The 1975–76 Southern Africa Tour was the fifth season of the Southern Africa Tour, the main professional golf tour in South Africa since it was formed in 1971.
Season outline The season was dominated by Dale Hayes and Allan Henning who won the majority of the events. Hayes started the season well, winning the first two events. However, Henning won the Datsun International and the NCR Western Province Open to close in on the Order of Merit race. Hayes won the flagship event, the BP South African Open, but Henning won the season's final event; the Rhodesian Dunlop Masters, to capture the Order of Merit honors.
The first tournament of the season was the Beck's PGA Championship at Wanderers Golf Club. Hayes shot a 62 (−8) in the third round which placed him in good position in the tournament. He described it as his best round ever. The round broke the course recorded by three shots. Hayes followed it up with a three-under-par 67 to defeat Henning, the solo runner-up, by six shots. Hayes won the following event, the Holiday Inns Open, as well, defeating John Fourie in a playoff.
Henning won the fourth official tournament of the season, the Datsun International, while Hayes finished runner-up. The next week, at the ICL International, Hayes and Henning finished joint runner-up, one behind England's Peter Townsend. Henning then won the next event, the NCR Western Province Open. In late January, Hayes tied John Fourie at the end of regulation play at the BP South African Open. Like earlier in the season, Hayes again defeated Fourie in a playoff. Henning, however, won the final event of the year, the Rhodesian Dunlop Masters. This assured that he secured the Order of Merit by a small margin over Hayes.
Schedule The following table lists official events during the 1975–76 season.
DateTournamentLocationPurse(R)WinnerNotes 29 Nov Beck's PGA Championship Transvaal 35,000 Dale Hayes (9) 6 Dec Holiday Inns Open Swaziland 20,000 Dale Hayes (10) 13 Dec General Motors International Classic Cape 20,000 Gary Player (9) 10 Jan Datsun International Transvaal 20,000 Allan Henning (3) 17 Jan Natal Open Natal – Cancelled 17 Jan ICL International Transvaal 20,000 Peter Townsend (1) 24 Jan NCR Western Province Open Cape 15,000 Allan Henning (4) 31 Jan BP South African Open Transvaal 20,000 Dale Hayes (11) 7 Feb Dunlop South African Masters Transvaal 18,000 Gary Player (10) 15 Feb Rhodesian Dunlop Masters Rhodesia 15,000 Allan Henning (5)
Unofficial events The following events were sanctioned by the Southern Africa Tour, but did not carry official money, nor were wins official.
DateTournamentLocationPurse(R)WinnersNotes4 JanDatsun InternationalTransvaaln/a Team South AfricaTeam event
Order of Merit The Order of Merit was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in South African rand.
PositionPlayerPrize money (R)1 Allan Henning 18,2752 Dale Hayes 17,6303 John Fourie 12,0014 Cobie Legrange 10,4135 Hugh Baiocchi 9,880
Notes
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