2006–07 Sunshine Tour
| Duration | 16 March 2006 – 25 February 2007 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 28 |
| Most wins | 3: Jean Hugo |
| Order of Merit | Charl Schwartzel |
← 2005–06 2007 → | |
The 2006–07 Sunshine Tour was the seventh season of professional golf tournaments since the southern Africa based Sunshine Tour was rebranded in 2000. It marked the last year of a seasonal calendar. The Sunshine Tour represents the highest level of competition for male professional golfers in the region.
In 2005–06 there had been 21 tournaments. Of those, two tournaments were last held in 2005, but there were eight tournaments added for the 2006–07 schedule bringing the total up to 27. The tour was based predominantly in South Africa, with 24 of the 27 tournaments being held in the country. One event each was held in Swaziland, Zambia and Namibia. The new tournaments were the Stanbic Zambia Open, which returned after a hiatus in 2005, two South African Airways Pro-Am Invitational tournaments, the Sun Coast Classic, the Eskom Power Cup, the Coca-Cola Charity Championship, the first sanctioned year of the Nedbank Golf Challenge, and the Joburg Open which was co-sanctioned by the European 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, with three events being co-sanctioned with the European Tour.
With the switch to a calendar-based schedule in 2007, the last five events of the 2006–07 season were also considered part of the 2007 schedule, and counted towards the final standings of both.
The Order of Merit was won for the third straight time by Charl Schwartzel.
Schedule
The following table lists official events during the 2006–07 season.
| Date | Tournament | Location | Purse (R) |
Winner[a] | OWGR points |
Other tours[b] |
Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 Mar | Stanbic Zambia Open | Zambia | 750,000 | Steve Basson (2) |
n/a | [1] | ||
| 21 Apr | Vodacom Origins of Golf at Arabella | Western Cape | 400,000 | Jean Hugo (3) |
n/a | [2] | ||
| 29 Apr | SAA Pro-Am Invitational | Western Cape | 350,000 | Jean Hugo (4) |
n/a | New tournament series | [3] | |
| 6 May | Samsung Royal Swazi Sun Open | Swaziland | 550,000 | Thomas Aiken (6) |
n/a | [4] | ||
| 13 May | Suncoast Classic | KwaZulu-Natal | 350,000 | Alex Haindl (1) |
n/a | New tournament | [5] | |
| 20 May | SAA Pro-Am Invitational | Gauteng | 400,000 |  Tongoona Charamba (1) |
n/a | [6] | ||
| 26 May | Vodacom Origins of Golf at Pretoria | Gauteng | 400,000 | Vaughn Groenewald (1) |
n/a | [7] | ||
| 30 Jun | Vodacom Origins of Golf at Selborne | KwaZulu-Natal | 400,000 | Rossouw Loubser (1) |
n/a | [8] | ||
| 18 Aug | Vodacom Origins of Golf at Bloemfontein | Free State | 400,000 | Rossouw Loubser (2) |
n/a | [9] | ||
| 25 Aug | Telkom PGA Pro-Am | Gauteng | 350,000 |  Doug McGuigan (2) |
n/a | [10] | ||
| 2 Sep | Eskom Power Cup | North West | 350,000 | Trevor Fisher Jnr (2) |
n/a | New tournament | [11] | |
| 15 Sep | Vodacom Origins of Golf at Pezula | Western Cape | 400,000 | Kevin Stone (4) |
n/a | [12] | ||
| 30 Sep | Seekers Travel Pro-Am | Gauteng | 350,000 | Desvonde Botes (12) |
n/a | [13] | ||
| 6 Oct | Vodacom Origins of Golf Final | Western Cape | 400,000 | Darren Fichardt (5) |
n/a | [14] | ||
| 15 Oct | Bearing Man Highveld Classic | Mpumalanga | 400,000 | Darren Fichardt (6) |
n/a | [15] | ||
| 21 Oct | MTC Namibia PGA Championship | Namibia | 650,000 | Anton Haig (2) |
n/a | [16] | ||
| 28 Oct | Platinum Classic | North West | 600,000 | Vaughn Groenewald (2) |
n/a | [17] | ||
| 12 Nov | HSBC Champions | China | US$5,000,000 |  Yang Yong-eun (n/a)
|
52 | ANZ, ASA, EUR | ||
| 19 Nov | Limpopo Classic | Limpopo | 1,000,000 | Bradford Vaughan (8) |
12 | [18] | ||
| 23 Nov | Coca-Cola Charity Championship | Western Cape | 500,000 | Alan Michell (1) |
n/a | New tournament | [19] | |
| 3 Dec | Nedbank Golf Challenge | North West | US$4,385,000 |  Jim Furyk (n/a) |
38 | New to Sunshine Tour Limited-field event |
[20] | |
| 10 Dec | Alfred Dunhill Championship | Mpumalanga | €1,000,000 |  Álvaro Quirós (n/a) |
18 | EUR | [21] | |
| 17 Dec | South African Airways Open | Eastern Cape | €1,000,000 | Ernie Els (17) |
32 | EUR | Flagship event | [22] |
| 14 Jan | Joburg Open | Gauteng | €1,000,000 |  Ariel Cañete (n/a) |
20 | EUR | New tournament | [23] |
| 28 Jan | Dimension Data Pro-Am | North West | 1,600,000 | Louis Oosthuizen (2) |
14 | [24] | ||
| 4 Feb | Nashua Masters | Eastern Cape | 1,200,000 | Jean Hugo (5) |
14 | [25] | ||
| 18 Feb | Vodacom Championship | Gauteng | 2,200,000 | Richard Sterne (2) |
14 | [26] | ||
| 25 Feb | Telkom PGA Championship | Gauteng | 2,250,000 | Louis Oosthuizen (3) |
14 | [27] |
Order of Merit
The Order of Merit was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in South African rand.[28]
| Position | Player | Events | Prize money (R) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charl Schwartzel |
7 | 1,585,117 |
| 2 | Louis Oosthuizen |
8 | 1,314,739 |
| 3 | Hennie Otto |
18 | 1,274,340 |
| 4 | Andrew McLardy |
6 | 1,239,926 |
| 5 | Darren Fichardt |
13 | 1,160,182 |
Ernie Els was the highest money winner (with R1,734,659.33) but did not qualify for the Order of Merit, having only played in three events. Álvaro Quirós was second in the money list (with R1,497,033.00) thanks to his victory in the Alfred Dunhill Championship, but as a non-tour member and having not entered sufficient events, he was also ineligible for the Order of Merit.
Notes
- ^ The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of Sunshine Tour events he had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for Sunshine Tour members.
- ^ ANZ − PGA Tour of Australasia; ASA − Asian Tour; EUR − European Tour.
References
- ^ Stanbic Zambia Open results
- ^ Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour at Arabella results
- ^ South African Airways Pro-Am Invitational, Cape Town results
- ^ Samsung Royal Swazi Sun Open results
- ^ Sun Coast Classic results
- ^ South African Airways Pro-Am Invitational, Johannesburg results
- ^ Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour at Pretoria CC results
- ^ Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour Kwazulu Natal results
- ^ Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour at Bloemfontein GC results
- ^ Telkom PGA Pro-Am results
- ^ Eskom Power Cup results
- ^ Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour at Pezula results
- ^ Seekers Travel Pro-Am results
- ^ Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour Final results
- ^ Bearing Man Highveld Classic results
- ^ MTC Namibia PGA Championship results
- ^ Platinum Classic results
- ^ Limpopo Classic results
- ^ Coca-Cola Charity Championship results
- ^ Nedbank Golf Challenge results
- ^ Alfred Dunhill Championship results
- ^ SAA Open results
- ^ Joburg Open results
- ^ Dimension Data Pro-Am results
- ^ Nashua Masters results
- ^ Vodacom Championship results
- ^ Telkom PGA Championship results
- ^ "2006/2007 Final Order of Merit". Sunshine Tour. 2007-02-25. Retrieved 2014-07-17.