The Sunshine Tour has announced a bold start to 2022 with a schedule including two new tournaments co-sanctioned with the DP World Tour, and seven tournaments co-sanctioned with the Challenge Tour including a new event in Tanzania.
The opening four months of the New Year will see South Africa’s professional golfers competing for almost R80 million in total tournament prize-money in what is an extremely strong and lucrative start to the Sunshine Tour season.
“A tremendous amount of work together with the ongoing support of our Chairman Mr Johann Rupert, our Executive Director Selwyn Nathan, our Board of Directors, our partners and sponsors has allowed us to announce what we believe is a fabulous Sunshine Tour schedule to start the year with,” said Thomas Abt, Commissioner of the Sunshine Tour.
“We are delighted to be able to grow our relationship with the DP World Tour and the Challenge Tour with the offering of even more opportunities for our member professionals to secure a place on an international tour while playing at home. This significantly enhances what has always been our global pathway to success for our professionals.
“We also have several new sponsors on board that have recognised the value professional golf offers. I’d also like to pay tribute to our existing sponsors – Dimension Data, Bain’s Whisky, City of Cape Town, the Limpopo Tourism Authority, Vodacom and the Kit Kat Group – many of whom have been with us for a very long time and who continue to give us the means to build on a Sunshine Tour brand that is globally recognised as a place of opportunity and reflective of our slogan that ‘GreatnessBeginsHere’.”
The Sunshine Tour’s 2022 schedule tees off in the final week in January with the Vodacom Origins of Golf Final at the Gary Player Country Club in Sun City.
February, March and April include the Challenge Tour’s Southern African Swing, which has now grown from three tournaments to seven.
The first new event is the Jonsson Workwear Open, which will be played at both Durban Country Club and Mt Edgecombe Country Club.
“Creating opportunities for passionate people to perform at their peak is the common thread that ties the Sunshine Tour to Jonsson Workwear. We are proud to introduce the Jonsson Workwear Open, a flagship event that will support our continuous efforts in building Durban as a city and KwaZulu-Natal as a region of endless possibilities,” said Nick Jonsson, Chairman and CEO of Jonsson Workwear.
This is followed by the Mangaung Open at both Bloemfontein Golf Club and Schoeman Park Golf Club.
The SDC Open also joins the Challenge Tour co-sanctioned schedule and will be played at the Zebula Golf Estate & Spa and Elements Private Golf Reserve in Limpopo.
“As an organisation passionate about developing others in their personal and professional life, we took up this opportunity as a means of getting a greater awareness around what the SDC Group does to develop and grow the skills and wealth of people in South Africa. We are honoured to be associated with the prestige that comes with the tournament,” said Daniel Gibhard, CEO of the Skills Development Corporation (SDC).
The Tour then branches out into Tanzania for the first time for the new Mount Kilimanjaro Klassic at the Kilimanjaro Golf & Wildlife Estate in Tanzania.
“Tanzania’s Tourism is one of the main pillars of our economy. Golf has been identified as a major catalyst for tourism development globally. The launch of the Challenge Tour tournament will go a long way in developing golf tourism to showcase our unparalleled natural attractions,” said the Hon. Dr Damas Ndumbaro, Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism in Tanzania.
These new Challenge Tour events join the existing Dimension Data Pro-Am (Fancourt), Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open (Royal Cape Golf Club and Rondebosch Golf Club), and the Limpopo Championship (Euphoria Golf & Lifestyle Estate and Koro Creek Bushveld Estate).
March features the two new tournaments co-sanctioned with the DP World Tour, the $1.5 million Pecanwood Classic at the Pecanwood Golf Estate and the $1.5 million Steyn City Championship at Steyn City.
This takes to a total of five the number of tournaments the Sunshine Tour hosts on the DP World Tour, adding to the Joburg Open, South African Open and Alfred Dunhill Championship.
The Kit Kat Group Pro-Am (Irene Country Club), Players Championship (Dainfern Golf Estate) and Tour Championship (Serengeti Estates) round off the new schedule.
And the country’s next generation of stars will have the opportunity to play their way onto the Sunshine Tour through either the Sunshine Tour Qualifying School or the Vusi Ngubeni Tournament for transformation golfers.
Sunshine Tour 2022 Schedule
17-20 January – Sunshine Tour Qualifying School First Stage (Maccauvlei GC and Benoni CC)
28-30 January – Vodacom Origins of Golf Final R1 000 000 (Gary Player CC, Sun City)
4-6 February – Kit Kat Group Pro-Am R1 000 000 (Irene CC)
10-13 February – Dimension Data Pro-Am $375 000 (Fancourt)
17-20 February – Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open $250 000 (Royal Cape GC and Rondebosch GC)
24-27 February – Jonsson Workwear Open $250 000 (Durban CC and Mt Edgecombe CC)
3-6 March – Mangaung Open $250 000 (Bloemfontein GC and Schoeman Park GC)
8-9 March – Vusi Ngubeni Qualifying Tournament (Modderfontein GC)
10-13 March – Pecanwood Classic $1 500 000 (Pecanwood Golf and Country Club)
17-20 March – Steyn City Championship $1 500 000 (Steyn City)
24-27 March – SDC Open $250 000 (Zebula Golf Estate & Spa and Elements Private Golf Reserve)
31 March – 3 April – Limpopo Championship $250 000 (Euphoria Golf & Lifestyle Estate and Koro Creek Bushveld Estate)
7-10 April – Mount Kilimanjaro Klassic $275 000 (Kilimanjaro Golf & Wildlife Estate)
21-24 April – The Players Championship R2 000 000 (Dainfern Golf Estate)
28 April – 1 May Tour Championship R1 500 000 (Serengeti Estates)
26-29 April – Sunshine Tour Qualifying School Final Stage R100 000 (Gauteng – Venue TBC)
26-29 April – Vusi Ngubeni Tournament R100 000 (Gauteng – Venue TBC)
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