The Africa Open was a golf tournament on the Sunshine Tour held in Eastern Cape, South Africa. It was first contested in February 2008, over the Gary Player designed championship course at the Fish River Sun Country Club, near Port Alfred.[1]
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Location | Eastern Cape, South Africa |
| Established | 2008 |
| Course(s) | East London Golf Club |
| Par | 71 |
| Length | 6,616 yards (6,050 m) |
| Tour(s) | Sunshine Tour European Tour |
| Format | Stroke play |
| Prize fund | R 14,500,000 |
| Month played | February |
| Final year | 2015 |
| Tournament record score | |
| Aggregate | 264 Thomas Aiken (2014) 264 Trevor Fisher Jnr (2015) |
| To par | −27 Louis Oosthuizen (2012) |
| Final champion | |
 Trevor Fisher Jnr | |
| Location map | |
  East London GC Location in South Africa  East London GC Location in Eastern Cape | |
In order to increase the profile of the tournament, beginning in 2009 it was held in January at the East London Golf Club in East London. In 2009, the Africa Open had a prize fund of R5 million, over four times that of the inaugural event. The Sunshine Tour hoped that it would attract a stronger field as a result, and possibly lead to a co-sanctioning agreement with the European Tour in subsequent years.[2]
In 2009, it was announced that the Africa Open would be included on the 2010 European Tour schedule. It was the third event of the four tournament South African swing of the tour, held after the Alfred Dunhill Championship and the South African Open, and the week before the Joburg Open.[3] The purse for 2014 was €1,000,000.[citation needed]
Winners edit
| Year | Tour(s)[a] | Winner | Score | To par | Margin of victory |
Runner(s)-up | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Africa Open | |||||||
| 2015 | AFR, EUR | Trevor Fisher Jnr |
264 | −24 | 5 strokes |  Matt Ford
| |
| 2014 | AFR, EUR | Thomas Aiken |
264 | −20 | Playoff | Oliver Fisher
| |
| 2013 | AFR, EUR | Darren Fichardt |
272 | −16 | 2 strokes |  Grégory Bourdy Jaco van Zyl
| |
| 2012 | AFR, EUR | Louis Oosthuizen (2) |
265 | −27 | 2 strokes | Tjaart van der Walt
| |
| 2011 | AFR, EUR | Louis Oosthuizen |
276 | −16 | Playoff |  Manuel Quirós Chris Wood
| |
| 2010 | AFR, EUR | Charl Schwartzel |
272 | −20 | 1 stroke | Thomas Aiken
| |
| Africa Open Golf Challenge | |||||||
| 2009 | AFR | Retief Goosen |
267 | −21 | 1 stroke |  Darren Clarke Darren Fichardt Branden Grace Michael Hoey
| |
| Africa Open | |||||||
| 2008 | AFR | Shaun Norris |
275 | −13 | 6 strokes | Nic Henning
| |
Notes edit
- ^ AFR − Sunshine Tour; EUR − European Tour.
References edit
- ^ "Sunshine Tour set for Eastern Cape return with Africa Open". Sunshine Tour. 16 January 2008. Retrieved 14 November 2008.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Donald replaces Kim at Sun City". The Star. 21 November 2008. Retrieved 4 December 2008.
- ^ "European Tour reveal early schedule". RTÉ Sport. 19 October 2009. Retrieved 28 December 2009.