in mini-tour events.

The partnership never worked better than three weekends ago, when Vermeer, having missed the cut, was on Thompson’s bag for the final round of the HGM Hotels Classic at Rock Barn, an eGolf Tour event. Thompson, a native of Independence, won, earning a check for $33,852.

They both chase the same dream, hoping to land a spot on the PGA Tour through Q School. They’ve tried every year since graduating from KU, and every year they’ve come up short. Thompson has come closer, playing on the Nationwide Tour, the equivalent of Triple A baseball, in 2007 and 2008. Vermeer played the Nationwide Tour in 2001.

Now Thompson and Vermeer spend most of their time playing in the eGolf Tour, formerly known as the Tarheel Tour. Once the tour’s title sponsor came aboard, the purses shot to the top of the mini-tour world, right alongside the Hooters Tour.

When Thompson doesn’t play in a Monday qualifier attempting to earn a spot in a Nationwide Tournament, he usually takes a seat in Vermeer’s 2005 Yukon Denali.

“He’s amazing,” Thompson said of Vermeer. “We get in the car, and he just goes. He’s got driving stamina I’ve never seen.”

Said Vermeer: “That’s probably true. I’ve done it for so long now I figure the less times I stop, the faster I get somewhere, and the more time there is to relax. It’s a big vehicle with nice, comfortable seats. I just get back there, put the pedal down and let her go.”

Vermeer estimated he puts about 30,000 to 35,000 miles a year on his car in pursuit of his dream.

“That’s one of the prices you pay for wanting to live in this area and doing what we do,” Vermeer said. “You’ve got to head to Texas or Arizona or North Carolina. The tournaments aren’t coming to us, so we have to go to them.”

The entry fees to play in mini-tour events usually are in the range of $800 to $1,100. In some mini-tours, that’s where the money comes from for the purses. In more established circuits, such as the eTour, entry fees plus sponsor dollars make up the purses.

Many golfers on the mini-tours have sponsors who give them living expenses and take a portion of their winnings.

Both Thompson, 33, and Vermeer, 32, have young families, so it’s not unusual for them to travel east, stay there to play two tournaments and then skip a tournament to return home for 10 days or so. When they’re home, they hone their golf games at Lawrence Country Club, where Thompson shot a 61 to wrest the course record from Vermeer.

“When we play with all the boys at LCC, we’re never on the same team,” said Vermeer, a native of Spencer, Iowa. “Every time we play, we also play an individual match. We play tennis against each other, and we try to beat each other’s brains out.”

Thompson ranks ninth on the eGolf Tour money list with $44,148.29 in earnings. He has competed in six tourneys. Vermeer has competed in nine of the tour’s events and ranks 116th with $6,015.50 in earnings. His biggest check from one event came in 2005, when he earned $20,000 for winning a Dakotas Tour event.

Vermeer had no problem identifying why Thompson has encountered more success than he has this season.

“He’s not the longest hitter out there, but there are not a lot of guys who hit it past him,” Vermeer said of Thompson. “It’s scary how straight he hits it when he’s playing well. I’m a better putter than he is in general. I think part of that is, I read the greens better than he does. But he’s a better driver day in and day out, by far. Right now, that’s why he’s having success and I’m struggling.”

The winning formula earlier this month had Vermeer driving the car, Thompson driving the golf ball long and straight and Vermeer helping Thompson to read putts all the way to the biggest paycheck either one of them ever earned while pursuing their shared dream.