1979–80 Southern Africa Tour

1979–80 Southern Africa Tour season
Duration22 October 1979 (1979-10-22) – 9 February 1980 (1980-02-09)
Number of official events11
Most winsSouth Africa Gary Player (4)
Order of MeritSouth Africa Gary Player

The 1979–80 Southern Africa Tour was the ninth season of the Southern Africa Tour, the main professional golf tour in South Africa since it was formed in 1971.

Season outline

Early in the year, a number of young golfers won their first events on tour, including future stars Nick Price and Nick Faldo. It was veteran Gary Player, however, who had the most success, winning four consecutive events in the middle of the year to capture Order of Merit honours by a wide margin.

In the first event of the season, the Asseng TV Challenge Series, Zimbawean Nick Price won, defeating joint runner-ups John Bland, Allan Henning, and Phil Simmons.[1] It was his first win on his home tour. Simmons won the next tournament, the Victoria Falls Classic.[2] It was also his first win on his home tour. The fourth tournament of the year, the ICL International was played at Royal Johannesburg & Kensington Golf Club. In the final round, 22-year-old Englishman Nick Faldo scored a final round 65 to defeat Henning by two shots. His score tied the course record. It was his first win in South Africa.[3]

Legend Gary Player dominated the remainder of the year. In late November, at the Lexington PGA Championship, he opened with an aggregate of 203 (–7) to take the solo lead.[4] He was then declared winner as the final round was cancelled due to heavy rain.[5] The following week, at the SAB South African Masters, Player was tied with Irishman John O'Leary entering the final round. However, Player outshot O'Leary by six in the final round to win easily.[6] The British Airways/Yellow Pages South African Open came next. Player was the clubhouse leader but one behind England's Ian Mosey. However, Mosey double-bogeyed the final hole, including a missed 18-inch putt which would have tied.[7] The following week, at the Sun City Classic, Player won his fourth tournament in a row, defeating Bobby Verwey by four shots. This winning streak set a tour record.[8]

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 1979–80 season.[9][10][11]

Date Tournament Location Purse
(R) 		Winner[a] Notes
25 Oct Asseng TV Challenge Series Transvaal 27,500 Zimbabwe Rhodesia Nick Price (1) New tournament
3 Nov Victoria Falls Classic Rhodesia 15,000 South Africa Phil Simmons (1)
11 Nov Zimbabwe-Rhodesia Open Rhodesia 30,000 South Africa Simon Hobday (3) New tournament
17 Nov ICL International Transvaal 40,000 England Nick Faldo (1)
23 Nov Lexington PGA Championship Transvaal 80,000 South Africa Gary Player (15)
1 Dec SAB South African Masters Cape 80,000 South Africa Gary Player (16)
8 Dec British Airways/Yellow Pages South African Open Transvaal 65,000 South Africa Gary Player (17)
15 Dec Sun City Classic Transvaal 100,000 South Africa Gary Player (18) New tournament
19 Jan Kalahari Classic Botswana 20,000 South Africa Tienie Britz (4)
26 Jan Orkney Open Transvaal 30,000 South Africa Allan Henning (7) New tournament
9 Feb Holiday Inns Invitational Swaziland 30,000 Mark McNulty (1)

Order of Merit

The Order of Merit was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in South African rand.[12]

Position Player Prize money (R)
1 South Africa Gary Player 49,680
2 Nick Price 21,489
3 Denis Watson 21,462
4 South Africa Allan Henning 20,817
5 South Africa Bobby Verwey 20,311

Notes

  1. ^ The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of Southern Africa Tour events they had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for Southern Africa Tour members.

References

  1. ^ "1979 Asseng TV Challenge Series". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  2. ^ "1979 Victoria Falls Classic". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  3. ^ Kennedy, Ray (19 November 1979). "Faldo Storms Home With 65". The Daily Telegraph. London, United Kingdom. p. 34. Retrieved 12 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Player's 66 earns golf lead". Leicester Mercury. Leicester, United Kingdom. 24 November 1979. p. 28. Retrieved 12 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Player reigns at Lexington". Daily News. New York, New York. 26 November 1979. p. 439. Retrieved 12 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Player in first by six". The Kingston Whig-Standard. Kingston, Ontario, Canada. 3 December 1979. p. 7. Retrieved 13 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Gary Player wins S. Africa title". The Post-Crescent. Appleton, Wisconsin. 9 December 1979. p. 71 (E-8 in paper). Retrieved 13 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Now he's a record Player!". Birmingham Evening Mail. Birmingham, United Kingdom. p. 24. Retrieved 13 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "1979/80 Tournament schedule". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  10. ^ McCormack, Mark H. (1980). Dunhill Golf Yearbook 1980. Springwood Books. pp. 193–204, 364–370. ISBN 0905947835.
  11. ^ McCormack, Mark H. (1981). Dunhill World of Professional Golf 1981. Springwood Books. pp. 149–158, 351–362. ISBN 0862540054.
  12. ^ Berkovitz, Anton; Samson, Andrew (1993). South Africa and international sports factfinder. D. Nelson. p. 96. ISBN 1868061019. Retrieved 13 September 2023.