The 2015 Sunshine Tour was the 45th season of the Sunshine Tour (formerly the Southern Africa Tour), the main professional golf tour in South Africa since it was formed in 1971.

2015 Sunshine Tour season
Duration19 February 2015 (2015-02-19) – 6 December 2015 (2015-12-06)
Number of official events27
Most winsSouth Africa Dean Burmester (4)
Order of MeritSouth Africa George Coetzee
Players' Player of the YearSouth Africa Dean Burmester
Rookie of the YearSouth Africa Rourke van der Spuy
2014

Schedule edit

The following table lists official events during the 2015 season.[1]

Date Tournament Location Purse
(R)
Winner[a] OWGR
points
Other
tours[b]
Notes
22 Feb Dimension Data Pro-Am Western Cape 4,500,000   Branden Grace (5) 14 Pro-Am
1 Mar Joburg Open Gauteng €1,300,000   Andy Sullivan (n/a) 19 EUR
8 Mar Africa Open Eastern Cape 14,500,000   Trevor Fisher Jnr (9) 19 EUR
15 Mar Tshwane Open Gauteng 18,500,000   George Coetzee (6) 19 EUR
22 Mar Investec Cup North West 1,000,000   Jaco Ahlers (3) 14
12 Apr Golden Pilsener Zimbabwe Open Zimbabwe 1,800,000   Dean Burmester (3) 14
26 Apr Mopani/Redpath Zambia Open Zambia 3,200,000   Ross McGowan (1) 14
3 May Zambia Sugar Open Zambia 1,500,000   Vaughn Groenewald (3) 14
9 May Investec Royal Swazi Open Swaziland 1,200,000   PH McIntyre (2) 14
10 May AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open Mauritius €1,000,000   George Coetzee (7) 17 ASA, EUR New tournament
24 May Lombard Insurance Classic Swaziland 1,000,000   Dean Burmester (4) 7
6 Jun Vodacom Origins of Golf at Langebaan Western Cape 650,000   Justin Harding (4) 4
7 Aug Sun City Challenge North West 700,000   Keith Horne (8) 7
22 Aug Vodacom Origins of Golf at San Lameer KwaZulu-Natal 650,000   Jean Hugo (16) 7
28 Aug Sun Wild Coast Sun Challenge KwaZulu-Natal 700,000   Vaughn Groenewald (4) 7 New tournament
4 Sep Sun Sibaya Challenge KwaZulu-Natal 700,000   Michael Hollick (1) 4 New tournament
12 Sep Vodacom Origins of Golf at Vaal de Grace Free State 650,000   Jean Hugo (17) 7
18 Sep Sun Windmill Challenge Free State 700,000   Dean Burmester (5) 7
3 Oct Vodacom Origins of Golf at St Francis Eastern Cape 650,000   Christiaan Basson (4) 4
9 Oct Sun Boardwalk Challenge Eastern Cape 700,000   Chris Swanepoel (4) 4
16 Oct Sun Fish River Sun Challenge Eastern Cape 700,000   Rourke van der Spuy (1) 4 New tournament
24 Oct Vodacom Origins of Golf at Koro Creek Limpopo 650,000   Dean Burmester (6) 7
5 Nov Nedbank Affinity Cup North West 800,000   Ruan de Smidt (2) 4
13 Nov Vodacom Origins of Golf Final Limpopo 650,000   Darren Fichardt (14) 4
22 Nov Lion of Africa Cape Town Open Western Cape 1,200,000   Brandon Stone (1) 14
29 Nov Alfred Dunhill Championship Mpumalanga €1,500,000   Charl Schwartzel (8) 22 EUR
6 Dec Nedbank Golf Challenge Gauteng US$6,500,000   Marc Leishman (n/a) 44 EUR Limited-field event

Order of Merit edit

The Order of Merit was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in South African rand.[2][3]

Position Player Prize money (R)
1   George Coetzee 5,470,684
2   Charl Schwartzel 3,302,972
3   Jacques Blaauw 3,080,301
4   Dean Burmester 2,810,226
5   Trevor Fisher Jnr 2,560,306

Awards edit

Award Winner Ref.
Players' Player of the Year   Dean Burmester [4]
Rookie of the Year (Bobby Locke Trophy)   Rourke van der Spuy [5][6]

See also edit

Notes edit

  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. ^ ASA − Asian Tour; EUR − European Tour.

References edit

  1. ^ "2015 Tournament schedule". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  2. ^ "2015 Order of Merit". Sunshine Tour. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  3. ^ "Coetzee tops Order of Merit". Daily News. Durban, South Africa. 24 February 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2023 – via Pressreader.
  4. ^ "Burmester cleans up in Sunshine Tour awards". News24. 23 February 2016. Retrieved 9 September 2023. He took the Gary Player Trophy for the best stroke average of the 2015 season (69.34 over 59 rounds of tournament golf), the Media's Player of the Year as voted by members of South Africa's golf journalists, the Players' Player of the Year which is an accolade from his fellow professionals...
  5. ^ "2015 Rookie of the Year". Sunshine Tour. Archived from the original on 18 April 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  6. ^ "Van der Spuy claims Rookie of the Year". News24. 29 November 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2023.

External links edit