2001–02 Sunshine Tour
| Duration | 8 March 2001 – 17 February 2002 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 22 |
| Most wins |  James Kingston (2) |
| Order of Merit | Tim Clark |
| Rookie of the Year | Nicholas Lawrence |
← 2000–01 2002–03 → | |
The 2001–02 Sunshine Tour was the 31st 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 2001–02 season.[1]
| Date | Tournament | Location | Purse (R) | Winner[a] | OWGR points | Other tours[b] | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 Mar | Stanbic Zambia Open | Zambia | £50,000 |  Mark Foster (1) | 6 | CHA | |
| 18 Mar | Cock of The North | Zambia | 200,000 |  Sean Farrell (1) | n/a | ||
| 31 Mar | FNB Botswana Open | Botswana | 150,000 | Marc Cayeux (4) | n/a | ||
| 22 Apr | Royal Swazi Sun Classic | Swaziland | 200,000 | Titch Moore (2) | n/a | ||
| 12 May | Pietersburg Industrelek Classic | Limpopo | 200,000 | Ryan Reid (2) | n/a | ||
| 9 Sep | Goldfields Powerade Classic | Free State | 200,000 | Callie Swart (2) | n/a | New tournament | |
| 13 Sep | Bloemfontein Classic | Free State | 200,000 | André Cruse (1) | n/a | ||
| 28 Sep | Randfontein Classic | Gauteng | 200,000 | James Kingston (4) | n/a | New tournament | |
| 7 Oct | Bearing Man Highveld Classic | Mpumalanga | 200,000 | Justin Hobday (11) | n/a | ||
| 12 Oct | Atlantic Beach Classic | Western Cape | 200,000 | James Kingston (5) | n/a | New tournament | |
| 20 Oct | Western Cape Classic | Western Cape | 200,000 | Lindani Ndwandwe (1) | n/a | ||
| 27 Oct | Vodacom Trophy | Gauteng | 200,000 | Ulrich van den Berg (2) | n/a | New tournament | |
| 10 Nov | Graceland Challenge | Mpumalanga | 200,000 | Warren Abery (2) | n/a | New tournament | |
| 18 Nov | Platinum Classic | North West | 440,000 | Roger Wessels (5) | n/a | ||
| 25 Nov | CABS/Old Mutual Zimbabwe Open | Zimbabwe | 1,000,000 | Darren Fichardt (3) | 12 | ||
| 9 Dec | Vodacom Players Championship | Western Cape | 2,000,000 | Ernie Els (12) | 20 | ||
| 13 Jan | Bell's South African Open | KwaZulu-Natal | £500,000 | Tim Clark (1) | 32 | EUR | Flagship event |
| 20 Jan | Dunhill Championship | Gauteng | £500,000 | Justin Rose (1) | 22 | EUR | |
| 27 Jan | Telkom PGA Championship | Gauteng | 1,000,000 | Chris Williams (6) | 12 | ||
| 3 Feb | Dimension Data Pro-Am | North West | 2,000,000 | Retief Goosen (4) | 26 | Pro-Am | |
| 10 Feb | Nashua Masters | Eastern Cape | 1,000,000 | Justin Rose (2) | 12 | ||
| 17 Feb | The Tour Championship | Mpumalanga | 2,000,000 | Nicholas Lawrence (1) | 12 | 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 | Tim Clark | 1,669,901 |
| 2 | Justin Rose | 1,476,006 |
| 3 | Retief Goosen | 1,364,977 |
| 4 | Martin Maritz | 1,042,806 |
| 5 | James Kingston | 706,234 |
Awards
[edit]| Award | Winner | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| Rookie of the Year (Bobby Locke Trophy) | Nicholas Lawrence | [3] |
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.
- ^ CHA − Challenge Tour; EUR − European Tour.
References
[edit]- ^ "2001/02 Tournament schedule". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
- ^ "2001/02 Order of Merit". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
- ^ a b Winter, Grant (17 February 2002). "Now rookie Lawrence is set to tackle Tiger". Independent Online. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
Clark's R184,100 for joint second place saw him comfortably top the Order of Merit with R1,669,900... Lawrence's heady triumph in this event, which brought the 2001/2002 Sunshine Tour to a close, earned him Rookie of the Year honours as well as a five-year exemption on tour.