2023–24 Sunshine Tour

The 2023–24 Sunshine Tour was the 53rd season of the Sunshine Tour (formerly the Southern Africa Tour), the main professional golf tour in South Africa since it was formed in 1971.

2023–24 Sunshine Tour season

Duration	4 May 2023 (2023-05-04) – 14 April 2024 (2024-04-14)
Number of official events	31
Most wins	Dean Burmester (2) Luca Filippi (2) Louis Oosthuizen (2) Neil Schietekat (2) Ryan van Velzen (2)
Order of Merit	Ryan van Velzen
Rookie of the Year	Robin Williams
← 2022–23 2024–25 →

Changes for 2023–24

The full 2023–24 schedule was announced in May 2023 and was originally intended to have 32 tournaments, and include co-sanctioned tournaments with the European Tour and Challenge Tour.^[1] Notably, the Zanaco Masters returned to the schedule, having not been played on the Sunshine Tour since 2019.^[2]

In May 2023, the Sunshine Tour announced that the Order of Merit had gained a new title sponsor, having previously been titled as the Luno Order of Merit, it was rebranded as the Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy.^[3]

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 2023–24 season.^[4]

Date	Tournament	Location	Purse (R)	Winner^[a]	OWGR points	Other tours^[b]	Notes
7 May	FBC Zim Open	Zimbabwe	2,200,000	Neil Schietekat (4)	1.65
21 May	Zanaco Masters	Zambia	2,200,000	Robson Chinhoi (1)	1.53
28 May	Kit Kat Cash & Carry Pro-Am	Gauteng	2,000,000	Louis Albertse (2)	1.87		Pro-Am
2 Jun	SunBet Challenge (Sun City)	North West	1,250,000	Hennie Otto (14)	1.95
22 Jul	SunBet Challenge (Wild Coast)	Western Cape	2,000,000	CJ du Plessis (1)	1.80
29 Jul	FNB Eswatini Challenge	Eswatini	2,000,000	Peter Karmis (7)	1.39
13 Aug	Vodacom Origins of Golf at Zebula	Limpopo	2,000,000	Jacques Kruyswijk (3)	2.06
18 Aug	SunBet Challenge (Time Square)	Gauteng	2,000,000	Malcolm Mitchell (1)	2.37
27 Aug	Bain's Whisky Ubunye Championship	Gauteng	2,000,000	Luca Filippi (1) and   Ryan van Velzen (2)	n/a		Team event
1 Sep	Gary & Vivienne Player Challenge	Mpumalanga	2,000,000	Gerhard Pepler (1)	1.65
17 Sep	VOG Western Cape	Western Cape	2,000,000	Kyle Barker (2)	1.64
23 Sep	PGA Championship	Eastern Cape	2,000,000	Rupert Kaminski (1)	1.84
8 Oct	Fortress Invitational	Gauteng	2,000,000	Robin Williams (1)	1.46
14 Oct	Blue Label Challenge	North West	2,700,000	Luca Filippi (2)	1.63		Pro-Am
22 Oct	VOG KZN	KwaZulu-Natal	2,000,000	Pieter Moolman (2)	1.68
27 Oct	SunBet Challenge (Sun Sibaya)	KwaZulu-Natal	2,000,000	Martin Rohwer (4)	1.80
5 Nov	Vodacom Origins of Golf Final	Western Cape	2,000,000	Neil Schietekat (5)	1.47
26 Nov	Joburg Open	Gauteng	20,500,000	Dean Burmester (9)	11.95	EUR
3 Dec	Investec South African Open Championship	Gauteng	US$1,500,000	Dean Burmester (10)	12.59	EUR
11 Dec	Alfred Dunhill Championship	Mpumalanga	€1,500,000	Louis Oosthuizen (9)	14.07	EUR
17 Dec	AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open	Mauritius	US$1,200,000	Louis Oosthuizen (10)	11.05	EUR
28 Jan	Mediclinic Invitational	Gauteng	2,000,000	Ryan van Velzen (3)	2.46
4 Feb	SDC Open	Gauteng	US$350,000	Rhys Enoch (3)	5.89	CHA
11 Feb	Bain's Whisky Cape Town Open	Western Cape	US$350,000	Mikael Lindberg (n/a)	6.40	CHA
18 Feb	Dimension Data Pro-Am	Western Cape	7,000,000	David Ravetto (n/a)	7.35	CHA
25 Feb	NMB Championship	Eastern Cape	US$350,000	Björn Åkesson (n/a)	5.49	CHA
3 Mar	SDC Championship	Eastern Cape	US$1,500,000	Jordan Gumberg (n/a)	13.81	EUR
10 Mar	Jonsson Workwear Open	Gauteng	US$1,500,000	Matteo Manassero (n/a)	13.99	EUR
24 Mar	Stella Artois Players Championship	Gauteng	2,000,000	Heinrich Bruiners (2)	2.87
7 Apr	Limpopo Championship	Limpopo	2,000,000	Deon Germishuys (2)	2.57
14 Apr	The Tour Championship	Gauteng	2,000,000	Jonathan Broomhead (1)	3.13		Tour Championship

Unofficial events

The following events were sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour, but did not carry official money, nor were wins official.

Date	Tournament	Location	Purse (R)	Winner	OWGR points	Other tours^[b]	Notes
26 Apr	Altron Vusi Ngubeni Tournament	Gauteng	100,000	Thabang Simon	n/a

Order of Merit

The Order of Merit was titled as the Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy and was based on tournament results during the season, calculated using a points-based system.^[5] The top three players on the Order of Merit earned status to play on the 2025 European Tour (DP World Tour).^[6][7]

Position	Player	Points	Status earned
1	Ryan van Velzen	3,525	Promoted to European Tour
2	Robin Williams	2,690
3	Louis Albertse	2,412
4	Neil Schietekat	2,283
5	Darren Fichardt	1,915

Awards

Award	Winner	Ref.
Rookie of the Year	Robin Williams	^[8]^[6]

See also

• 2023–24 Big Easy Tour

Notes

1. The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of Sunshine Tour events they had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for Sunshine Tour members.
2. CHA − Challenge Tour; EUR − European Tour.

References

1. "Sunshine Tour tees of new season in Africa". SuperSport. 3 May 2023. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
2. "Refurbished Lusaka Golf Club course re-opened". The Lusaka Times. 3 May 2023. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
3. "The Courier Guy now delivering greatness with the Sunshine Tour". Sunshine Tour. 12 May 2023. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
4. "2023/24 Tournament schedule". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
5. "2023/24 Order of Merit". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
6. "Broomhead wins on a day celebrating Sunshine Tour excellence". SuperSport. 14 April 2024. Retrieved 14 April 2024. The tournament also finalised the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy. Ryan van Velzen finished first here in a breakthrough season where he won twice. His triumph saw him secure a DP World Tour card... Robin Williams finished second on the Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy and also earned himself a DP World Tour card as well as a R200 000 bonus. Williams was also crowned the Fortress Rookie of the Year, earning a R200 000 bonus... Louis Albertse finished the season in third place on the Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy thereby claiming the last DP World Tour card on offer...
7. Sunshine Tour [@Sunshine_Tour] (17 April 2024). "DP World Tour card secured 🔒" (Tweet). Retrieved 17 April 2024 – via Twitter.
8. "2023/24 Rookie of the Year". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 14 April 2024.

External links

• Official website