The 1998–99 Southern Africa Tour, titled as the 1998–99 Vodacom Tour for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th season of the Southern Africa Tour, the main professional golf tour in South Africa since it was formed in 1971.
It was the second season of the tour under a title sponsorship agreement with Vodacom, that was announced in June 1997.
Changes for 1998–99 The season marked the first year in which the South African Open was granted "flagship event" status by the Official World Golf Ranking, awarding a minimum of 32 points to the winner.
Schedule The following table lists official events during the 1998–99 season.
DateTournamentLocationPurse(R)WinnerOWGRpointsOthertoursNotes 18 Apr Vodacom Series (Western Cape) Western Cape 165,000 Alan McLean (1) n/a 25 Apr Kalahari Classic Northern Cape 75,000 Andrew McLardy (2) n/a 2 May Pietersburg Classic Limpopo 100,000 Desvonde Botes (5) n/a New tournament 16 May Vodacom Series (Eastern Cape) Eastern Cape 165,000 Sammy Daniels (1) n/a 31 May Vodacom Series (KwaZulu-Natal) KwaZulu-Natal 165,000 Keith Horne (1) n/a 12 Jul Vodacom Series (Mpumalanga) Mpumalanga 165,000 Callie Swart (1) n/a 8 Aug Fish River Sun Pro-Am Eastern Cape 200,000 Ashley Roestoff (4) n/a Pro-Am 15 Aug Royal Swazi Sun Classic Swaziland 150,000 Justin Hobday (4) n/a New tournament 4 Sep Absa Bank Corporate Challenge Gauteng 150,000 Warren Abery (1) n/a New tournament 13 Sep Bearing Man Highveld Classic Mpumalanga 100,000 Wayne Bradley (1) n/a 19 Sep Vodacom Series (Free State) Free State 165,000 Gary Matthews (1) n/a 26 Sep FNB Botswana Open Botswana 150,000 Justin Hobday (5) n/a 4 Oct Phalaborwa Mafunyane Trophy Limpopo 175,000 Sammy Daniels (2) n/a 16 Oct Vodacom Series (Gauteng) Gauteng 165,000 Brenden Pappas (1) n/a 25 Oct FNB Namibia Open Namibia 150,000 Ashley Roestoff (5) n/a 8 Nov Platinum Classic North West 100,000 Bobby Lincoln (4) n/a 22 Nov Zambia Open Zambia 400,000 Marc Cayeux (1) n/a 29 Nov Zimbabwe Open Zimbabwe 450,000 Nick Price (12) 16 17 Jan Alfred Dunhill South African PGA Championship Gauteng £400,000 Ernie Els (11) 24 EUR 24 Jan Mercedes-Benz - Vodacom South African Open Western Cape US$1,000,000 David Frost (5) 34 EUR Flagship event 31 Jan Vodacom Players Championship KwaZulu-Natal 1,000,000 Chris Davison (2) 12 7 Feb Dimension Data Pro-Am North West 2,000,000 Scott Dunlap (2) 14 Pro-Am 14 Feb South African Masters Free State 600,000 Desvonde Botes (6) 12 21 Feb Stenham Royal Swazi Sun Open Swaziland 1,000,000 Marc Cayeux (2) 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)WinnerOWGRpointsNotes6 DecNedbank Million Dollar ChallengeNorth WestUS$2,500,000 Nick Price48Limited-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 David Frost 1,189,7622 Scott Dunlap 885,7923 Richard Kaplan 525,1514 Desvonde Botes 410,5985 Ashley Roestoff 367,726
Notes
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