2000–01 Sunshine Tour
The 2000–01 Sunshine Tour was the first season of professional golf tournaments since the southern Africa based Sunshine Tour was rebranded. Previously it had been known as the Southern Africa Tour. The Sunshine Tour represents the highest level of competition for male professional golfers in the region. In its first year, the prize money was over 20% lower than the amount awarded the last year of the Africa Tour (R13.6 Million in 2000–01 vs. R17.5 Million in 1999–2000).
There were 22 official events on the schedule. This was an increase of five from the last year of the Southern Africa tour, with a significant change in the list of tournaments.
There were four tournaments from the previous season that were eliminated or not played:
- Vodacom Series: Mpumalanga
- Vodacom Series: Kwazulu-Natal
- Vodacom Series: Free State
- Royal Swazi Sun Classic (which resumed in 2001)
There were nine tournaments added/restarted for this season:
- Riviera Resort Classic (played in 2000 only)
- Emfuleni Classic (played in 2000 only)
- Observatory Classic (played in 2000 only)
- Cock of the North (first time played since 1985)
- FNB Botswana Open (first time played since 1998)
- Stanbic Zambia Open (first time played since 1998)
- Nashua Nedtel Cellular Masters (first time played since 1999)
- The Tour Championship (new tournament in 2001)
- South African PGA Championship (first time played since 1999)
The tour was based predominantly in South Africa, with 17 of the 22 official tournaments being held in the country. One event each was held in Botswana, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe and two events were held in Zambia. Two events, the Dunhill Championship and the Mercedes Benz SA Open Championship were co-sanctioned by the European Tour.
The Order of Merit was won by Mark McNulty.
Schedule
The table below shows schedule of events for the 2000–01 Sunshine Tour. 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.
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.
Year | Dates | Tournament | Venue (RSA unless stated) |
Prize fund (R) |
Winner | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2000 | 16–18 Mar | Cock of the North | Ndola Golf Club, Zambia | 100,000 | ![]() |
Returning tournament after hiatus from 1986–99 | [1] |
2000 | 23–26 Mar | Stanbic Zambia Open | Lusaka Golf Club, Zambia | 320,000 | ![]() |
Returning tournament after hiatus in 1999 | [2] |
2000 | 30 Mar – 1 Apr | FNB Botswana Open | Gaborone Golf Club, Botswana | 90,000 | ![]() |
Returning tournament after hiatus in 1999 | [3] |
2000 | 12–14 Apr | Lombard Tyres Classic | Krugersdorp Golf Club | 75,000 | ![]() |
Last year of tournament | [4] |
2000 | 5–7 May | Vodacom Series: Gauteng | Silver Lakes Golf Club | 100,000 | ![]() |
Last year of tournament | [5] |
2000 | 11–13 May | Pietersburg Classic | Pietersburg Golf Club | 75,000 | ![]() |
[6] | |
2000 | 26–28 May | Vodacom Series: Eastern Cape | East London Golf Club | 100,000 | ![]() |
Last year of tournament | [7] |
2000 | 15–17 Sep | Emfuleni Classic | Emfuleni Golf Club | 100,000 | ![]() |
New tournament, only played in 2000 | [8] |
2000 | 29 Sep – 1 Oct | Bearing Man Highveld Classic | Witbank Golf Club | 100,000 | ![]() |
[9] | |
2000 | 13–15 Oct | Observatory Classic | Observatory Golf Club | 100,000 | ![]() |
New tournament, only played in 2000 | [10] |
2000 | 27–29 Oct | Western Cape Classic | Rondebosch Golf Club | 100,000 | ![]() |
[11] | |
2000 | 10–12 Nov | Platinum Classic | Mooi Nooi Golf Club | 200,000 | ![]() |
[12] | |
2000 | 16–17 Nov | Riviera Resort Classic | Riviera Resort Country Club | 100,000 | ![]() |
New tournament, only played in 2000 | [13] |
2000 | 23–26 Nov | CABS Old Mutual Zimbabwe Open | Royal Harare Golf Club, Zimbabwe | 400,000 | ![]() |
[14] | |
2000 | 7–10 Dec | Vodacom Players Championship | Royal Cape Golf Club | 1,000,000 | ![]() |
[15] | |
2001 | 11–14 Jan | Nashua Nedtel Cellular Masters | Wild Coast Sun Country Club | 500,000 | ![]() |
Returning tournament after hiatus in 2000 | [16] |
2001 | 18–21 Jan | Alfred Dunhill Championship | Houghton Golf Club | 3,250,000 | ![]() |
Co-sanctioned with European Tour | [17] |
2001 | 25–28 Jan | Mercedes Benz SA Open Championship | East London Golf Club | 3,800,000 | ![]() |
Co-sanctioned with European Tour | [18] |
2001 | 1–4 Feb | Dimension Data Better Ball | Gary Player Country Club | 110,000 | ![]() |
Unofficial tournament | [19] |
2001 | 1–4 Feb | Dimension Data Pro-Am | Gary Player Country Club | 1,000,000 | ![]() |
[20] | |
2001 | 8–11 Feb | South African PGA Championship | Woodhill Country Club | 500,000 | ![]() |
Returning tournament after hiatus in 2000 | [21] |
2001 | 15–18 Feb | Investec Royal Swazi Sun Open | Royal Swazi Sun Country Club, Swaziland | 230,000 | ![]() |
[22] | |
2001 | 22–25 Feb | The Tour Championship | Leopard Creek Country Club | 1,250,000 | ![]() |
New tournament | [23] |
Order of Merit
Rank | Player[24] | Country | Events | Prize money (R) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Mark McNulty | ![]() |
6 | 1,603,481.36 |
2 | Bradford Vaughan | ![]() |
18 | 686,414.88 |
3 | Roger Wessels | ![]() |
8 | 632,383.40 |
4 | Hennie Otto | ![]() |
12 | 620,210.65 |
5 | Trevor Immelman | ![]() |
10 | 619,765.87 |
References
- ^ Cock of the North results
- ^ Stanbic Zambia Open results
- ^ FNB Botswana Open results
- ^ Lombard Tyres Classic results
- ^ Vodacom Series: Gauteng results
- ^ Pietersburg Classic results
- ^ Vodacom Series: Eastern Cape results
- ^ Emfuleni Classic results
- ^ Bearing Man Highveld Classic results
- ^ Observatory Classic results
- ^ Western Cape Classic results
- ^ Platinum Classic results
- ^ Riviera Resort Classic results
- ^ CABS Old Mutual Zimbabwe Open results
- ^ Vodacom Players Championship results
- ^ Nashua Nedtel Cellular Masters results
- ^ Alfred Dunhill Championship results
- ^ Mercedes Benz SA Open Championship results
- ^ Dimension Data Better-Ball results
- ^ Dimension Data Pro-Am results
- ^ South African PGA Championship results
- ^ Investec Royal Swazi Sun Open results
- ^ The Tour Championship results
- ^ "2000/2001 Final Order of Merit". Sunshine Tour. 2001-02-25. Retrieved 2014-07-20.