2001–02 Sunshine Tour

The 2001–02 Sunshine Tour was the second season of professional golf tournaments since the southern Africa based Sunshine Tour was rebranded in 2000. The Sunshine Tour represents the highest level of competition for male professional golfers in the region.

2001–02 Sunshine Tour season
Duration8 March 2001 (2001-03-08) – 17 February 2002 (2002-02-17)
Number of official events22
Most wins2:
South Africa James Kingston
Order of MeritSouth Africa Tim Clark

There were 22 official events on the schedule. This was an decrease of one from the previous year, but there was a significant change in the list of tournaments.

There were eight tournaments from the previous season that were eliminated or not played:

  • Riviera Resort Classic
  • Vodacom Series: Eastern Cape
  • Vodacom Series: Gauteng
  • Emfuleni Classic
  • Ernie Els Invitational
  • Observatory Classic
  • Lombard Tyres Classic
  • Royal Swazi Sun Open (which resumed in 2003)

There were seven tournaments added for this season:

  • Goldfields Powerade Classic (played in 2001 only)
  • Blomfontein Classic (first time played since 1995; not played after this season)
  • Randfontein Classic (played in 2001 only)
  • Atlantic Beach Classic (played in 2001 only)
  • Graceland Challenge (played in 2001 only)
  • Vodacom Trophy (played one more time, as the Vodacom Golf Classic in 2002)
  • Royal Swazi Sun Classic (played 2001–04)

The tour was based predominantly in South Africa, with 17 of the 22 official tournaments being held in the country. One event each was held in Botswana, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe and two in Zambia. Two events, the Dunhill Championship and the South African Airways Open were co-sanctioned by the European Tour.

As usual, the tour consisted of two distinct parts, commonly referred to as the "Summer Swing" and "Winter Swing". Tournaments held during the Summer Swing generally had much higher prize funds, attracted stronger fields, and were the only tournaments on the tour to carry world ranking points.

The Order of Merit was won by Tim Clark.

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 2001–02 season.

Date Tournament Location Purse
(R)
Winner[lower-alpha 1] OWGR
points
Other
tours[lower-alpha 2]
Notes Ref.
11 MarStanbic Zambia OpenZambia£50,000England Mark Foster (1)6CHA[1]
18 MarCock of The NorthZambia100,000Zimbabwe Sean Farrell (1)n/a[2]
31 MarFNB Botswana OpenBotswana125,000Zimbabwe Marc Cayeux (4)n/a[3]
22 AprRoyal Swazi Sun ClassicSwaziland100,000South Africa Titch Moore (2)n/a[4]
12 MayPietersburg Industrelek ClassicLimpopo100,000South Africa Ryan Reid (2)n/a[5]
9 SepGoldfields Powerade ClassicFree State100,000South Africa Callie Swart (2)n/aNew tournament[6]
13 SepBloemfontein ClassicFree State100,000South Africa André Cruse (1)n/a[7]
28 SepRandfontein ClassicGauteng100,000South Africa James Kingston (5)n/aNew tournament[8]
7 OctBearing Man Highveld ClassicMpumalanga100,000South Africa Justin Hobday (11)n/a[9]
12 OctAtlantic Beach ClassicWestern Cape100,000South Africa James Kingston (6)n/aNew tournament[10]
20 OctWestern Cape ClassicWestern Cape100,000South Africa Lindani Ndwandwe (1)n/a[11]
27 OctVodacom TrophyGauteng100,000South Africa Ulrich van den Berg (2)n/aNew tournament[12]
10 NovGraceland ChallengeMpumalanga100,000South Africa Warren Abery (2)n/aNew tournament[13]
18 NovPlatinum ClassicNorth West225,000South Africa Roger Wessels (9)n/a[14]
25 NovCABS/Old Mutual Zimbabwe OpenZimbabwe450,000South Africa Darren Fichardt (3)12[15]
9 DecVodacom Players ChampionshipWestern Cape800,000South Africa Ernie Els (15)20[16]
13 JanBell's South African OpenKwaZulu-Natal£500,000South Africa Tim Clark (1)32EURFlagship event[17]
20 JanDunhill ChampionshipGauteng3,500,000England Justin Rose (1)22EUR[18]
27 JanTelkom PGA ChampionshipGauteng475,000South Africa Chris Williams (6)12[19]
3 FebDimension Data Pro-AmNorth West1,250,000South Africa Retief Goosen (7)26Pro-Am[20]
10 FebNashua MastersEastern Cape500,000England Justin Rose (2)12[21]
17 FebThe Tour ChampionshipMpumalanga1,100,000South Africa Nicholas Lawrence (1)12Tour Championship[22]

Order of Merit

The Order of Merit was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in South African rand.[23]

PositionPlayerEventsPrize money (R)
1South Africa Tim Clark71,669,901
2England Justin Rose41,476,006
3South Africa Retief Goosen41,364,977
4South Africa Martin Maritz81,042,806
5South Africa James Kingston10706,234

Notes

  1. The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of Sunshine Tour events they had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for Sunshine Tour members.
  2. CHA − Challenge Tour; EUR − European Tour.

References

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