Sunshine Tour

The Sunshine Tour is a men's professional golf tour based in Southern and East Africa. For much of its early history it was known either as the South African Tour or Sunshine Circuit; through sponsorship deals, it has also been known as the Vodacom Tour and the FNB Tour. For the 2000–01 season the tour rebranded itself as the Sunshine Tour in an attempt to broaden its appeal. A large majority of the tour events are still staged in South Africa.

Sunshine Tour
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2023–24 Sunshine Tour
FormerlySunshine Circuit
South African Tour
Southern Africa Tour
Vodacom Tour
FNB Tour
SportGolf
Founded1971 (rebranded as the Sunshine Tour in 2000)
CommissionerThomas Abt
CountriesBased in South Africa[lower-alpha 1]
Most titlesOrder of Merit titles:
9: Zimbabwe Mark McNulty
TV partner(s)SuperSport
Related
competitions		Big Easy Tour
Official websitehttp://www.sunshinetour.com

The tour is one of the six leading men's tours which before 2009 made up the membership of the International Federation of PGA Tours, but it offers much less prize money than some of the leading tours, and leading Southern African golfers traditionally prefer to play on the PGA Tour or the European Tour if they can qualify to do so, typically returning to play in Sunshine Tour events a couple of times a year.

Most of the tour's leading official money events, including the South African Open, are co-sanctioned with the European Tour to attract stronger fields. The 2015 season included 27 official money events. The co-sanctioned events had purses ranging from €1 million to $6.5 million, while the other 21 events had purses designated in South African Rand and ranging from 650,000 rand to 4.5 million rand. There was at least one tournament every month of the year except July, but the main events took place in the South African summer from November to February.

The tour has been open to non-White players since 1991. Five black golfers have won events: South Africa's John Mashego at the 1991 Bushveld Classic; South Africa's Lindani Ndwandwe at the 2001 Western Cape Classic and 2009 Highveld Classic; Zimbabwe's Tongoona Charamba at the 2006 SAA Pro-Am Invitational[1] and 2008 MTC Namibia PGA Championship; Zambia's Madalitso Muthiya at the 2016 Vodacom Origins of Golf (Wild Coast); and South Africa's Toto Thimba Jr. at the 2019 KCB Karen Masters.

In 2016, the Sunshine Tour announced an affiliation with the MENA Golf Tour, allowing the top five MENA Tour players Sunshine Tour cards and those 6th-15th into the final stage of Q School. A number of events would also be co-sanctioned among the Sunshine Tour, MENA Tour, and developmental Big Easy Tour.

Schedule
Main article: 2023–24 Sunshine Tour

The Sunshine Tour consists of two distinct parts, commonly referred to as the "Summer Swing" and "Winter Swing". Tournaments held during the Summer Swing generally have much higher prize funds and attract stronger fields. The Winter Swing runs from March to November, dividing the Summer Swing in two.

Tournament prize funds do not count directly towards the Order of Merit. The richest events on the tour are those that are co-sanctioned with the European Tour.

Order of Merit winners

The winner of the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit is awarded the Sid Brews Trophy. The Order of Merit winners are shown below. Players are required to play in a minimum number of tournaments (eight in 2013) to qualify for the Order of Merit. As the richest events on the tour (those co-sanctioned by the European Tour) tend to be won by players who don't play enough events to qualify, in recent years the Order of Merit winner has often not actually been the player who won most money in Sunshine Tour sanctioned events. The winner of the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit also earns entry into The Open Championship.

In May 2022, it was announced that the Order of Merit would be reformatted for the 2022–23 season. It was sponsored by Luno, a cryptocurrency platform. The rankings changed to a points-based system, rather than being decided on money earned. Points earned are based on tournament prize money which are split into five tiers. The leader of the OoM will receive R 500,000; paid in Bitcoin.[2]

SeasonWinnerPoints
2022–23South Africa Ockie Strydom3,336
SeasonWinnerPrize money (R)
2021–22South Africa Shaun Norris4,890,994
2020–21South Africa Christiaan Bezuidenhout7,789,088
2019–20South Africa J. C. Ritchie2,162,387
2018–19South Africa Zander Lombard2,119,984
2017–18South Africa George Coetzee (2)2,937,226
2016–17South Africa Brandon Stone7,384,889
2015South Africa George Coetzee5,470,684
2014South Africa Thomas Aiken4,057,642
2013South Africa Dawie van der Walt5,094,333
2012South Africa Branden Grace2,760,319
2011South Africa Garth Mulroy3,464,463
2010South Africa Charl Schwartzel (4)5,097,914
2009Denmark Anders Hansen4,286,038
2008South Africa Richard Sterne5,599,265
2007South Africa James Kingston1,980,689
2006–07South Africa Charl Schwartzel (3)1,585,117
2005–06South Africa Charl Schwartzel (2)1,207,460
2004–05South Africa Charl Schwartzel1,635,850
2003–04South Africa Darren Fichardt (2)726,545
2002–03South Africa Trevor Immelman2,044,280
2001–02South Africa Tim Clark1,669,901
2000–01Zimbabwe Mark McNulty (9)1,603,481
1999–2000South Africa Darren Fichardt558,735
1998–99South Africa David Frost1,189,762
1997–98Zimbabwe Mark McNulty (8)589,053
1996–97Zimbabwe Mark McNulty (7)556,227
1995–96South Africa Wayne Westner709,389
1994–95South Africa Ernie Els (2)460,488
1993–94Zimbabwe Tony Johnstone (2)297,359
1992–93Zimbabwe Mark McNulty (6)250,079
1991–92South Africa Ernie Els324,017
1990–91South Africa John Bland (4)333,625
1989–90South Africa John Bland (3)180,892
1988–89Zimbabwe Tony Johnstone254,950
1987–88South Africa John Bland (2)143,690
1986–87Zimbabwe Mark McNulty (5)134,690
1985–86Zimbabwe Mark McNulty (4)113,526
1984–85Zimbabwe Mark McNulty (3)57,750
1983–84South Africa Gavan Levenson43,940
1982–83Zimbabwe Nick Price31,986
1981–82Zimbabwe Mark McNulty (2)67,054
1980–81Zimbabwe Mark McNulty50,192
1979–80South Africa Gary Player (2)49,680
1978–79South Africa Hugh Baiocchi19,804
1977–78South Africa John Bland25,170
1976–77South Africa Gary Player19,236
1975–76South Africa Allan Henning (2)18,275
1974–75South Africa Allan HenningPoints
based
system
1973–74South Africa John Fourie
1972–73South Africa Dale Hayes
1971–72South Africa Tienie Britz

Source (1971–72 to 1992–93):[3]

Awards
SeasonRookie of the YearRef.
2022–23South Africa Casey Jarvis[4][5]
2021–22South Africa Jayden Schaper (2)[6][7]
2020–21South Africa Jayden Schaper[8][9]
2019–20South Africa Garrick Higgo[10][11]
2018–19Zimbabwe Benjamin Follett-Smith[12][13]
2017–18Republic of Ireland Neil O'Briain[14][15]
2016–17South Africa Christiaan Bezuidenhout[16][17]
2015South Africa Rourke van der Spuy[18][19]
2014South Africa Haydn Porteous[20][21]
2013South Africa Dylan Frittelli[22][23]
2012South Africa Daniel van Tonder[24][25]
2011South Africa Allan Versfeld[26]
2010South Africa Anthony Michael[27]
2009Canada Graham DeLaet[28]

Notes
  1. Schedules have also included events in Botswana, eSwatini, Kenya, Mauritius, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

References
  1. "Charamba rewrites history at SAA Pro-Am Invitational". Sunshine Tour. 22 May 2006. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 1 December 2009.
  2. "Sunshine Tour announces new Luno Order of Merit". Compleat Golfer. 5 May 2022.
  3. Berkovitz, Anton; Samson, Andrew (1993). South Africa and international sports factfinder. D. Nelson. p. 96. ISBN 1868061019.
  4. "2022/23 Rookie of the Year". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  5. Pretorius, Wade (23 April 2023). "Ahlers wins Tour Championship". The South African. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  6. "2021/22 Rookie of the Year". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  7. Sunshine Tour [@Sunshine_Tour] (3 May 2022). "Congratulations to @schaperjayden on ending the 2021/22 #SunshineTour season as the Rookie of the year" (Tweet). Retrieved 18 April 2023 – via Twitter.
  8. "2020/21 Rookie of the Year". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  9. GolfRSA [@GolfRSA] (30 November 2020). "Bank the lessons learned Jay and take pride in your achievement!" (Tweet). Retrieved 18 April 2023 – via Twitter.
  10. "2019/20 Rookie of the Year". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  11. Michael Vlismas [@MichaelVlismas] (24 February 2020). "@garrick_higgo wins the Tour Championship and @Sunshine_Tour Rookie of the Year trophy. His 2nd victory in his rookie season" (Tweet). Retrieved 18 April 2023 – via Twitter.
  12. "2018/19 Rookie of the Year". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  13. "Follett-Smith wins in Cape Town to secure maiden Challenge Tour title". Gulf News. 6 February 2023. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  14. "2017/18 Rookie of the Year". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  15. "Future is bright as O'Donovan wins Sunshine Tour card". Irish Golfer. 5 March 2020. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  16. "2016/17 Rookie of the Year". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  17. "Christiaan Bezuidenhout". ISPS Handa. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  18. "2015 Rookie of the Year". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  19. "Van der Spuy claims Rookie of the Year". News24. 29 November 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  20. "2014 Rookie of the Year". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  21. Titleist South Africa [@TitleistAfrica] (13 January 2015). "RT & join us in congratulating Titleist loyalist @HaydnPorteous" (Tweet). Retrieved 18 April 2023 – via Twitter.
  22. "2013 Rookie of the Year". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  23. "Walters named Comissioner's Award winner". The Citizen. South Africa. 24 February 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  24. "2012 Rookie of the Year". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  25. Winter, Grant (17 December 2012). "Grace is walking on Sunshine after dream 2012". The Mercury. South Africa. Retrieved 18 April 2023 – via Pressreader.
  26. "World at a glance". The Star. South Africa. 12 January 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2023 – via Pressreader.
  27. "Sun shines on Charl Schwartzel". TimesLIVE. South Africa. 13 January 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  28. Sunshine Tour [@Sunshine_Tour] (11 October 2018). "This week in 2009, Graham DeLaet of Canada won the BMG Classic on the Sunshine Tour on his way to the Rookie of the Year title" (Tweet). Retrieved 19 April 2023 – via Twitter.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.