1984–85 Southern Africa Tour

1984–85 Southern Africa Tour season
Duration12 December 1984 (1984-12-12) – 17 March 1985 (1985-03-17)
Number of official events10
Most winsZimbabwe Mark McNulty (2)
Order of MeritZimbabwe Mark McNulty

The 1984–85 Southern Africa Tour was the 14th season of the Southern Africa Tour, the main professional golf tour in South Africa since it was formed in 1971.

Season outline

A variety of golfers from South Africa and Zimbabwe had success at the beginning of the season. At the first event, Safmarine South African Masters, Tony Johnstone defeated Fulton Allem in a playoff.[1] At the second event, the Goodyear Classic, John Bland birdied the final four holes of regulation and the first playoff hole to defeat Nick Price.[2] Price, however, won the following week at the ICL International.[3] Chris Williams and Gavan Levenson won the next two events.[4][5]

The remainder of the season was dominated by Mark McNulty. At the Swazi Sun Pro-Am he holed a 25 foot birdie putt on the final hole to defeat Simon Hobday by one shot.[6] The following week, at the AECI Charity Classic, Paul Way was victorious by five strokes.[7] The following week, at the Palaboro Classic, McNulty won in a playoff over Hugh Baiocchi.[8] McNulty would go to win the Order of Merit.[9]

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 1984–85 season.[10]

Date Tournament Location Purse
(R) 		Winner[a] Notes
15 Dec Safmarine South African Masters Cape 100,000 Zimbabwe Tony Johnstone (3)
22 Dec Goodyear Classic Transvaal 100,000 South Africa John Bland (9) New tournament
12 Jan ICL International Transvaal 80,000 Zimbabwe Nick Price (4)
19 Jan Lexington PGA Championship Transvaal 110,000 South Africa Chris Williams (1)
26 Jan South African Open Natal 100,000 South Africa Gavan Levenson (3)
2 Feb Swazi Sun Pro-Am Swaziland 80,000 Zimbabwe Mark McNulty (8) Pro-Am
9 Feb AECI Charity Classic Transvaal 80,000 England Paul Way (1) New tournament
23 Feb Palabora Classic Transvaal 100,000 Zimbabwe Mark McNulty (9) New tournament
2 Mar Trustbank Tournament of Champions Transvaal 100,000 South Africa Simon Hobday (5) New tournament
17 Mar Wild Coast Classic Cape 100,000 South Africa Ian Palmer (1)

Unofficial events

The following events were sanctioned by the Southern Africa Tour, but did not carry official money, nor were wins official.

Date Tournament Location Purse
(R) 		Winner Notes
9 Dec Nedbank Million Dollar Challenge Transvaal US$1,000,000 Spain Seve Ballesteros Limited-field event

Order of Merit

The Order of Merit was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in South African rand.[9]

Position Player Prize money (R)
1 Zimbabwe Mark McNulty 57,750
2 South Africa Simon Hobday 42,040
3 John Bland 37,586
4 South Africa Gavan Levenson 32,792
5 South Africa Phil Simmons 28,977

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. ^ "Johnstone clinches Sunshine triumph". Birmingham Evening Mail. Birmingham, United Kingdom. 17 December 1984. p. 32. Retrieved 27 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ Frederick, Adrian (24 December 1984). "Bland battles to classic win in late bust". The Daily Telegraph. London, United Kingdom. p. 18. Retrieved 27 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Bennett 71". Grimsby Evening Telegraph. Grimsby, United Kingdom. 14 January 1985. p. 11. Retrieved 27 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "For Peete's sake". Evening Telegraph. Derby, United Kingdom. 21 January 1985. p. 11. Retrieved 27 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Levenson hits birdie rush". Sunday Mercury. Birmingham, United Kingdom. 27 January 1985. p. 3. Retrieved 27 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Frederick, Adrian (4 February 1985). "McNulty clinches title with final stroke". The Daily Telegraph. London, United Kingdom. p. 30. Retrieved 27 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Victory for Way". Sunday Sun. Newcastle-upon-Tyne, United Kingdom. 10 February 1985. p. 43. Retrieved 27 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "McNulty taken to play-off". The Daily Telegraph. London, United Kingdom. 25 February 1985. p. 26. Retrieved 27 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ a b Berkovitz, Anton; Samson, Andrew (1993). South Africa and international sports factfinder. D. Nelson. p. 96. ISBN 1868061019. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  10. ^ "1984/85 Tournament schedule". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 28 September 2023.