2008 Sunshine Tour
The 2008 Sunshine Tour was the ninth season of professional golf tournaments since the southern Africa based Sunshine Tour was relaunched in 2000. The Sunshine Tour represents the highest level of competition for male professional golfers in the region.
| Duration | 10 January 2008 – 21 December 2008 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 31 |
| Most wins | 3: Richard Sterne |
| Order of Merit | Richard Sterne |
← 2007 2009 → | |
As usual, the tour consisted of two distinct parts, commonly referred to as the "Summer Swing" and the "Winter Swing". Tournaments held during the Summer Swing generally had much higher prize funds, attracted stronger fields and until 2012 were the only tournaments on the tour to carry world ranking points, with some events being co-sanctioned with the European Tour.
The Order of Merit was won by Richard Sterne, who won all three European Tour.[1]
Schedule
The following table lists official events during the 2008 season.[2]
| Date | Tournament | Location | Purse (R) |
Winner[lower-alpha 1] | OWGR points |
Other tours[lower-alpha 2] |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 Jan | Joburg Open | Gauteng | €1,100,000 | Richard Sterne (3) |
20 | EUR | |
| 27 Jan | Dimension Data Pro-Am | North West | 1,800,000 | James Kamte (2) |
14 | Pro-Am | |
| 3 Feb | Nashua Masters | Eastern Cape | 1,200,000 |  Marc Cayeux (9) |
14 | ||
| 10 Feb | Africa Open | Eastern Cape | 1,200,000 | Shaun Norris (1) |
14 | New tournament | |
| 17 Feb | Vodacom Championship | Gauteng | 2,400,000 | James Kingston (9) |
14 | ||
| 24 Feb | Telkom PGA Championship | Gauteng | 2,500,000 | Louis Oosthuizen (5) |
14 | ||
| 2 Mar | Mount Edgecombe Trophy | KwaZulu-Natal | 500,000 | Mark Murless (4) |
n/a | ||
| 30 Mar | Zambia Open | Zambia | 750,000 | Tyrone Ferreira (1) |
n/a | ||
| 4 Apr | Vodacom Origins of Golf at Bloemfontein | Free State | 440,000 | Dion Fourie (2) |
n/a | ||
| 25 Apr | Vodacom Origins of Golf at Pretoria | Gauteng | 440,000 | Tyrone van Aswegen (1) |
n/a | ||
| 10 May | Samsung Royal Swazi Sun Open | Swaziland | 700,000 | Jean Hugo (6) |
n/a | ||
| 17 May | Nashua Golf Challenge | North West | 500,000 | Keith Horne (3) |
n/a | ||
| 30 May | Vodacom Origins of Golf at Selborne | KwaZulu-Natal | 440,000 | Jean Hugo (7) |
n/a | ||
| 8 Jun | Lombard Insurance Classic | Swaziland | 400,000 | Merrick Bremner (1) |
n/a | ||
| 23 Aug | SAA Pro-Am Invitational | Western Cape | 500,000 | George Coetzee (2) |
n/a | ||
| 29 Aug | Vodacom Origins of Golf at Arabella | Western Cape | 440,000 | Garth Mulroy (1) |
n/a | ||
| 5 Sep | Telkom PGA Pro-Am | Gauteng | 400,000 | Merrick Bremner (2) |
n/a | ||
| 13 Sep | Suncoast Classic | KwaZulu-Natal | 500,000 | Jake Roos (1) |
n/a | ||
| 19 Sep | Vodacom Origins of Golf at Humewood | Eastern Cape | 440,000 | George Coetzee (3) |
n/a | ||
| 4 Oct | Seekers Travel Pro-Am | Gauteng | 440,000 | Trevor Fisher Jnr (3) |
n/a | ||
| 12 Oct | BMG Classic | Gauteng | 500,000 |  Doug McGuigan (3) |
n/a | New tournament | |
| 19 Oct | Metmar Highveld Classic | Mpumalanga | 600,000 | James Kamte (3) |
n/a | ||
| 24 Oct | Vodacom Origins of Golf Final | Western Cape | 440,000 | Jaco van Zyl (2) |
n/a | ||
| 1 Nov | Platinum Classic | North West | 705,000 | Thomas Aiken (7) |
n/a | ||
| 9 Nov | HSBC Champions | China | US$5,000,000 |  Sergio García (n/a) |
52 | ANZ, ASA, EUR | |
| 9 Nov | MTC Namibia PGA Championship | Namibia | 1,000,000 | Tongoona Charamba (2) |
n/a | ||
| 27 Nov | Coca-Cola Charity Championship | Western Cape | 550,000 | Garth Mulroy (2) |
n/a | ||
| 3 Dec | Nedbank Affinity Cup | North West | 550,000 | Tyrone van Aswegen (2) |
n/a | ||
| 7 Dec | Nedbank Golf Challenge | North West | US$4,385,000 |  Henrik Stenson (n/a) |
34 | Limited-field event | |
| 14 Dec | Alfred Dunhill Championship | Mpumalanga | €1,000,000 | Richard Sterne (4) |
24 | EUR | |
| 21 Dec | South African Open Championship | Western Cape | €1,000,000 | Richard Sterne (5) |
40 | EUR | Flagship event |
Order of Merit
The Order of Merit was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in South African rand.[3]
| Position | Player | Prize money (R) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richard Sterne | 5,999,265 |
| 2 | Garth Mulroy | 1,442,351 |
| 3 | Thomas Aiken | 967,378 |
| 4 | Mark Murless | 885,056 |
| 5 | James Kingston | 775,903 |
Notes
- 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.
- ANZ − PGA Tour of Australasia; ASA − Asian Tour; EUR − European Tour.
References
- Winter, Grant (22 December 2008). "Sterne proves he's a true diamond". IOL. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
- "2008 Sunshine Tour schedule". Sunshine Tour. Archived from the original on 5 December 2008. Retrieved 6 January 2009.
- "2008 Order of Merit". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
External links
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