2004–05 Sunshine Tour


The 2004–05 Sunshine Tour was the fifth season of professional golf tournaments since the southern Africa based Sunshine Tour was rebranded in 2000. The Sunshine Tour represents the highest level of competition for male professional golfers in the region.
There were 21 tournaments on the schedule. This was an increase of four from the previous year, primarily due to the addition of the Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour, a series of six regional tournaments that has been held every year since. The other new tournament was the MTC Namibia PGA Championship. The tour was based predominantly in South Africa, with 17 of the 21 tournaments being held in the country. Two events were held in Swaziland, and one event each was held in Botswana and Namibia. Two events, the Dunhill Championship and the South African Airways Open were co-sanctioned by the European Tour.
The Order of Merit was won by Charl Schwartzel.

Schedule

The table below shows schedule of events for the 2004–05 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.
YearDatesTournamentVenue
Prize fund
WinnerNotesRef
200425–27 MarFNB Botswana OpenGaborone Golf Club, Botswana150,000 Barry Painting
200431 Mar – 2 AprParmalat ClassicDe Zalze Golf Club125,000 Justin Walters
20045–8 MayCapital Alliance Royal Swazi Sun OpenRoyal Swazi Sun Country Club, Swaziland300,000 Nic Henning
200427–29 MayVodacom Origins of Golf Tour Pezula Championship Course200,000 Patrick O'BrienNew tournament
200410–12 JunVodacom Origins of Golf Tour Schoeman Park Golf Club200,000 Steve van Vuuren New tournament
200418–20 JunRoyal Swazi Sun ClassicRoyal Swazi Sun Country Club, Swaziland200,000 Bradford Vaughan Last year of this event
200430 Jun – 2 JulVodacom Origins of Golf Tour Zimbali Lodge & CC200,000 Thomas Aiken New tournament
200421–23 JulVodacom Origins of Golf Tour Lost City Golf Course200,000 Thomas Aiken New tournament
200417–19 SepVodacom Origins of Golf Tour Arabella Country Club200,000 Louis Oosthuizen New tournament
20048–10 OctBearing Man Highveld ClassicWitbank Golf Club150,000 Divan van den Heever
200414–16 OctLimpopo Eskom ClassicPolokwane Golf Club250,000 Bradford Vaughan
200419–21 OctVodacom Origins of Golf ChampionshipThe Links, Fancourt200,000 Thomas Aiken New tournament
200428–30 OctPlatinum ClassicMooinooi Golf Club300,000 Titch Moore
20044–6 NovMTC Namibia PGA ChampionshipWindhoek Country Club, Namibia225,000 Mark Murless New tournament
200411–13 NovSeekers Travel Pro-AmDainfern Country Club125,000 Ulrich van den Berg
20049–12 DecDunhill ChampionshipLeopard Creek Country Club2,800,000 Charl Schwartzel Co-sanctioned with European Tour
200520–23 JanSouth African Airways OpenDurban Country Club2,300,000 Tim Clark Co-sanctioned with European Tour
200527–30 JanDimension Data Pro-AmGary Player Country Club550,000 Simon Wakefield
20053–6 FebNashua MastersWild Coast Sun Country Club500,000 Richard Sterne
200517–20 FebTelkom PGA ChampionshipWoodhill Country Club1,000,000 Warren Abery
200524–27 FebVodacom Tour ChampionshipCountry Club Johannesburg1,000,000 Marc Cayeux

Order of Merit