2018–19 Sunshine Tour

2018–19 Sunshine Tour season
Duration12 April 2018 (2018-04-12) – 24 March 2019 (2019-03-24)
Number of official events26
Most winsSouth Africa J. C. Ritchie (3)
Order of MeritSouth Africa Zander Lombard
Rookie of the YearZimbabwe Benjamin Follett-Smith

The 2018–19 Sunshine Tour was the 48th 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 2018–19 season.[1]

Date Tournament Location Purse
(R) 		Winner[a] OWGR
points 		Other
tours[b] 		Notes
15 Apr Zanaco Masters Zambia 2,000,000 South Africa J. J. Senekal (2) 14
22 Apr Old Mutual Zimbabwe Open Zimbabwe 2,000,000 South Africa Bryce Easton (3) 14
29 Apr Mopani Redpath Zambia Open Zambia US$150,000 South Africa Rourke van der Spuy (2) 14
12 May Investec Royal Swazi Open Eswatini 1,200,000 South Africa Justin Harding (6) 14
20 May Lombard Insurance Classic Eswatini 1,000,000 South Africa Justin Harding (7) 7
7 Jun Sun City Challenge North West 800,000 South Africa Neil Schietekat (2) 7
22 Jul KCB Karen Masters Kenya 2,000,000 South Africa Michael Palmer (1) 14 New to Sunshine Tour
3 Aug Royal Swazi Spa Challenge Eswatini 800,000 South Africa Andre de Decker (1) 7 New tournament
10 Aug Sun Carnival City Challenge Gauteng 800,000 South Africa J. C. Ritchie (2) 7
18 Aug Vodacom Origins of Golf at Zebula Limpopo 800,000 South Africa Zander Lombard (1) 7
25 Aug Sun Wild Coast Sun Challenge KwaZulu-Natal 800,000 South Africa Vaughn Groenewald (6) 7
1 Sep Vodacom Origins of Golf at Selborne Park KwaZulu-Natal 800,000 Greece Peter Karmis (6) 7
16 Sep Vodacom Origins of Golf at Arabella Western Cape 800,000 South Africa Neil Schietekat (3) 7
29 Sep Vodacom Origins of Golf at St Francis Eastern Cape 800,000 South Africa Alex Haindl (2) 4
20 Oct Vodacom Origins of Golf at Parys Free State 800,000 South Africa Garth Mulroy (4) 4
26 Oct Sun Sibaya Challenge KwaZulu-Natal 800,000 South Africa Louis de Jager (4) 4
3 Nov Vodacom Origins of Golf Final Eastern Cape 800,000 England Steve Surry (1) 4
2 Dec AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open Mauritius €1,000,000 United States Kurt Kitayama (n/a) 17 ASA, EUR
9 Dec South African Open Gauteng 17,500,000 South Africa Louis Oosthuizen (8) 32 ASA, EUR Flagship event
16 Dec Alfred Dunhill Championship Mpumalanga €1,500,000 United States David Lipsky (n/a) 23 EUR
3 Feb Eye of Africa PGA Championship Gauteng 2,000,000 South Africa Louis de Jager (5) 14
10 Feb RAM Cape Town Open Western Cape 2,000,000 Zimbabwe Benjamin Follett-Smith (1) 14
17 Feb Dimension Data Pro-Am Western Cape 5,050,000 Sweden Philip Eriksson (1) 14 Pro-Am
2 Mar Team Championship Gauteng 1,500,000 South Africa Jaco Prinsloo (2) and
South Africa J. C. Ritchie (3) 		n/a Team event
10 Mar Limpopo Championship Modimolle 1,500,000 South Africa J. C. Ritchie (4) 14 New tournament
24 Mar The Tour Championship Gauteng 2,000,000 South Africa Jean-Paul Strydom (1) 14 Tour Championship

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 Zander Lombard 2,119,985
2 South Africa Justin Harding 1,467,795
3 South Africa Bryce Easton 1,361,129
4 South Africa Neil Schietekat 1,206,168
5 Sweden Philip Eriksson 1,059,234

Awards

Award Winner Ref.
Rookie of the Year (Bobby Locke Trophy) Zimbabwe Benjamin Follett-Smith [4][5]

See also

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. ^ ASA − Asian Tour; EUR − European Tour.

References

  1. ^ "2018/19 Tournament schedule". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  2. ^ "2018/19 Order of Merit". Sunshine Tour. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  3. ^ Damgaard, Peter (26 March 2019). "Zander Lombard vandt Sunshine Tour Order of Merit 2018-19" [Zander Lombard won the 2018-19 Sunshine Tour Order of Merit]. 19hul.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  4. ^ "2018/19 Rookie of the Year". Sunshine Tour. Archived from the original on 18 April 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  5. ^ "Follett-Smith wins in Cape Town to secure maiden Challenge Tour title". Gulf News. 6 February 2023. Retrieved 17 April 2023. In my first year on the Sunshine Tour I picked up a win and Rookie of the Year...