2000–01 Sunshine Tour

2000–01 Sunshine Tour season
Duration16 March 2000 (2000-03-16) – 25 February 2001 (2001-02-25)
Number of official events22
Most winsZimbabwe Mark McNulty (3)
Order of MeritZimbabwe Mark McNulty
Rookie of the YearSouth Africa Trevor Immelman

The 2000–01 Sunshine Tour, titled as the 2000–01 Vodacom Tour for sponsorship reasons, was the 30th season of the Sunshine Tour (formerly the Southern Africa Tour), the main professional golf tour in South Africa since it was formed in 1971.

It was the fourth season of the tour under a title sponsorship agreement with Vodacom, that was announced in June 1997.[1]

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 2000–01 season.[2]

Date Tournament Location Purse
(R) 		Winner[a] OWGR
points 		Other
tours[b] 		Notes
18 Mar Cock of The North Zambia 200,000 South Africa Titch Moore (1) n/a New to Sunshine Tour
26 Mar Stanbic Zambia Open Zambia 500,000 Republic of Ireland James Loughnane (2) n/a
1 Apr FNB Botswana Open Botswana 180,000 South Africa Richard Kaplan (4) n/a
14 Apr Lombard Tyres Classic Gauteng 125,000 South Africa Brett Liddle (5) n/a
7 May Vodacom Series (Gauteng) Gauteng 200,000 South Africa Nico van Rensburg (2) n/a
13 May Pietersburg Classic Limpopo 125,000 Zimbabwe Marc Cayeux (3) n/a
28 May Vodacom Series (Eastern Cape) Eastern Cape 200,000 South Africa Ryan Reid (1) n/a
17 Sep Emfuleni Classic Gauteng 200,000 South Africa Des Terblanche (5) n/a New tournament
1 Oct Bearing Man Highveld Classic Mpumalanga 200,000 South Africa Sean Pappas (4) n/a
15 Oct Observatory Classic Western Cape 200,000 South Africa Roger Wessels (4) n/a New tournament
29 Oct Western Cape Classic Western Cape 200,000 South Africa Jean Hugo (2) n/a
12 Nov Platinum Classic North West 400,000 South Africa Desvonde Botes (8) n/a
17 Nov Riviera Resort Classic Gauteng 200,000 South Africa Ulrich van den Berg (1) n/a New tournament
26 Nov CABS/Old Mutual Zimbabwe Open Zimbabwe 700,000 Zimbabwe Mark McNulty (30) 12
10 Dec Vodacom Players Championship Western Cape 2,000,000 South Africa Trevor Immelman (1) 26
14 Jan Nashua Nedtel Cellular Masters Eastern Cape 1,000,000 Zimbabwe Mark McNulty (31) 12
21 Jan Alfred Dunhill Championship Gauteng £500,000 Australia Adam Scott (n/a) 18 EUR
28 Jan Mercedes-Benz South African Open Eastern Cape US$1,000,000 Zimbabwe Mark McNulty (32) 32 EUR Flagship event
4 Feb Dimension Data Pro-Am North West 2,000,000 Northern Ireland Darren Clarke (n/a) 28 Pro-Am
11 Feb South African PGA Championship Gauteng 1,000,000 South Africa Deane Pappas (1) 12
18 Feb Investec Royal Swazi Sun Open Swaziland 500,000 South Africa Bradford Vaughan (3) 12
25 Feb The Tour Championship Mpumalanga 2,000,000 South Africa Darren Fichardt (2) 16 New tournament
Tour Championship

Order of Merit

The Order of Merit was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in South African rand.[3][4]

Position Player Prize money (R)
1 Zimbabwe Mark McNulty 1,603,481
2 South Africa Bradford Vaughan 686,415
3 South Africa Roger Wessels 632,383
4 South Africa Hennie Otto 620,211
5 South Africa Trevor Immelman 619,766

Awards

Award Winner Ref.
Rookie of the Year (Bobby Locke Trophy) South Africa Trevor Immelman [5]

Notes

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ EUR − European Tour.

References

  1. ^ "Vodacom boosts PGA tour, annoys competitor". Mail & Guardian. Johannesburg, South Africa. 13 June 1997. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  2. ^ "2000/01 Tournament schedule". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  3. ^ "2000/01 Order of Merit". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  4. ^ "Els back for finale". Independent Online. 20 February 2001. Retrieved 10 September 2023. McNulty's ownership of the Order of Merit title is assured, having amassed over R1.5-million in five events.
  5. ^ "Fichardt's putter puts him in lead". News24. 24 February 2001. Retrieved 10 September 2023. Rookie of the Year Immelman is looking good to overhaul both Roger Wessels and Bradford Vaughan for second spot on the order of merit behind Mark McNulty.