Sunshine Tour (Golf)

The Sunshine Tour is a tournament series in professional golf based in southern Africa . It is one of the six leading tournament series of the International Federation of PGA Tours , on the basis of which the golf world ranking is calculated.

For the longest time of its existence this tour was known under the name South African Tour or FNB Tour . The new name should allow geographical expansion, but most tournaments still take place in South Africa. In addition, the prize money paid out cannot keep up with the others, especially the PGA TOUR and the European Tour , and the leading South African players prefer to qualify for the two tournament series mentioned. However, most of them return to their home country for a few higher-priced events.

The main tournaments of the Sunshine Tour are the South African Open , the Dunhill Championship and the Joburg Open , which are also part of the European Tour and therefore have a larger field of participants. Each season spans the year and ends with a Tour Championship at the end of February . The 2007/2008 season includes 28 official events, with the first two main tournaments each earning € 1 million and the Joburg Open € 1.1 million. The remaining tournaments pay out between 350,000 and 2.5 million South African rand. Two to three tournaments are held each month, except in July. The main season in the South African summer, from November to February, includes the more important events. Seen in this way, the tournament series is divided into two half seasons, the early one from March to October with smaller events, more for aspiring, young professional golfers and the later mentioned with well-known South African golfers, but also better-known players from other countries.