1993–94 Southern Africa Tour

1993–94 Southern Africa Tour season
Duration18 November 1993 (1993-11-18) – 13 February 1994 (1994-02-13)
Number of official events9
Most winsZimbabwe Tony Johnstone (3)
Order of MeritZimbabwe Tony Johnstone
Rookie of the YearSouth Africa Brenden Pappas

The 1993–94 Southern Africa Tour, titled as the 1993–94 FNB Tour for sponsorship reasons, was the 23rd season of the Southern Africa Tour, the main professional golf tour in South Africa since it was formed in 1971.

It was the second season of the tour under a title sponsorship agreement with First National Bank, that began in 1992.[1]

Season outline

Zimbabweans Mark McNulty, Tony Johnstone, and Nick Price had much success at the beginning of the season. McNulty won the first tournament of the year, the FNB Players Championship.[2] Johnstone then won two national opens early in the season, the Zimbabwe Open and Philips South African Open.[3] At the unofficial Nedbank Million Dollar Challenge, meanwhile, Price scored four rounds in the mid-60s to defeat runner-up McNulty by 12 strokes. "Without a doubt it's the finest four rounds of golf I've ever put together in my life," he said after the event.[4] Johnstone won the next event, the Bell's Cup. It was his fourth consecutive win on the Southern Africa Tour going back to last season. It tied Gary Player's winning streak.[5] The following week, at the Lexington PGA Championship, David Frost defeated runner-up Price by seven shots.[6] Days later, Price opened with an eleven-under 61 at the ICL International. He broke the course record at Zwartkop Country Club by three strokes and tied for the lowest round ever on the Southern Africa Tour.[7] Price would go to win by nine over Frost and American Bruce Vaughan. It was his third win at the event.[8]

A variety of little known overseas golfers had success over the remainder of the season. The seventh tournament, the Telkom South African Masters, was won by Englishman Chris Davison. It was first win on tour.[9] The following event, the Hollard Royal Swazi Sun Classic, was won by American Omar Uresti.[10] He defeated fellow American Andrew Pitts by two shots.[11] The final event of the season, the Autopage Mount Edgecombe Trophy, was won by American Bruce Vaughan.[12]

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 1993–94 season.[13][14]

Date Tournament Location Purse
(R) 		Winner[a] OWGR
points 		Notes
21 Nov FNB Players Championship Transvaal 550,000 Zimbabwe Mark McNulty (23) 16
28 Nov Zimbabwe Open Zimbabwe 300,000 Zimbabwe Tony Johnstone (14) 22
12 Dec Phillips South African Open Natal 550,000 Zimbabwe Tony Johnstone (15) 20
9 Jan Bell's Cup Cape 500,000 Zimbabwe Tony Johnstone (16) 22
16 Jan Lexington PGA Championship Transvaal 550,000 South Africa David Frost (4) 30
23 Jan ICL International Transvaal 500,000 Zimbabwe Nick Price (6) 26
30 Jan Telkom South African Masters Transvaal 500,000 England Chris Davison (1) 14
6 Feb Hollard Royal Swazi Sun Classic Swaziland 400,000 United States Omar Uresti (1) 12
13 Feb Autopage Mount Edgecombe Trophy Natal 500,000 United States Bruce Vaughan (1) 16

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 OWGR
points 		Notes
5 Dec Nedbank Million Dollar Challenge Transvaal US$2,500,000 Zimbabwe Nick Price 48 Limited-field event

Order of Merit

The Order of Merit was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in South African rand.[15]

Position Player Prize money (R)
1 Zimbabwe Tony Johnstone 297,359
2 United States Bruce Vaughan 189,453
3 South Africa Ernie Els 160,410
4 England Chris Davison 156,219
5 South Africa Roger Wessels 135,518

Awards

Award Winner Ref.
Rookie of the Year (Bobby Locke Trophy) South Africa Brenden Pappas [16]

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. ^ Berkovitz, Anton; Samson, Andrew (1993). South Africa and international sports factfinder. D. Nelson. p. 96. ISBN 1868061019. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  2. ^ "The Daily Telegraph 22 Nov 1993, page 36". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  3. ^ "The Daily Telegraph 13 Dec 1993, page 34". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  4. ^ "The Stuart News 06 Dec 1993, page 29". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  5. ^ "Leicester Mercury 10 Jan 1994, page 37". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  6. ^ "The Daily Telegraph 17 Jan 1994, page 34". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  7. ^ "The Daily Telegraph 21 Jan 1994, page 37". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  8. ^ "The News and Observer 24 Jan 1994, page 35". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  9. ^ "Leicester Mercury 31 Jan 1994, page 37". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  10. ^ "Austin American-Statesman 07 Feb 1994, page 10". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  11. ^ "Leicester Mercury 07 Feb 1994, page 29". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  12. ^ "Detroit Free Press 14 Feb 1994, page Page 21". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  13. ^ "1993/94 Tournament schedule". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  14. ^ Williams, Michael (1995). The Royal & Ancient Golfer's Handbook 1995. Macmillan. p. 110. ISBN 0333626818. Retrieved 23 December 2023 – via Archive.org.
  15. ^ "1993/94 Order of Merit". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  16. ^ "2007 Nationwide Tour Media Guide" (PDF). PGA Tour. 2007. p. 2-48. Retrieved 21 August 2024. Brenden Pappas | Member of the Southern Africa Tour since 1994. Finished third on the Order of Merit in 1995-96. Named Rookie of the Year in 1993-94.