2021–22 Sunshine Tour

The 2021–22 Sunshine Tour was the 51st season of the Sunshine Tour (formerly the Southern Africa Tour), the main professional golf tour in South Africa since it was formed in 1971.

2021–22 Sunshine Tour season
Duration5 March 2021 (2021-03-05) – 1 May 2022 (2022-05-01)
Number of official events30[lower-alpha 1]
Most winsSouth Africa J. C. Ritchie (3)
Order of MeritSouth Africa Shaun Norris
Rookie of the YearSouth Africa Jayden Schaper

European Tour partnership

The season marked the start of a partnership between the Sunshine Tour and the European Tour. As part of the agreement, the top three players on the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit (not otherwise exempt) gained status to play on the European Tour for the following season.[1]

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 2021–22 season.[2]

Date Tournament Location Purse
(R)		 Winner[lower-alpha 2] OWGR
points		 Other
tours[lower-alpha 3]		 Notes
7 Mar[lower-alpha 4]
7 Feb		 Kit Kat Group Pro-Am Gauteng 1,000,000 Wales Rhys Enoch (2) 8 New tournament
Pro-Am
14 Mar Players Championship Gauteng 1,000,000 South Africa Jaco Prinsloo (4) 14 New tournament
21 Mar Gauteng Championship Gauteng 1,000,000 South Africa Jbe' Kruger (5) 14 New tournament
28 Mar Serengeti Pro-Am Invitational Gauteng 1,500,000 South Africa Jaco Prinsloo (5) 14 New tournament
28 Mar The Tour Championship Gauteng – Removed[lower-alpha 5] – Tour Championship
18 Apr Zanaco Masters Zambia – Removed[lower-alpha 5] –
25 Apr[lower-alpha 4]
28 Feb		 Limpopo Championship Limpopo 3,000,000 South Africa Brandon Stone (4) 13 CHA
2 May[lower-alpha 4]
21 Feb		 Bain's Whisky Cape Town Open Western Cape 3,000,000 South Africa J. C. Ritchie (8) 13 CHA
9 May[lower-alpha 4]
14 Feb		 Dimension Data Pro-Am Western Cape 6,000,000 South Africa Wilco Nienaber (1) 13 CHA Pro-Am
4 Jun SunBet Challenge (Sun City) North West 1,000,000 South Africa Alex Haindl (3) 7 New tournament series
6 Aug Vodacom Origins of Golf at De Zalze Western Cape 1,000,000 South Africa George Coetzee (12) 7
13 Aug FNB Eswatini Nkonyeni Challenge Eswatini – Removed[lower-alpha 5] – New tournament
20 Aug SunBet Challenge (Time Square Casino) Gauteng 1,000,000 South Africa Estiaan Conradie (1) 4
28 Aug Vodacom Origins of Golf at Sishen Gauteng 1,000,000 South Africa Alex Haindl (4) 4
4 Sep King's Cup Eswatini – Removed[lower-alpha 5] –
10 Sep Sunshine Tour Invitational Gauteng 1,000,000 South Africa Jacques Kruyswijk (2) 4 New tournament
12 Sep Zanaco Masters Zambia – Removed[lower-alpha 5] –
18 Sep Vodacom Origins of Golf at Mount Edgecombe KwaZulu-Natal 1,000,000 South Africa Louis Albertse (1) 4
26 Sep Karen Masters Kenya – Removed[lower-alpha 5] –
2 Oct Vodacom Origins of Golf at Humewood Eastern Cape 1,000,000 South Africa Daniel Greene (1) 4
9 Oct SunBet Challenge (Wild Coast Sun) KwaZulu-Natal – Cancelled[lower-alpha 6] –
16 Oct Blue Label Challenge North West 1,500,000 South Africa Lyle Rowe (3) 14 New tournament
24 Oct Blair Atholl Championship Gauteng 1,250,000 South Africa Luke Brown (1) 14 New tournament
7 Nov PGA Championship Eastern Cape 1,200,000 South Africa Dean Burmester (8) 14
14 Nov Nedbank Golf Challenge North West – Cancelled[4] – EUR
27 Nov Joburg Open Gauteng 17,500,000 South Africa Thriston Lawrence (2) 19 EUR
5 Dec SA Open Championship North West US$500,000[lower-alpha 7] South Africa Daniel van Tonder (8) 32 EUR Flagship event
12 Dec Alfred Dunhill Championship Mpumalanga – Cancelled[6] – EUR
30 Jan Vodacom Origins of Golf Final North West 1,000,000 South Africa Martin Rohwer (2) 8
6 Feb Kit Kat Group Pro-Am Gauteng – Cancelled[lower-alpha 8] – Pro-Am
13 Feb Dimension Data Pro-Am Western Cape 6,000,000 Germany Alexander Knappe (1) 13 CHA Pro-Am
20 Feb Bain's Whisky Cape Town Open Western Cape US$250,000 South Africa J. C. Ritchie (9) 13 CHA
27 Feb Jonsson Workwear Open KwaZulu-Natal US$250,000 South Africa J. C. Ritchie (10) 13 CHA New tournament
6 Mar Mangaung Open Free State US$250,000 Denmark Oliver Hundebøll (n/a) 13 CHA New tournament
13 Mar MyGolfLife Open North West US$1,500,000 Spain Pablo Larrazábal (n/a) 23 EUR New tournament
20 Mar Steyn City Championship Gauteng US$1,500,000 South Africa Shaun Norris (3) 19 EUR New tournament
27 Mar SDC Open Limpopo US$250,000 France Clément Sordet (n/a) 13 CHA New tournament
3 Apr Limpopo Championship Limpopo US$250,000 Poland Mateusz Gradecki (n/a) 13 CHA
10 Apr Mount Kilamanjaro Klassic Tanzania – Removed[8] – CHA New tournament
24 Apr Stella Artois Players Championship Gauteng 2,000,000 South Africa Jaco Ahlers (10) 14
1 May The Tour Championship Gauteng 1,500,000 South Africa Tristen Strydom (1) 14 Tour Championship

Unofficial events

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[lower-alpha 3]		 Notes
6 May Altron Vusi Ngubeni Tournament Gauteng 100,000 South Africa Yubin Jung n/a New tournament

Order of Merit

The Order of Merit was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in South African rand.[9][10] The top three players on the tour (not otherwise exempt) earned status to play on the 2023 European Tour (DP World Tour).[11]

PositionPlayerPrize money (R)2023 DP World Tour status
1South Africa Shaun Norris4,890,994Already exempt[lower-alpha 9]
2South Africa Dean Burmester4,196,182Already exempt[lower-alpha 10]
3South Africa Thriston Lawrence3,854,950Already exempt[lower-alpha 9]
4South Africa Oliver Bekker3,359,398Already exempt[lower-alpha 10]
5South Africa Hennie du Plessis2,779,485
6South Africa J. C. Ritchie2,691,199Already exempt[lower-alpha 11]
7South Africa Zander Lombard1,949,393Already exempt[lower-alpha 10]
8South Africa Daniel van Tonder1,943,891Earned exemption[lower-alpha 12]
9South Africa Tristen Strydom1,843,480
10South Africa George Coetzee1,816,637Already exempt[lower-alpha 10]
11South Africa Wilco Nienaber1,735,209Earned exemption[lower-alpha 12]

Awards
AwardWinnerRef.
Rookie of the Year (Bobby Locke Trophy)South Africa Jayden Schaper[12][13]

Notes
  1. A further 11 tournaments were scheduled but were either cancelled, postponed or otherwise removed from the schedule.
  2. 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.
  3. CHA − Challenge Tour; EUR − European Tour.
  4. Originally postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  5. Removed from the schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  6. Cancelled due to rain.[3]
  7. Reduced from US$1,500,000 after losing European Tour co-sanctioning as a result of COVID-19 related travel restrictions.[5]
  8. Cancelled after one round due to rain.[7]
  9. Norris and Lawrence were tournament winners on the 2022 European Tour (DP World Tour).
  10. Burmester, Bekker, du Plessis, Lombard and Coetzee finished in the top 117 of the DP World Tour Rankings in 2022.
  11. Ritchie finished in the top 20 of the Challenge Tour Rankings in 2022.
  12. Van Tonder, Strydom and Nienaber were the leading three players on the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit who were not otherwise exempt on the DP World Tour for the 2023 season, and thereby earned exemption status for that season.

References
  1. "European Tour and Sunshine Tour launch landmark partnership". European Tour. 9 July 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  2. "2021/22 Tournament schedule". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  3. "SunBet Challenge cancelled". Compleat Golfer. 7 October 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2023. Rain continued to fall on the already waterlogged Wild Coast Sun Country Club course overnight and, with no play possible on Thursday, the Sunshine Tour took the decision to cancel the SunBet Challenge...
  4. "Nedbank Golf Challenge cancelled for second year in a row". News24. 26 July 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  5. Ballengee, Ryan (26 November 2021). "New Covid variant, flight bans affect Joburg Open, South African Open, Alfred Dunhill Championship". Golf News Net. Retrieved 7 September 2023. The South African Open will be played as an event only sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour, with a purse of $500,000.
  6. "Alfred Dunhill Championship cancelled". Compleat Golfer. 26 November 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  7. Somdyala, Kamva (5 February 2022). "Inclement Gauteng weather forces cancellation of golf's Kit Kat Pro-Am event". News24. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  8. "Challenge Tour statement on the Mount Kilimanjaro Klassic". European Tour. 1 April 2022. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  9. "2021/22 Order of Merit". Sunshine Tour. Archived from the original on 25 April 2023. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  10. "Strydom claims record Tour Championship win". Compleat Golfer. 1 May 2022. Retrieved 23 April 2023. Shaun Norris claimed the top spot on the final Order of Merit thanks largely to his victory in the DP World Tour co-sanctioned Steyn City Championship.
  11. "Sunshine Tour number ones shining on the DP World Tour". European Tour. 14 March 2023. Retrieved 7 September 2023. Last year, Daniel van Tonder, Tristen Strydom and Wilco Nienaber benefited from a new exemption for the leading three players, not otherwise exempt, from the 2022 Sunshine Tour rankings.
  12. "2021/22 Rookie of the Year". Sunshine Tour. Archived from the original on 18 April 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  13. Sunshine Tour [@Sunshine_Tour] (3 May 2022). "Congratulations to @schaperjayden on ending the 2021/22 #SunshineTour season as the Rookie of the year" (Tweet). Retrieved 18 April 2023 – via Twitter.
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