2009 Sunshine Tour
The 2009 Sunshine Tour was the tenth season of professional golf tournaments since the southern Africa based Sunshine Tour was relaunched in 2000, and the third 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 was based predominantly in South Africa, with 26 of the 30 tournaments being held in the country. Two events were held in Swaziland, with one each in Zambia and Namibia.
The Order of Merit was won by Anders Hansen of Denmark.[1]
Schedule
The table below shows schedule of events for the 2009 Sunshine Tour.[2] As usual, the tour consisted of two distinct parts, commonly referred to as the "Summer Swing" and "Winter Swing". Tournaments held during the Summer Swing generally had much higher prize funds, attracted stronger fields, and were the only tournaments on the tour to carry world ranking points, with three 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 six events being held at the start of the year, and the remainder in December.
The Winter Swing ran from April to early December, starting with the Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour, and closing with the Nedbank Affinity Cup.
Prize funds shown did 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 | Venue (RSA unless stated) |
Prize fund | Winner | OWGR points |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8–11 Jan | Joburg Open | Royal Johannesburg and Kensington GC | €1,100,000 |  Anders Hansen (1) |
20 | Co-sanctioned by the European Tour |
| 15–18 Jan | Africa Open | East London GC | R5,000,000 |  Retief Goosen (9) |
18 | |
| 22–25 Jan | Dimension Data Pro-Am | Gary Player CC and Lost City GC, Sun City | R1,800,000 | Deane Pappas (2) |
14 | |
| 29 Jan – 1 Feb | Nashua Masters | Wild Coast Sun CC | R1,200,000 | Darren Fichardt (7) |
14 | |
| 12–15 Feb | Vodacom Championship | Pretoria CC | R2,650,000 | Anders Hansen (2) |
14 | |
| 19–22 Feb | Telkom PGA Championship | The Country Club, Johannesburg | R2,750,000 | Jaco van Zyl (3) |
14 | |
| 1–3 Apr | Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour | Bloemfontein GC | R480,000 | Trevor Fisher Jnr (4) |
n/a | |
| 30 Apr – 2 May | SAA Pro-Am Invitational | Mount Edgecombe GC | R500,000 |  Adilson da Silva (5) |
n/a | |
| 6–9 May | Samsung Royal Swazi Sun Open | Royal Swazi GC, Swaziland | R750,000 | Jaco van Zyl (4) |
n/a | |
| 14–16 May | Nashua Golf Challenge | Gary Player CC and Lost City GC, Sun City | R500,000 | Doug McGuigan (4) |
n/a | |
| 20–22 May | Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour | Pretoria CC | R480,000 | Brandon Pieters (1) |
n/a | |
| 5–7 Jun | Lombard Insurance Classic | Royal Swazi GC, Swaziland | R500,000 | Peter Karmis (2) |
n/a | |
| 24–25 Jun | Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour | Fancourt | R480,000 | Brandon Pieters (2) |
n/a | |
| 6–8 Aug | Suncoast Classic | Durban CC | R500,000 | Louis de Jager (1) |
n/a | |
| 12–14 Aug | Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour | Erinvale Golf Estate | R480,000 | Jaco Ahlers (1) |
n/a | |
| 19–21 Aug | Telkom PGA Pro-Am | Centurion CC | R450,000 | Jaco van Zyl (5) |
n/a | |
| 28–30 Aug | Zambia Open | Lusaka, Zambia | R800,000 | Jbe' Kruger (1) |
n/a | Tournament postponed from its original date in March.[3][4] |
| 3–5 Sep | SAA Pro-Am Invitational | Randpark GC | R500,000 | Ryan Tipping (1) |
n/a | |
| 16–18 Sep | Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour | Selborne Hotel Spa and Golf Estate | R480,000 | Darren Fichardt (8) |
n/a | |
| 1–3 Oct | SAA Pro-Am Invitational | Paarl GC | R500,000 | Prinavin Nelson (1) |
n/a | |
| 7–9 Oct | Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour Final | Simola Golf Estate | R480,000 | Brandon Pieters (3) |
n/a | |
| 16–18 Oct | BMG Classic | Ebotse GC, Johannesburg | R500,000 |  Graham DeLaet (1) |
n/a | |
| 23–25 Oct | Highveld Classic | Witbank GC | R600,000 | Lindani Ndwandwe (2) |
n/a | |
| 29–31 Oct | Platinum Classic | Mooinooi GC | R705,000 | Darren Fichardt (9) |
n/a | |
| 12–15 Nov | MTC Namibia PGA Championship | Windhoek Country Club, Namibia | R1,000,000 | Hennie Otto (8) |
14 | |
| 24–26 Nov | Coca-Cola Charity Championship | The Outeniqua, Fancourt | R550,000 | Christiaan Basson (1) |
n/a | |
| 30 Nov – 2 Dec | Nedbank Affinity Cup | Lost City GC, Sun City | R550,000 | Jake Roos (2) |
n/a | |
| 3–6 Dec | Nedbank Golf Challenge | Gary Player CC, Sun City | $4,385,000 |  Robert Allenby (n/a) |
30 | |
| 10–13 Dec | Alfred Dunhill Championship | Leopard Creek CC | €1,000,000 |  Pablo Martín (n/a) |
20 | Co-sanctioned by the European Tour |
| 17–20 Dec | South African Open | Pearl Valley Golf Estates | €1,000,000 |  Richie Ramsay (n/a) |
32 | Co-sanctioned by the European Tour |
Order of Merit
| Rank | Player[5] | Country | Events | Prize Money (R) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anders Hansen | Denmark | 5 | 4,286,038.20 |
| 2 | Charl Schwartzel | South Africa | 5 | 2,315,187.86 |
| 3 | Darren Fichardt | South Africa | 24 | 1,475,025.83 |
| 4 | Jaco van Zyl | South Africa | 25 | 1,333,023.17 |
| 5 | David Drysdale | Scotland | 6 | 1,184,733.10 |
References
- ↑ Dempster, Martin (21 December 2009). "Richie Ramsay holds nerve to fend off Shiv Kapur and win maiden European Tour title". The Scotsman. Retrieved 2010-12-27.
- ↑ "2009 Sunshine Tour schedule". Sunshine Tour. Archived from the original on 17 January 2010. Retrieved 2009-12-23.
- ↑ "Zambia Open Golf Championship Postponed". Lusaka Times. 10 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-28.
- ↑ "Zambia Open back on Sunshine Tour calendar". Sunshine Tour. 23 July 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-01.
- ↑ "2009 Final Order of Merit". Sunshine Tour. 2009-12-20. Retrieved 2009-12-23.