The 1988–89 Southern Africa Tour was the 18th season of the Southern Africa Tour, the main professional golf tour in South Africa since it was formed in 1971.
Season outline With three wins and three runner-up finishes in the opening seven tournaments, the first half of the season belonged to Tony Johnstone. At the first event, the Minolta Copiers Match Play, he defeated Wayne Westner by two in the stroke play final. Johnstone also won the following week at the Bloemfontein Classic. He then finished runner-up at the next two events, the Safmarine South African Masters and the Goodyear Classic. The fifth event, the Dewar's White Label Trophy, developed into a "two-man battle" between Johnstone and Bland; a birdie at the 72nd hole secured a one stroke victory for Bland. Despite his third runner-up finish in succession, Johnstone had established a big lead on the money list. Chris Williams won the sixth tournament, ICL International. However, the next week Johnstone won his third title of the season, defeating Williams in a playoff at the Lexington PGA Championship.
Americans dominated the remainder of the season. In late January, Stuart Smith won the Palabora Classic. The following week at the Protea Assurance South African Open, Tom Lehman led by four strokes entering the final round. However, fellow American Fred Wadsworth outplayed Lehman with a 68 on Sunday to win by one. The final event of the season, the Trustbank Tournament of Champions, was won by another American, Jay Townsend.
Zimbabwe's Tony Johnstone dominated the Order of Merit. During the twelve tournament season, he won three times, including the Lexington PGA Championship, had four runner-up finishes.
Schedule The following table lists official events during the 1988–89 season.
DateTournamentLocationPurse(R)WinnerOWGRpointsNotes 13 Nov Minolta Copiers Match Play Transvaal 250,000 Tony Johnstone (9) 8 19 Nov Bloemfontein Classic Orange Free State 250,000 Tony Johnstone (10) 8 26 Nov Safmarine South African Masters Cape 250,000 John Bland (12) 8 18 Dec Goodyear Classic Cape 250,000 Trevor Dodds (1) 8 7 Jan Dewar's White Label Trophy Natal 250,000 John Bland (13) 8 New tournament 14 Jan ICL International Transvaal 250,000 Chris Williams (2) 8 21 Jan Lexington PGA Championship Transvaal 250,000 Tony Johnstone (11) 8 28 Jan Palabora Classic Transvaal 250,000 Stuart Smith (1) 8 4 Feb Protea Assurance South African Open Transvaal 300,000 Fred Wadsworth (1) 16 10 Feb AECI Charity Classic Transvaal 250,000 Jeff Hawkes (2) 6 19 Feb Hollard Royal Swazi Sun Classic Swaziland 250,000 Jeff Hawkes (3) 6 25 Feb Trustbank Tournament of Champions Transvaal 250,000 Jay Townsend (1) 8 Tour Championship
Unofficial events The following events were sanctioned by the Southern Africa Tour, but did not carry official money, nor were wins official.
DateTournamentLocationPurse(R)WinnerOWGRpointsNotes4 DecNedbank Million Dollar ChallengeTransvaalUS$1,500,000 Fulton Allem22Limited-field 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 Tony Johnstone 254,9502 John Bland 143,4483 Jeff Hawkes 141,6774 Wayne Westner 103,4665 Chris Williams 100,384
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