Dunhill Championship

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Dunhill Championship
Tournament information
Location Flag of South Africa Mpumalanga, South Africa
Established 2000
Course(s) Leopard Creek Golf Club
Par 72
Yardage 7,249
Tour(s) European Tour
Sunshine Tour
Format Stroke play
Purse 1,000,000
Month Played December
Tournament record scores
Current champion
John Bickerton

The Dunhill Championship is a men's professional golf tournament which is played in South Africa. It is part of the Southern African Sunshine Tour and is one of three events in South Africa co-sanctioned by the more prestigious European Tour alongside the South African Open and the Joburg Open. It was founded in 2000 but its origins lie in Dunhill's sponsorship of the South African PGA Championship between 1995 and 1999. Following the 1999 Alfred Dunhill South African PGA Championship, won by Ernie Els, the company decided to discontinue their association with the SAPGA and to create their own stand alone tournament. This was held in January 2000 and won by Anthony Wall. From 1995-1999, the Alfred Dunhill South African PGA Championship formed part of the European Tour. From 2000, the Dunhill Championship replaced the SAPGA on the European Tour schedule.

Since 2004, the tournament moved to a December date. This resulted in two tournaments in 2004. The December 2004 tournament formed part of the 2005 European Tour for order of merit purposes and this approach has continued in 2005 and 2006.

The Dunhill Championship should not be confused with the Dunhill Links Championship, a much richer European Tour event with the same sponsor which is played in Scotland.

[edit] Winners

Year Player Country
Dunhill Championship
2007 John Bickerton Flag of England England
2006 Álvaro Quirós Flag of Spain Spain
2005 Ernie Els Flag of South Africa South Africa
2004 (Dec) Charl Schwartzel Flag of South Africa South Africa
2004 (Jan) Marcel Siem Flag of Germany Germany
2003 Mark Foster Flag of England England
2002 Justin Rose Flag of England England
Alfred Dunhill Championship
2001 Adam Scott Flag of Australia Australia
2000 Anthony Wall Flag of England England

[edit] External links