2006–07 Sunshine Tour

2006–07 Sunshine Tour season
Duration16 March 2006 (2006-03-16) – 25 February 2007 (2007-02-25)
Number of official events27
Most winsSouth Africa Jean Hugo (3)
Order of MeritSouth Africa Charl Schwartzel
Rookie of the YearSouth Africa Rossouw Loubser
2007 →

The 2006–07 Sunshine Tour was the 36th season of the Sunshine Tour (formerly the Southern Africa Tour), the main professional golf tour in South Africa since it was formed in 1971.

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 2006–07 season.[1]

Date Tournament Location Purse
(R) 		Winner[a] OWGR
points 		Other
tours[b] 		Notes
19 Mar Stanbic Zambia Open Zambia 750,000 South Africa Steve Basson (2) n/a
21 Apr Vodacom Origins of Golf at Arabella Western Cape 360,000 South Africa Jean Hugo (3) n/a
29 Apr SAA Pro-Am Invitational (1st) Western Cape 350,000 South Africa Jean Hugo (4) n/a New tournament series
6 May Samsung Royal Swazi Sun Open Swaziland 550,000 South Africa Thomas Aiken (6) n/a
13 May Suncoast Classic KwaZulu-Natal 350,000 South Africa Alex Haindl (1) n/a New tournament
20 May SAA Pro-Am Invitational (2nd) Gauteng 350,000 Zimbabwe Tongoona Charamba (1) n/a
26 May Vodacom Origins of Golf at Pretoria Gauteng 360,000 South Africa Vaughn Groenewald (1) n/a
30 Jun Vodacom Origins of Golf at Selborne KwaZulu-Natal 360,000 South Africa Rossouw Loubser (1) n/a
18 Aug Vodacom Origins of Golf at Bloemfontein Free State 360,000 South Africa Rossouw Loubser (2) n/a
25 Aug Telkom PGA Pro-Am Gauteng 330,000 Scotland Doug McGuigan (2) n/a
2 Sep Eskom Power Cup North West 350,000 South Africa Trevor Fisher Jnr (2) n/a New tournament
15 Sep Vodacom Origins of Golf at Pezula Western Cape 360,000 South Africa Kevin Stone (4) n/a
30 Sep Seekers Travel Pro-Am Gauteng 350,000 South Africa Desvonde Botes (12) n/a
6 Oct Vodacom Origins of Golf Final Western Cape 360,000 South Africa Darren Fichardt (5) n/a
15 Oct Bearing Man Highveld Classic Mpumalanga 400,000 South Africa Darren Fichardt (6) n/a
21 Oct MTC Namibia PGA Championship Namibia 600,000 South Africa Anton Haig (2) n/a
28 Oct Platinum Classic North West 600,000 South Africa Vaughn Groenewald (2) n/a
19 Nov Limpopo Classic Limpopo 1,000,000 South Africa Bradford Vaughan (8) 12
23 Nov Coca-Cola Charity Championship Western Cape 500,000 South Africa Alan Michell (1) n/a New tournament
3 Dec Nedbank Golf Challenge North West US$4,385,000 United States Jim Furyk (n/a) 38 New to Sunshine Tour
Limited-field event
10 Dec Alfred Dunhill Championship Mpumalanga €1,000,000 Spain Álvaro Quirós (n/a) 18 EUR
17 Dec South African Airways Open Eastern Cape €1,000,000 South Africa Ernie Els (14) 32 EUR Flagship event
14 Jan Joburg Open Gauteng €1,000,000 Argentina Ariel Cañete (n/a) 20 EUR New tournament
28 Jan Dimension Data Pro-Am North West 1,600,000 South Africa Louis Oosthuizen (2) 14 Pro-Am
4 Feb Nashua Masters Eastern Cape 1,200,000 South Africa Jean Hugo (5) 14
18 Feb Vodacom Championship Gauteng 2,200,000 South Africa Richard Sterne (2) 14
25 Feb Telkom PGA Championship Gauteng 2,250,000 South Africa Louis Oosthuizen (3) 14

Unofficial events

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

Date Tournament Location Purse
(R) 		Winner OWGR
points 		Other
tours[b] 		Notes
12 Nov HSBC Champions China US$5,000,000 South Korea Yang Yong-eun 52 ANZ,[c] ASA,[d] EUR Limited-field event

Order of Merit

The Order of Merit was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in South African rand.[2][3]

Position Player Prize money (R)
1 South Africa Charl Schwartzel 1,585,117
2 South Africa Louis Oosthuizen 1,314,739
3 South Africa Hennie Otto 1,274,340
4 South Africa Andrew McLardy 1,239,926
5 South Africa Darren Fichardt 1,160,182

Awards

Award Winner Ref.
Rookie of the Year (Bobby Locke Trophy) South Africa Rossouw Loubser [4]

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. ^ a b ANZ − PGA Tour of Australasia; ASA − Asian Tour; EUR − European Tour.
  3. ^ PGA Tour of Australasia unofficial event
  4. ^ Asian Tour unofficial event

References

  1. ^ "2006/07 Tournament schedule". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  2. ^ "2006/07 Order of Merit". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  3. ^ "Oosthuizen clinches Telkom Championship". Independent Online. 25 February 2007. Retrieved 9 September 2023. Schwartzel's finish was good enough to see him win the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit a third successive time...
  4. ^ "Nearly-man Mordt aiming for title". Independent Online. 14 September 2009. Retrieved 9 September 2023. In 2006 Rossouw Loubser became the oldest winner on the series when at the age of 44 he claimed the KwaZulu-Natal tournament, which was also his maiden victory and played a part in him being voted the Sunshine Tour Rookie of the Year.