2017–18 Sunshine Tour
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| Duration | 20 April 2017 – 18 March 2018 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 26 |
| Most wins |  Oliver Bekker (3) |
| Order of Merit | George Coetzee |
| Players' Player of the Year | Oliver Bekker |
| Rookie of the Year |  Neil O'Briain |
← 2016–17 2018–19 → | |
The 2017–18 Sunshine Tour was the 47th 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
[edit]The following table lists official events during the 2017–18 season.[1]
| Date | Tournament | Location | Purse (R) | Winner[a] | OWGR points | Other tours[b] | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 Apr | Zimbabwe Open | Zimbabwe | 1,800,000 | J. C. Ritchie (1) | 14 | ||
| 30 Apr | Zambia Sugar Open | Zambia | 1,600,000 | Oliver Bekker (5) | 14 | ||
| 6 May | Investec Royal Swazi Open | Swaziland | 1,200,000 | Peter Karmis (4) | 14 | ||
| 21 May | Lombard Insurance Classic | Swaziland | 1,000,000 | Oliver Bekker (6) | 4 | ||
| 4 Jun | Mopani Redpath Zambia Open | Zambia | US$150,000 | Riekus Nortje (1) | 14 | ||
| 29 Jul | Vodacom Origins of Golf at Highland Gate | Mpumalanga | 750,000 |  Doug McGuigan (7) | 7 | ||
| 4 Aug | Sun City Challenge | North West | 750,000 | Peter Karmis (5) | 7 | ||
| 11 Aug | Sun Carnival City Challenge | Gauteng | 750,000 | Jbe' Kruger (4) | 4 | ||
| 19 Aug | Vodacom Origins of Golf at Arabella | Western Cape | 750,000 | Keith Horne (9) | 4 | ||
| 25 Aug | Sun Wild Coast Sun Challenge | KwaZulu-Natal | 750,000 | Oliver Bekker (7) | 4 | ||
| 2 Sep | Vodacom Origins of Golf at Zimbali | KwaZulu-Natal | 750,000 | Jared Harvey (1) | 4 | ||
| 8 Sep | Sun Fish River Challenge | Eastern Cape | 750,000 | M. J. Viljoen (1) | 4 | ||
| 15 Sep | Sun Boardwalk Challenge | Eastern Cape | 750,000 | Tyrone Ryan (1) | 4 | ||
| 23 Sep | Vodacom Origins of Golf at St Francis | Eastern Cape | 750,000 | Doug McGuigan (8) | 4 | ||
| 14 Oct | Vodacom Origins of Golf at Sishen | Northern Cape | 750,000 | Hennie du Plessis (1) | 4 | ||
| 27 Oct | Sun Sibaya Challenge | KwaZulu-Natal | 750,000 | Alex Haindl (2) | 4 | ||
| 4 Nov | Vodacom Origins of Golf Final | Western Cape | 750,000 | Jaco Prinsloo (1) | 4 | ||
| 3 Dec | AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open | Mauritius | €1,000,000 | Dylan Frittelli (1) | 17 | ASA, EUR | |
| 11 Dec | Joburg Open | Gauteng | 16,500,000 |  Shubhankar Sharma (n/a) | 17 | ASA, EUR | |
| 14 Jan | BMW SA Open | Gauteng | 15,000,000 |  Chris Paisley (n/a) | 32 | EUR | Flagship event |
| 1 Feb | Eye of Africa PGA Championship | Gauteng | 1,500,000 |  Matías Calderón (1) | 14 | ||
| 18 Feb | Dimension Data Pro-Am | Western Cape | 5,050,000 | Jaco Ahlers (7) | 14 | Pro-Am | |
| 25 Feb | Cape Town Open | Western Cape | 1,500,000 |  Rhys Enoch (1) | 14 | ||
| 4 Mar | Tshwane Open | Gauteng | 15,000,000 | George Coetzee (9) | 19 | EUR | |
| 7 Mar | Steyn City Team Championship | Gauteng | 1,000,000 | Hennie du Plessis (2) and Jean Hugo (18) | n/a | New team event | |
| 18 Mar | The Tour Championship | Gauteng | 1,500,000 | Darren Fichardt (16) | 14 | Tour Championship |
Order of Merit
[edit]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 | George Coetzee | 2,937,226 |
| 2 | Erik van Rooyen | 2,359,847 |
| 3 | J. C. Ritchie | 2,033,965 |
| 4 | Oliver Bekker | 1,562,989 |
| 5 | Ockie Strydom | 1,415,499 |
Awards
[edit]| Award | Winner | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| Players' Player of the Year | Oliver Bekker | [3] |
| Rookie of the Year (Bobby Locke Trophy) | Neil O'Briain | [4][5] |
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ 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.
- ^ ASA − Asian Tour; EUR − European Tour.
References
[edit]- ^ "2017/18 Tournament schedule". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
- ^ "2017/18 Order of Merit". Sunshine Tour. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
- ^ a b "Coetzee, Bekker honoured at Tour awards". Compleat Golfer. 18 March 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
Coetzee walked away with the Order of Merit title thanks almost solely to his triumph at the Tshwane Open. The victory over the co-sanctioned field at Pretoria Country Club earned Coetzee R2,377,500 of the R2,937,225 he made this season; that cheque alone would've been enough to finish in first for the season... Bekker earned R1,562,988 this year (fourth on the Order of Merit) and won three times (Zambia Sugar Open; Lombard Insurance Classic; Sun Wild Coast Sun Challenge) and left on Sunday with the Golf Writers Award and the Commissioner's Award as well as being named as the Player's Player to cap a successful year.
- ^ "2017/18 Rookie of the Year". Sunshine Tour. Archived from the original on 18 April 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
- ^ "Future is bright as O'Donovan wins Sunshine Tour card". Irish Golfer. 5 March 2020. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
Old Conna's Neil O'Briain was the last Irishman to compete regularly on the Tour when claiming the Bobby Locke Award for Rookie of the Year after the season ending Tour Championship in 2018.