2000–01 Sunshine Tour


The 2000–01 Sunshine Tour was the first season of professional golf tournaments since the southern Africa based Sunshine Tour was rebranded. Previously it had been known as the Southern Africa Tour. The Sunshine Tour represents the highest level of competition for male professional golfers in the region. In its first year, the prize money was over 20% lower than the amount awarded the last year of the Africa Tour.
There were 22 official events on the schedule. This was an increase of five from the last year of the Southern Africa tour, with a significant change in the list of tournaments.
There were four tournaments from the previous season that were eliminated or not played:
There were nine tournaments added/restarted for this season:
The tour was based predominantly in South Africa, with 17 of the 22 official tournaments being held in the country. One event each was held in Botswana, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe and two events were held in Zambia. Two events, the Dunhill Championship and the Mercedes Benz SA Open Championship were co-sanctioned by the European Tour.
The Order of Merit was won by Mark McNulty.

Schedule

The table below shows schedule of events for the 2000–01 Sunshine Tour. As usual, the tour consisted of two distinct parts, commonly referred to as the "Summer Swing" and "Winter Swing". Tournaments held during the Summer Swing generally had much higher prize funds, attracted stronger fields, and were the only tournaments on the tour to carry world ranking points.
Prize funds shown did not count directly towards the Order of Merit. The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of official money Sunshine Tour events he had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for Sunshine Tour members.
YearDatesTournamentVenue
Prize fund
WinnerNotesRef
200016–18 MarCock of the NorthNdola Golf Club, Zambia100,000 Titch Moore Returning tournament after hiatus from 1986–99
200023–26 MarStanbic Zambia OpenLusaka Golf Club, Zambia320,000 James LoughnaneReturning tournament after hiatus in 1999
200030 Mar – 1 AprFNB Botswana OpenGaborone Golf Club, Botswana90,000 Richard Kaplan Returning tournament after hiatus in 1999
200012–14 AprLombard Tyres ClassicKrugersdorp Golf Club75,000 Brett Liddle Last year of tournament
20005–7 MaySilver Lakes Golf Club100,000 Nico van Rensburg Last year of tournament
200011–13 MayPietersburg ClassicPietersburg Golf Club75,000 Marc Cayeux
200026–28 MayEast London Golf Club100,000 Ryan ReidLast year of tournament
200015–17 SepEmfuleni ClassicEmfuleni Golf Club100,000 Des Terblanche New tournament, only played in 2000
200029 Sep – 1 OctBearing Man Highveld ClassicWitbank Golf Club100,000 Sean Pappas
200013–15 OctObservatory ClassicObservatory Golf Club100,000 Roger Wessels New tournament, only played in 2000
200027–29 OctWestern Cape ClassicRondebosch Golf Club100,000 Jean Hugo
200010–12 NovPlatinum ClassicMooi Nooi Golf Club200,000 Desvonde Botes
200016–17 NovRiviera Resort ClassicRiviera Resort Country Club100,000 Ulrich van den Berg New tournament, only played in 2000
200023–26 NovCABS Old Mutual Zimbabwe OpenRoyal Harare Golf Club, Zimbabwe400,000 Mark McNulty
20007–10 DecVodacom Players ChampionshipRoyal Cape Golf Club1,000,000 Trevor Immelman
200111–14 JanNashua Nedtel Cellular MastersWild Coast Sun Country Club500,000 Mark McNulty Returning tournament after hiatus in 2000
200118–21 JanAlfred Dunhill ChampionshipHoughton Golf Club3,250,000 Adam ScottCo-sanctioned with European Tour
200125–28 JanMercedes Benz SA Open ChampionshipEast London Golf Club3,800,000 Mark McNulty Co-sanctioned with European Tour
20011–4 FebDimension Data Better BallGary Player Country Club110,000 Ulrich van den BergUnofficial tournament
20011–4 FebDimension Data Pro-AmGary Player Country Club1,000,000 Darren Clarke
20018–11 FebSouth African PGA ChampionshipWoodhill Country Club500,000 Deane Pappas Returning tournament after hiatus in 2000
200115–18 FebInvestec Royal Swazi Sun OpenRoyal Swazi Sun Country Club, Swaziland230,000 Bradford Vaughan
200122–25 FebThe Tour ChampionshipLeopard Creek Country Club1,250,000 Darren Fichardt New tournament

Order of Merit