2007 Sunshine Tour
| Duration | 11 January 2007 – 16 December 2007 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 28 |
| Most wins |  Louis Oosthuizen (3) |
| Order of Merit | James Kingston |
| Rookie of the Year |  Ross McGowan |
← 2006–07 2008 → | |
The 2007 Sunshine Tour was the 37th season of the Sunshine Tour (formerly the Southern Africa Tour), the main professional golf tour in South Africa since it was formed in 1971.
Schedule
[edit]The following table lists official events during the 2007 season.[1]
| Date | Tournament | Location | Purse (R) |
Winner[a] | OWGR points |
Other tours[b] |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 Jan | Joburg Open | Gauteng | €1,000,000 |  Ariel Cañete (n/a)
|
20 | EUR | New tournament |
| 28 Jan | Dimension Data Pro-Am | North West | 1,600,000 | Louis Oosthuizen (2)
|
14 | Pro-Am | |
| 4 Feb | Nashua Masters | Eastern Cape | 1,200,000 | Jean Hugo (5)
|
14 | ||
| 18 Feb | Vodacom Championship | Gauteng | 2,200,000 | Richard Sterne (2)
|
14 | ||
| 25 Feb | Telkom PGA Championship | Gauteng | 2,250,000 | Louis Oosthuizen (3)
|
14 | ||
| 11 Mar | Mount Edgecombe Trophy | KwaZulu-Natal | 500,000 | Steve van Vuuren (7)
|
n/a | ||
| 1 Apr | Finance Bank Zambia Open | Zambia | 750,000 | Steve Basson (3)
|
n/a | ||
| 15 Apr | Eskom Power Cup | North West | 400,000 | Chris Swanepoel (1)
|
n/a | ||
| 20 Apr | Vodacom Origins of Golf at Arabella | Western Cape | 400,000 | Andrew Curlewis (1)
|
n/a | ||
| 5 May | Samsung Royal Swazi Sun Open | Swaziland | 600,000 | Des Terblanche (7)
|
n/a | ||
| 11 May | Vodacom Origins of Golf at Pretoria | Gauteng | 400,000 | Hennie Otto (7)
|
n/a | ||
| 19 May | Suncoast Classic | KwaZulu-Natal | 400,000 |  Adilson da Silva (3)
|
n/a | ||
| 10 Jun | Lombard Insurance Classic | Swaziland | 350,000 | Peter Karmis (1)
|
n/a | New tournament | |
| 15 Jun | Vodacom Origins of Golf at Selborne | KwaZulu-Natal | 400,000 | George Coetzee (1)
|
n/a | ||
| 30 Jun | Nashua Golf Challenge | North West | 400,000 | Warren Abery (6)
|
n/a | New tournament | |
| 3 Aug | Vodacom Origins of Golf at Bloemfontein | Free State | 400,000 | Ulrich van den Berg (5)
|
n/a | ||
| 24 Aug | Vodacom Origins of Golf at Fancourt | Western Cape | 400,000 | Adilson da Silva (4)
|
n/a | ||
| 31 Aug | Telkom PGA Pro-Am | Gauteng | 350,000 | Michiel Bothma (2)
|
n/a | ||
| 8 Sep | Seekers Travel Pro-Am | Gauteng | 400,000 | James Kamte (1)
|
n/a | ||
| 28 Sep | Vodacom Origins of Golf Final | Eastern Cape | 400,000 | Titch Moore (6)
|
n/a | ||
| 7 Oct | Bearing Man Highveld Classic | Mpumalanga | 400,000 |  Marc Cayeux (8)
|
n/a | ||
| 20 Oct | MTC Namibia PGA Championship | Namibia | 700,000 | Keith Horne (2)
|
n/a | ||
| 27 Oct | Platinum Classic | North West | 705,000 | Louis Oosthuizen (4)
|
n/a | ||
| 22 Nov | Coca-Cola Charity Championship | Western Cape | 500,000 | Titch Moore (7)
|
n/a | ||
| 28 Nov | Nedbank Affinity Cup | North West | 500,000 | Mark Murless (3)
|
n/a | New tournament | |
| 2 Dec | Nedbank Golf Challenge | North West | US$4,385,000 | Trevor Immelman (5)
|
34 | Limited-field event | |
| 9 Dec | Alfred Dunhill Championship | Mpumalanga | €1,000,000 | John Bickerton (n/a)
|
22 | EUR | |
| 16 Dec | South African Airways Open | Western Cape | €1,000,000 | James Kingston (7)
|
32 | EUR | Flagship event |
Unofficial events
[edit]The following events were sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour, but did not carry official money, nor were wins official.
| Date | Tournament | Location | Purse (R) |
Winner | OWGR points |
Other tours[b] |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 Nov | HSBC Champions | China | US$5,000,000 |  Phil Mickelson
|
52 | ANZ,[c] ASA,[d] EUR | Limited-field event |
Order of Merit
[edit]The Order of Merit was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in South African rand.[2][3]
| Position | Player | Prize money (R) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Kingston |
1,980,689 |
| 2 | Louis Oosthuizen |
1,596,846 |
| 3 | Andrew McLardy |
1,387,475 |
| 4 | Hennie Otto |
1,331,376 |
| 5 | Richard Sterne |
966,547 |
Awards
[edit]| Award | Winner | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| Rookie of the Year (Bobby Locke Trophy) | Ross McGowan |
[4] |
Notes
[edit]- ^ The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of Sunshine Tour events they had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for Sunshine Tour members.
- ^ a b ANZ − PGA Tour of Australasia; ASA − Asian Tour; EUR − European Tour.
- ^ PGA Tour of Australasia unofficial event
- ^ Asian Tour unofficial event
References
[edit]- ^ "2007 Tournament schedule". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
- ^ "2007 Order of Merit". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
- ^ Winter, Grant (17 December 2007). "Final 71 nets extra R2m for Kingston". Independent Online. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
This victory for Kingston is huge. Not only is it worth R1.6m in prizemoney, but it means he has finished No 1 on the 2007 Order of Merit.
- ^ "Ross has a lot of Shine". Daily Mirror. 19 December 2007. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
Ross McGowan was named the 2007 Bobby Locke Rookie of the Year after a superb debut season on the Sunshine Tour.