2010 Sunshine Tour
The 2010 Sunshine Tour was the 11th season of professional golf tournaments since the southern Africa based Sunshine Tour was relaunched in 2000, and the 4th since the tour switched a calendar based season in 2007. The Sunshine Tour represents the highest level of competition for male professional golfers in the region.
The tour is based predominantly in South Africa with other events being held in neighbouring countries, including Swaziland, Zambia and Namibia.
The Order of Merit was won by Charl Schwartzel.[1]
Schedule
The table below shows schedule of events for the 2010 Sunshine Tour.[2] As usual, the tour consisted of two distinct parts, commonly referred to as the "Summer Swing" and the "Winter Swing". Tournaments held during the Summer Swing generally have much higher prize funds, attract stronger fields, and are the only tournaments on the tour to carry world ranking points, with some events being co-sanctioned with the European Tour. Since the tour switched to a calendar based season, this part of the tour has been split in two, with some events being held at the start of the year, and the remainder in December. The Winter Swing ran from April to early December.
Prize funds shown do not count directly towards the Order of Merit. The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of official money Sunshine Tour events he had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for Sunshine Tour members.
| Dates | Tournament | Location (RSA unless stated) |
Prize fund | Winner | OWGR points |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7–10 Jan | Africa Open | East London, Eastern Cape | €1,000,000 |  Charl Schwartzel (3) |
20 | Co-sanctioned by the European Tour |
| 14–17 Jan | Joburg Open | Johannesburg, Gauteng | €1,300,000 | Charl Schwartzel (4) |
22 | Co-sanctioned by the European Tour |
| 11–14 Feb | Dimension Data Pro-Am | George, Western Cape | R3,000,000 | Darren Fichardt (10) |
14 | |
| 18–21 Feb | Telkom PGA Championship | Johannesburg, Gauteng | R3,000,000 | Michiel Bothma (3) |
14 | |
| 25–28 Feb | Vodacom Championship | Pretoria, Gauteng | R2,650,000 | Hennie Otto (9) |
14 | |
| 14–16 Apr | Vodacom Business Origins of Golf Tour | Centurion, Gauteng | R510,000 | Jean Hugo (8) |
n/a | |
| 31–24 Apr | Africom Zimbabwe Open | Harare, Zimbabwe | R1,200,000 | Jbe' Kruger (2) |
14 | |
| 28–30 Apr | Vodacom Business Origins of Golf Tour | Clarens, Free State | R510,000 | Jaco van Zyl (6) |
n/a | |
| 5–8 May | Investec Royal Swazi Sun Open | Swaziland | R750,000 | Keith Horne (4) |
n/a | |
| 13–15 May | Nashua Golf Challenge | Sun City, North West | R500,000 | Jaco van Zyl (7) |
n/a | |
| 4–6 Jun | Lombard Insurance Classic | Swaziland | R700,000 | Grant Muller (2) |
n/a | |
| 28–30 Jul | Vodacom Business Origins of Golf Tour | Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape | R510,000 | Ulrich van den Berg (6) |
n/a | |
| 18–20 Aug | Vodacom Business Origins of Golf Tour | Durban, Kwazulu-Natal | R510,000 | James Kingston (11) |
n/a | |
| 27–29 Aug | Zambia Open | Ndola, Zambia | R850,000 |  Adilson da Silva (6) |
n/a | |
| 1–3 Sept | Telkom PGA Pro-Am | Centurion, Gauteng | R500,000 | Jaco van Zyl (8) |
n/a | |
| 9–11 Sept | SAA Pro-Am Invitational | Johannesburg, Gauteng | R500,000 | Tyrone Ferreira (2) |
n/a | |
| 16–18 Sept | Vodacom Business Origins of Golf Tour | Stellenbosch, Western Cape | R510,000 | Jean Hugo (9) |
n/a | |
| 23–25 Sept | SAA Pro-Am Invitational | Paarl, Western Cape | R500,000 | Jaco van Zyl (9) |
n/a | |
| 30 Sept–2 Oct | SAA Pro-Am Invitational | KwaDukuza, Kwazulu-Natal | R500,000 | Michiel Bothma (4) |
n/a | |
| 13–15 Oct | Vodacom Business Origins of Golf Tour Final | George, Western Cape | R510,000 | Justin Harding (1) |
n/a | |
| 22–24 Oct | Suncoast Classic | Durban, Kwazulu-Natal | R500,000 | Adilson da Silva (7) |
n/a | |
| 28–30 Oct | Platinum Classic | Mooinooi, North West | R705,000 | Jean Hugo (10) |
n/a | |
| 4–7 Nov | Nashua Masters | Port Edward, KwaZulu-Natal | R1,200,000 | Warren Abery (7) |
14 | |
| 12–14 Nov | BMG Classic | Johannesburg, Gauteng | R550,000 | Brandon Pieters (4) |
n/a | |
| 16–18 Nov | Coca-Cola Charity Championship | George, Western Cape | R550,000 | Branden Grace (1) |
n/a | |
| 2–5 Dec | Nedbank Golf Challenge | Sun City, North West | $5,000,000 |  Lee Westwood (n/a) |
34 | |
| 9–12 Dec | Alfred Dunhill Championship | Malalane, Mpumalanga | €1,000,000 |  Pablo Martín (n/a) |
20 | Co-sanctioned by the European Tour |
| 16–19 Dec | South African Open Championship | Durban, Kwazulu-Natal | €1,000,000 | Ernie Els (16) |
32 | Co-sanctioned by the European Tour |
Order of Merit
| Rank | Player[3] | Country | Events | Prize Money (R) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charl Schwartzel | South Africa | 6 | 5,097,913.58 |
| 2 | Thomas Aiken | South Africa | 7 | 1,959,542.78 |
| 3 | Keith Horne | South Africa | 12 | 1,904,949.69 |
| 4 | Jbe' Kruger | South Africa | 16 | 1,768,631.59 |
| 5 | Louis Oosthuizen | South Africa | 7 | 1,392,835.00 |
Ernie Els was ineligible for the Order of Merit having only played in two tournaments during the season. The R1,467,200 he earned from those events would have been enough for 5th place.
References
- ↑ "Schwartzel wins BMW for ace". Sport24. 20 December 2010. Retrieved 2010-12-27.
- ↑ "2010 Sunshine Tour schedule". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 2010-01-07.
- ↑ "2010 Final Order of Merit". Sunshine Tour. 19 December 2010. Retrieved 2010-12-20.