2013 Sunshine Tour


The 2013 Sunshine Tour was the 14th season of professional golf tournaments since the southern Africa based Sunshine Tour was relaunched in 2000, and the 7th since the tour switched a calendar-based season in 2007. The Sunshine Tour represents the highest level of competition for male professional golfers in the region.
The tour is based predominantly in South Africa with other events being held in neighbouring countries, including Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Zambia and Namibia.

Schedule

The table below shows the schedule of events for the 2013 Sunshine Tour season. As usual, the tour consisted of two distinct parts, commonly referred to as the "Summer Swing" and the "Winter Swing". Tournaments held during the Summer Swing generally have much higher prize funds, attract stronger fields, and until 2012 were the only tournaments on the tour to carry world ranking points, with some events being co-sanctioned with the European Tour. Since the tour switched to a calendar-based season, this part of the tour has been split in two, with some events being held at the start of the year, and the remainder in November and December. Beginning in 2012, all events carry world ranking points, with the "Winter Swing" 72-hole events having a minimum of 6 points and the 54-hole events having a minimum of 4 points, compared with the 14 point minimum for the "Summer Swing" events.
Prize funds shown do 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.
DatesTournamentLocationPrize fundWinnerOWGR
points
Notes
23–25 JanTelkom PGA Pro-AmTshwane, GautengR600,000 Oliver Bekker 4
7–10 FebJoburg OpenJohannesburg, Gauteng€1,300,000 Richard Sterne 22Co-sanctioned with the European Tour
14–17 FebAfrica OpenEast London, Eastern Cape€1,000,000 Darren Fichardt 20Co-sanctioned with the European Tour
21–24 FebDimension Data Pro-AmGeorge, Western CapeR4,000,000 Jaco van Zyl 14
28 Feb – 3 MarTshwane OpenTshwane, Gauteng€1,500,000 Dawie van der Walt 20New tournament
Co-sanctioned with the European Tour
14–17 MarTelkom PGA ChampionshipJohannesburg, GautengR3,750,000 Jaco van Zyl 14
21–24 MarInvestec CupRustenburg, North WestR1,000,000 Jaco van Zyl 14
18–21 AprGolden Pilsener Zimbabwe OpenHarare, ZimbabweR1,650,000 Jake Roos 14
1–4 MayInvestec Royal Swazi OpenSwazilandR1,000,000 James Kingston 14
16–19 MayZambia Sugar OpenZambiaR1,200,000 Adilson da Silva 14
31 May – 2 JunLombard Insurance ClassicSwazilandR900,000 Merrick Bremner 6
5–7 JunVodacom Origins of Golf Eastern CapeR600,000 Jacques Blaauw 4
13–15 JunPolokwane ClassicLimpopoR500,000 Dean Burmester 4New tournament
26–28 JunVodacom Origins of Golf Kwazulu-NatalR600,000 Jacques Blaauw 6
3–5 JulSun City ChallengeSun City, North WestR600,000 Adilson da Silva 6
7–9 AugVodacom Origins of Golf LimpopoR600,000 Heinrich Bruiners 6
21–23 AugVodacom Origins of Golf Western CapeR600,000 Jean Hugo 6
27–29 AugWild Waves Golf ChallengeKwazulu-NatalR600,000 Andrew Curlewis 4
11–13 SepVodacom Origins of Golf Northern CapeR600,000 Andrew Curlewis 4
19–21 SepPlatinum ClassicNorth WestR500,000 Neil Schietekat 4
9–11 OctVodacom Origins of Golf FinalEastern CapeR600,000 J. J. Senekal 4
18–20 OctBMG ClassicJohannesburg, GautengR600,000 Ulrich van den Berg 6
31 Oct – 3 NovLion of Africa Cape Town OpenWestern CapeR2,000,000 Tjaart van der Walt 14
5–7 NovNedbank Affinity CupNorth WestR700,000 Jacques Blaauw 4
21–24 NovSouth African Open ChampionshipJohannesburg, Gauteng€1,100,000 Morten Ørum Madsen 32Co-sanctioned with the European Tour
28 Nov – 1 DecAlfred Dunhill ChampionshipLimpopo€1,500,000 Charl Schwartzel 22Co-sanctioned with the European Tour
5–8 DecNedbank Golf ChallengeNorth West$6,500,000 Thomas Bjørn 46Co-sanctioned with the European Tour
11–14 DecNelson Mandela ChampionshipKwazulu-Natal€1,000,000 Dawie van der Walt 20Co-sanctioned with the European Tour
Shortened to 54 holes

Order of Merit

This shows the final Order of Merit leaders.
RankPlayerPrize money
1 Dawie van der Walt5,094,333
2 Darren Fichardt4,518,495
3 Jaco van Zyl3,027,749
4 Hennie Otto2,475,830
5 Jbe' Kruger2,045,405

Charl Schwartzel and Richard Sterne did not play the minimum number of tournaments required to be ranked.