The 2021–22 Sunshine Tour was the 51st season of the Sunshine Tour (formerly the Southern Africa Tour), the main professional golf tour in South Africa since it was formed in 1971.
In-season changes In January 2021, the schedule was again disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic as several tournaments scheduled for early in the year were postponed by a month or more, with the season restarting in March. Among the tournaments affected were three co-sanctioned events with the Challenge Tour.
European Tour partnership The season marked the start of a partnership between the Sunshine Tour and the European Tour. As part of the agreement, the top three players on the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit (not otherwise exempt) gained status to play on the European Tour for the following season.
Schedule The following table lists official events during the 2021–22 season.
DateTournamentLocationPurse(R)WinnerOWGRpointsOthertoursNotesKit Kat Group Pro-AmGauteng1,000,000 Rhys Enoch (2) 8New Pro-Am tournamentPlayers ChampionshipGauteng1,000,000 Jaco Prinsloo (4) 14New tournamentGauteng ChampionshipGauteng1,000,000 Jbe' Kruger (5)14New tournamentSerengeti Pro-Am InvitationalGauteng1,500,000 Jaco Prinsloo (5) 14New Pro-Am tournamentThe Tour ChampionshipGauteng–Removed–Tour ChampionshipZanaco MastersZambia–Removed–Limpopo ChampionshipLimpopo3,000,000 Brandon Stone (4)13CHABain's Whisky Cape Town OpenWestern Cape3,000,000 J. C. Ritchie (8)13CHADimension Data Pro-AmWestern Cape6,000,000 Wilco Nienaber (1)13CHAPro-AmSunBet Challenge (Sun City)North West1,000,000 Alex Haindl (3) 7New tournament seriesVodacom Origins of Golf at De ZalzeWestern Cape1,000,000 George Coetzee (12)7FNB Eswatini Nkonyeni ChallengeEswatini–Removed–New tournamentSunBet Challenge (Time Square Casino)Gauteng1,000,000 Estiaan Conradie (1)4Vodacom Origins of Golf at SishenGauteng1,000,000 Alex Haindl (4) 4King's CupEswatini–Removed–Sunshine Tour InvitationalGauteng1,000,000 Jacques Kruyswijk (2)4New tournamentZanaco MastersZambia–Removed–Vodacom Origins of Golf at Mount EdgecombeKwaZulu-Natal1,000,000 Louis Albertse (1) 4Karen MastersKenya–Removed–Vodacom Origins of Golf at HumewoodEastern Cape1,000,000 Daniel Greene (1) 4SunBet Challenge (Wild Coast Sun)KwaZulu-Natal–Cancelled–Blue Label ChallengeNorth West1,500,000 Lyle Rowe (3)14New tournamentBlair Atholl ChampionshipGauteng1,250,000 Luke Brown (1)14New tournamentPGA ChampionshipEastern Cape1,200,000 Dean Burmester (8)14Nedbank Golf ChallengeNorth West–Cancelled–EURJoburg OpenGauteng17,500,000 Thriston Lawrence (2)19EURSA Open ChampionshipNorth WestUS$500,000 Daniel van Tonder (8)32EURFlagship eventAlfred Dunhill ChampionshipMpumalanga–Cancelled–EURVodacom Origins of Golf FinalNorth West1,000,000 Martin Rohwer (2)8Kit Kat Group Pro-AmGauteng–Cancelled–Pro-AmDimension Data Pro-AmWestern Cape6,000,000 Alexander Knappe (1)13CHAPro-AmBain's Whisky Cape Town OpenWestern CapeUS$250,000 J. C. Ritchie (9)13CHAJonsson Workwear OpenKwaZulu-NatalUS$250,000 J. C. Ritchie (10)13CHANew tournamentMangaung OpenFree StateUS$250,000 Oliver Hundebøll (n/a)13CHANew tournamentMyGolfLife OpenNorth WestUS$1,500,000 Pablo Larrazábal (n/a)23EURNew tournamentSteyn City ChampionshipGautengUS$1,500,000 Shaun Norris (3)19EURNew tournamentSDC OpenLimpopoUS$250,000 Clément Sordet (n/a)13CHANew tournamentLimpopo ChampionshipLimpopoUS$250,000 Mateusz Gradecki (n/a)13CHAMount Kilamanjaro KlassicTanzania–Removed–CHANew tournamentStella Artois Players ChampionshipGauteng2,000,000 Jaco Ahlers (10)14The Tour ChampionshipGauteng1,500,000 Tristen Strydom (1)14Tour Championship
Unofficial events The following events were sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour, but did not carry official money, nor were wins official.
DateTournamentLocationPurse(R)WinnerOWGRpointsOthertoursNotes6 MayAltron Vusi Ngubeni TournamentGauteng100,000 Yubin Jungn/aNew tournament
Order of Merit The Order of Merit was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in South African rand. The top three players on the Order of Merit (not otherwise exempt) earned status to play on the 2023 European Tour (DP World Tour).
Position Player Prize money (R) Status earned1 Shaun Norris 4,890,994 Already exempt2 Dean Burmester 4,196,182 Already exempt3 Thriston Lawrence 3,854,950 Already exempt4 Oliver Bekker 3,359,398 Already exempt5 Hennie du Plessis 2,779,4856 J. C. Ritchie 2,691,199 Already exempt7 Zander Lombard 1,949,393 Already exempt8 Daniel van Tonder 1,943,891 Promoted to European Tour9 Tristen Strydom 1,843,48010 George Coetzee 1,816,637 Already exempt11 Wilco Nienaber 1,735,209 Promoted to European Tour
Awards AwardWinner Rookie of the Year (Bobby Locke Trophy) Jayden Schaper
See also 2020–21 Big Easy Tour
Notes
References
External links