The 1996–97 Southern Africa Tour, titled as the 1996–97 FNB Tour for sponsorship reasons, was the 26th season of the Southern Africa Tour, the main professional golf tour in South Africa since it was formed in 1971.
It was the fifth season of the tour under a title sponsorship agreement with First National Bank, that began in 1992.
Changes for 1996–97 The South African Open became co-sanctioned with the European Tour for the first time, benefitting from an increased purse and world ranking points.
Schedule The following table lists official events during the 1996–97 season.
DateTournamentLocationPurse(R)WinnerOWGRpointsOthertoursNotes 13 Apr Kalahari Classic Northern Cape 70,000 Brett Liddle (3) n/a 21 Apr Newcastle Classic KwaZulu-Natal 60,000 John Nelson (1) n/a 18 May FNB Pro Series (Eastern Cape) Eastern Cape 100,000 Ian Hutchings (1) n/a 6 Jun FNB Pro Series (Swaziland) Swaziland 100,000 Chris Williams (4) n/a 6 Jul Bosveld Classic Limpopo 70,000 James Kingston (3) n/a 25 Aug Platinum Classic North West 100,000 Mark Murless (1) n/a 15 Sep Bearing Man Highveld Classic Mpumalanga 70,000 Des Terblanche (2) n/a 28 Sep IDC Development Tourism Classic Mpumalanga 100,000 Justin Hobday (3) n/a 5 Oct FNB Pro Series (Western Cape) Western Cape 100,000 Clinton Whitelaw (2) n/a 12 Oct FNB Pro Series (Free State) Free State 100,000 Clinton Whitelaw (3) n/a 19 Oct FNB Pro Series (Botswana) Botswana 100,000 Des Terblanche (3) n/a 27 Oct FNB Pro Series (Namibia) Namibia 100,000 Kevin Stone (2) n/a 1 Nov Trustbank Gauteng Classic Gauteng 100,000 Ashley Roestoff (3) n/a New tournament 10 Nov Mycom Mafunyane Trophy Limpopo 200,000 Roger Wessels (3) n/a 15 Nov Lombard Tyres Classic Gauteng 100,000 Sean Pappas (2) n/a 30 Nov Leopard Rock Classic Zimbabwe 100,000 Chris Williams (4) n/a New tournament 8 Dec Zimbabwe Open Zimbabwe 400,000 Mark McNulty (25) 16 15 Dec Zambia Open Zambia 150,000 Desvonde Botes (1) n/a New to Southern Africa Tour 19 Jan San Lameer South African Masters KwaZulu-Natal 750,000 Mark McNulty (26) 14 26 Jan Nashua Wild Coast Sun Challenge Western Cape 750,000 Mark McNulty (27) 14 2 Feb FNB Players Championship KwaZulu-Natal 750,000 Warren Schutte (1) 16 9 Feb South African Open Gauteng £500,000 Vijay Singh (n/a) 34 EUR 16 Feb Dimension Data Pro-Am Gauteng £400,000 Nick Price (8) 26 EUR Pro-Am 23 Feb Alfred Dunhill South African PGA Championship Gauteng £300,000 Nick Price (9) 24 EUR 2 Mar Hollard Royal Swazi Sun Open Swaziland 500,000 Warrick Druian (1) 12
Unofficial events The following events were sanctioned by the Southern Africa Tour, but did not carry official money, nor were wins official.
DateTournamentLocationPurse(R)WinnerOWGRpointsNotes1 DecNedbank Million Dollar ChallengeNorth WestUS$2,500,000 Colin Montgomerie44Limited-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 Nick Price 1,223,0272 Mark McNulty 619,4273 Retief Goosen 301,3044 Nico van Rensburg 269,2895 Wayne Westner 255,811
Notes
References
External links