2006–07 Sunshine Tour

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.

The Order of Merit was won for the third straight time by Charl Schwartzel.

Schedule

The table below shows schedule of events for the 2006–07 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, 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.

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. This information is only shown for Sunshine Tour members.

Year Dates Tournament Venue
(RSA unless stated)		 Prize fund
(R)		 Winner Notes Ref
200617–19 MarStanbic Zambia OpenNchanga Golf Club, Zambia750,000 Steve Basson (2)Returns to tour after one-year hiatus[1]
200619–21 AprVodacom Origins of Golf Tour (Arabella)Arabella Country Club400,000 Jean Hugo (3)[2]
200627–29 AprSouth African Airways Pro-Am Invitational, Cape TownPaarl Golf Glub350,000 Jean Hugo (4)New tournament[3]
20063-6 MaySamsung Royal Swazi Sun OpenRoyal Swazi Sun Country Club, Swaziland550,000 Thomas Aiken (6)[4]
200611–13 MaySun Coast ClassicDurban Country Club350,000 Alex Haindl (1)New tournament[5]
200618–20 MaySouth African Airways Pro-Am Invitational, JohannesburgKempton Park Golf Club400,000 Tongoona Charamba (1)New tournament[6]
200624–26 MayVodacom Origins of Golf Tour (Pretoria)Pretoria Country Club400,000 Vaughn Groenewald (1)[7]
200628–30 JunVodacom Origins of Golf Tour (Kwazulu Natal)Selborne Golf Club400,000 Rossouw Loubser[8]
200616–18 AugVodacom Origins of Golf Tour (Bloemfontein)Bloemfontein Golf Club400,000 Rossouw Loubser[9]
200623–25 AugTelkom PGA Pro-AmCenturion Country Club350,000 Doug McGuigan (2)[10]
200631 Aug – 2 SepEskom Power CupWanderers Golf Club350,000 Trevor Fisher Jnr (2)New tournament[11]
200613–15 SepVodacom Origins of Golf Tour (Pezula)Pezula Championship Course400,000 Kevin Stone (4)[12]
200628–30 SepSeekers Travel Pro-AmDainfern Country Club350,000 Desvonde Botes (13)[13]
20064–6 OctVodacom Origins of Golf Tour FinalMontagu Golf Course, Fancourt400,000 Darren Fichardt (5)[14]
200613–15 OctBearing Man Highveld ClassicWitbank Golf Club400,000 Darren Fichardt (6)[15]
200619–21 OctMTC Namibia PGA ChampionshipWindhoek Country Club, Namibia650,000 Anton Haig (2)[16]
200626–28 OctPlatinum ClassicMooinooi Golf Club600,000 Vaughn Groenewald (2)[17]
200616–19 NovLimpopo ClassicPolokwane Golf Club1,000,000 Bradford Vaughan (8)Last year of this tournament[18]
200621–23 NovCoca-Cola Charity ChampionshipArabella Country Club500,000 Alan Michell (1)New tournament[19]
200630 Nov – 3 DecNedbank Golf ChallengeGary Player Country Club$4,385,000 Jim FurykFirst year as sanctioned tournament[20]
20067–10 DecAlfred Dunhill ChampionshipLeopard Creek Country Club€,1000,000 Álvaro QuirósCo-sanctioned with European Tour[21]
200614–17 DecSouth African Airways OpenHumewood Golf Club€1,000,000 Ernie Els (17)Flagship event
Co-sanctioned with European Tour		[22]
200711–14 JanJoburg OpenRoyal JHB & Kens – East€1,000,000 Ariel CañeteCo-sanctioned with European Tour
New tournament		[23]
200725–28 JanDimension Data Pro-AmGary Player Country Club1,600,000 Louis Oosthuizen (2)[24]
20071–4 FebNashua MastersWild Coast Sun Country Club1,200,000 Jean Hugo (5)[25]
200715–18 FebVodacom ChampionshipPretoria Country Club2,200,000 Richard Sterne (2)[26]
200722–25 FebTelkom PGA ChampionshipCountry Club Johannesburg2,250,000 Louis Oosthuizen (3)[27]

Order of Merit
RankPlayer[28]CountryEventsPrize money (R)
1Charl Schwartzel South Africa71,585,117.41
2Louis Oosthuizen South Africa81,314,739.00
3Hennie Otto South Africa181,274,339.64
4Andrew McLardy South Africa61,239,925.62
5Darren Fichardt South Africa131,160,182.00

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.

References
  1. Stanbic Zambia Open results
  2. Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour at Arabella results
  3. South African Airways Pro-Am Invitational, Cape Town results
  4. Samsung Royal Swazi Sun Open results
  5. Sun Coast Classic results
  6. South African Airways Pro-Am Invitational, Johannesburg results
  7. Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour at Pretoria CC results
  8. Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour Kwazulu Natal results
  9. Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour at Bloemfontein GC results
  10. Telkom PGA Pro-Am results
  11. Eskom Power Cup results
  12. Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour at Pezula results
  13. Seekers Travel Pro-Am results
  14. Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour Final results
  15. Bearing Man Highveld Classic results
  16. MTC Namibia PGA Championship results
  17. Platinum Classic results
  18. Limpopo Classic results
  19. Coca-Cola Charity Championship results
  20. Nedbank Golf Challenge results
  21. Alfred Dunhill Championship results
  22. SAA Open results
  23. Joburg Open results
  24. Dimension Data Pro-Am results
  25. Nashua Masters results
  26. Vodacom Championship results
  27. Telkom PGA Championship results
  28. "2006/2007 Final Order of Merit". Sunshine Tour. 2007-02-25. Retrieved 2014-07-17.
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