2020–21 Sunshine Tour
The 2020–21 Sunshine Tour was the 21st season of professional golf tournaments since the southern Africa-based Sunshine Tour was relaunched in 2000. The Sunshine Tour represented the highest level of competition for male professional golfers in the region.
| Duration | 19 August 2020 – 6 December 2020 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 11[lower-alpha 1] |
| Most wins | 4: Daniel van Tonder |
| Order of Merit | Christiaan Bezuidenhout |
| Rookie of the Year | Jayden Schaper |
← 2019–20 2021–22 → | |
In-season changes
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the tour announced a suspension on 16 March.[1] Later, the first two scheduled tournaments, the Investec Royal Swazi Open and the Zambia Open, were postponed. On 5 August, the tour announced its resumption, starting in mid-August with a new series of five 54-hole tournaments, called the "Rise Up Series".[2]
In January 2021, the schedule was once again disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic as several tournaments scheduled for early in the year were postponed by a month or more, with the season restarting in March. Among the tournaments affected were three co-sanctioned events with the Challenge Tour.[3]
Schedule
The following table lists official events during the 2020–21 season.[4]
| Date | Tournament | Location | Purse (R) |
Winner[lower-alpha 2] | OWGR points |
Other tours[lower-alpha 3] |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zambia Open | Zambia | – | Postponed | – | |||
| Lombard Insurance Classic | Western Cape | – | Postponed | – | |||
| Sun City Challenge | North West | – | Postponed | – | |||
| Vodacom Origins of Golf | Western Cape | – | Postponed | – | |||
| Royal Swazi Spa Challenge | Eswatini | – | Postponed | – | |||
| FNB Eswatini Nkonyeni Sunshine Tour Golf Challenge | Eswatini | – | Postponed | – | New tournament | ||
| Zimbabwe Open | Zimbabwe | – | Postponed | – | |||
| 21 Aug | Betway Championship | Gauteng | 600,000 | Darren Fichardt (18) |
7 | New tournament | |
| Zanaco Masters | Zambia | – | Postponed | – | |||
| 28 Aug | African Bank Sunshine Tour Championship | Gauteng | 600,000 | Daniel van Tonder (4) |
7 | New tournament | |
| Vodacom Origins of Golf | Free State | – | Postponed | – | |||
| 4 Sep | Titleist Championship | Gauteng | 600,000 | George Coetzee (11) |
7 | New tournament | |
| King's Cup | Eastern Cape | – | Postponed | – | |||
| KCB Karen Masters | Kenya | – | Postponed | – | |||
| Vodacom Origins of Golf | Eastern Cape | – | Postponed | – | |||
| Sun Boardwalk Challenge | Eastern Cape | – | Postponed | – | |||
| 25 Sep | Vodacom Championship Unlocked | Gauteng | 600,000 | Daniel van Tonder (5) |
4 | New tournament | |
| 2 Oct | Vodacom Championship Reloaded | Gauteng | 600,000 | Daniel van Tonder (6) |
4 | New tournament | |
| Vodacom Origins of Golf | KwaZulu-Natal | – | Postponed | – | |||
| Sibaya Challenge | KwaZulu-Natal | – | Postponed | – | |||
| 23 Oct |
Sun Wild Coast Sun Challenge | KwaZulu-Natal | 700,000 | Merrick Bremner (7) |
4 | ||
| 31 Oct |
Investec Royal Swazi Open | North West | 1,500,000 | Daniel van Tonder (7) |
14 | ||
| 6 Nov | Time Square Casino Challenge | Gauteng | 700,000 | Ruan Korb (1) |
7 | New tournament | |
| Vodacom Origins of Golf Final | North West | – | Postponed | – | |||
| 22 Nov | Joburg Open | Gauteng | 19,500,000 |  Joachim B. Hansen (n/a) |
19 | EUR | |
| 29 Nov | Alfred Dunhill Championship | Mpumalanga | 29,000,000 | Christiaan Bezuidenhout (3) |
32 | EUR | Flagship event |
| 6 Dec | South African Open | North West | 19,500,000 | Christiaan Bezuidenhout (4) |
19 | EUR |
Order of Merit
The Order of Merit was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in South African rand.[5]
| Position | Player | Prize money (R) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christiaan Bezuidenhout | 7,789,088 |
| 2 | Joachim B. Hansen | 3,277,475 |
| 3 | Wilco Nienaber | 2,681,740 |
| 4 | Jayden Schaper | 2,170,478 |
| 5 | Shaun Norris | 1,183,904 |
Awards
| Award | Winner | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| Rookie of the Year | Jayden Schaper | [6][7] |
Notes
- A further 16 tournaments were scheduled but were postponed.
- 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.
- EUR − European Tour.
References
- "Sunshine Tour suspends all activities". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
- "Sunshine Tour announces return with new Rise-Up Series". SuperSport. 5 August 2020. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
- "Sunshine Tour postpones start of 2021 schedule until March". News24. 13 January 2021.
- "2020/21 Season – Tournament Schedule". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
- "2020/21 Order of Merit". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
- "2020/21 Rookie of the Year". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
- GolfRSA [@GolfRSA] (30 November 2020). "Bank the lessons learned Jay and take pride in your achievement!" (Tweet). Retrieved 18 April 2023 – via Twitter.