2012 Sunshine Tour
The 2012 Sunshine Tour is the 13th season of professional golf tournaments since the southern Africa based Sunshine Tour was relaunched in 2000, and the 6th 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 Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Zambia and Namibia.
Schedule
The table below shows schedule of events for the 2012 Sunshine Tour season.[1] As usual, the tour consists 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 until 2012 were 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 November and December. Beginning in 2012, all events will carry world ranking points, with the "Winter Swing" 72-hole events having a minimum of 6 points and the 54-hole events having a minimum of 4 points, compared with the 14 point minimum for the "Summer Swing" events.[2]
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5–8 Jan | Africa Open | East London, Eastern Cape | €1,000,000 |  Louis Oosthuizen (7) |
20 | Co-sanctioned by the European Tour |
| 12–15 Jan | Joburg Open | Johannesburg, Gauteng | €1,300,000 | Branden Grace (2) |
22 | Co-sanctioned by the European Tour |
| 16–19 Feb | Dimension Data Pro-Am | George, Western Cape | R3,200,000 | Oliver Bekker (2) |
14 | |
| 22–26 Feb | Telkom PGA Championship | Johannesburg, Gauteng | R3,500,000 | Keith Horne (5) |
14 | |
| 22–24 Mar | Platinum Classic | North West | R500,000 | Jake Roos (3) |
4 | |
| 19–22 Apr | Golden Pilsener Zimbabwe Open | Harare, Zimbabwe | R1,250,000 | Chris Swanepoel (3) |
6 | |
| 2–5 May | Investec Royal Swazi Open | Swaziland | R1,000,000 | Christiaan Basson (2) |
6 | |
| 9–11 May | Vodacom Origins of Golf (Simola) | Eastern Cape | R600,000 |  Ryan Cairns (1) |
8 | |
| 24–26 May | Sun City Challenge | Sun City, North West | R550,000 | Bryce Easton (1) |
4 | |
| 1–3 Jun | Lombard Insurance Classic | Swaziland | R900,000 | Jake Roos (4) |
4 | |
| 6–8 Jun | Vodacom Origins of Golf (Zebula) | Limpopo | R600,000 | Bryce Easton (2) |
4 | |
| 14–17 Jun | Zambia Open | Zambia | R1,200,000 | Justin Harding (3) |
6 | |
| 26–28 Jul | Vodacom Origins of Golf (De Zalze) | Western Cape | R600,000 | Allan Versfeld (1) |
6 | |
| 22–24 Aug | Vodacom Origins of Golf (Selborne) | Kwazulu-Natal | R600,000 |  Adilson da Silva (10) |
4 | |
| 29–31 Aug | Wild Waves Golf Challenge | Kwazulu-Natal | R600,000 | Trevor Fisher Jnr (5) |
4 | |
| 5–7 Sep | Vodacom Origins of Golf (Sishen) | Northern Cape | R600,000 | Trevor Fisher Jnr (6) |
4 | |
| 26–28 Sep | Vodacom Origins of Golf Final | George, Western Cape | R600,000 | Branden Grace (3) |
10 | |
| 19–21 Oct | BMG Classic | Johannesburg, Gauteng | R600,000 | Teboho Sefatsa (1) |
4 | |
| 25–27 Oct | Sun Coast Classic | Kwazulu-Natal | R600,000 | Ruan de Smidt (1) |
6 | |
| 30 Oct – 4 Nov | ISPS Handa Match Play Championship | Johannesburg, Gauteng | R2,000,000 | Doug McGuigan (6) |
14 | |
| 6–8 Nov | Nedbank Affinity Cup | North West | R650,000 | Trevor Fisher Jnr (7) |
4 | |
| 15–18 Nov | South African Open | Johannesburg, Gauteng | €1,000,000 |  Henrik Stenson (n/a) |
32 | Co-sanctioned by the European Tour |
| 22–25 Nov | Lion of Africa Cape Town Open | Western Cape | R2,000,000 | Jake Roos (5) |
14 | |
| 23–25 Nov | Gary Player Invitational | KwaZulu-Natal | R250,000 | Team Clark (n/a) |
n/a | |
| 29 Nov – 2 Dec | Nedbank Golf Challenge | Sun City, North West | US$5,000,000 |  Martin Kaymer (n/a) |
30 | |
| 6–9 Dec | The Nelson Mandela Championship | KwaZulu-Natal | €1,300,000 |  Scott Jamieson (1) |
20 | Co-sanctioned by the European Tour |
| 13–16 Dec | Alfred Dunhill Championship | Limpopo | €1,500,000 | Charl Schwartzel (6) |
28 | Co-sanctioned by the European Tour |
Order of Merit
This shows the final Order of Merit leaders.
| Rank | Player | Prize money (R) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Branden Grace | 2,760,319 |
| 2 | George Coetzee | 1,930,565 |
| 3 | Jaco van Zyl | 1,655,987 |
| 4 | Trevor Fisher Jnr | 1,502,093 |
| 5 | Tjaart van der Walt | 1,464,182 |
Charl Schwartzel (3.2 milliion) and Louis Oosthuizen (1.7 million) did not play the minimum number of tournaments required to be ranked.
References
- ↑ "2012 Sunshine Tour schedule". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
- ↑ "Official World Golf Ranking Board Announces Adjustments To Ranking System". 25 July 2011. Retrieved 9 January 2012.