Month: April 2021

Brandon Stone heads into this week’s Limpopo Championship with a very clear goal of using these next three European Challenge Tour events being hosted on the Sunshine Tour as preparation for next month’s PGA Championship.

Stone forms part of a strong South African field gathered at Euphoria Golf and Lifestyle Estate for the R3 million Limpopo Championship, which tees off on Thursday as the first of a three-week stretch of European Challenge Tour co-sanctioned events also including the Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open and the Dimension Data Pro-Am.

Wilco Nienaber is back in South Africa for this event, as well as new European Tour member Daniel van Tonder, top GolfRSA amateur Casey Jarvis, defending champion JC Ritchie, rising star Jayden Schaper and recent South African Senior Open champion James Kingston. They will all be joining the international contingent from the European Challenge Tour.

And it’s to the local Sunshine Tour professionals that Stone says he’ll be looking to help get his game in top shape before he tees it up in the year’s second Major, the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island in May.

“The golfers on the Sunshine Tour are incredibly good, and in my opinion we have some of the best golfers in the world playing here. So these next three weeks playing against our best will stand me in good stead before the PGA Championship in just over a month. It’s definitely something to get me ready for that,” said Stone.

The multiple European Tour winner is looking forward to competitive golf again following a frustrating period in which the travel issues surrounding Covid-19 have kept him at home.

“I’m just really looking forward to playing again. I haven’t played in a while because of a few visa issues and the travel restrictions around the world at the moment. I have played a lot of social golf and the game feels fantastic. I’m very eager to get some competitive golf going again.

“I think a lot of players this week will also be hungry to compete. These next three weeks are a definite opportunity for the Sunshine Tour professionals. We have three fantastic tournaments in a row at home and on golf courses the Sunshine Tour professionals are familiar with, and that’s a massive opportunity to earn a European Challenge Tour card. I’ve also never won on the European Challenge Tour, and that’s something I’ve always wanted to do.” – Michael Vlismas

Photo: Carl Fourie

The Sunshine Tour returns to action next week with the first of three tournaments co-sanctioned with the European Challenge Tour, each of which offers the chance for a career-changing week for South African professionals.

The co-sanctioned series of tournaments tees off with the R3 million Limpopo Championship at Euphoria Golf and Lifestyle Estate from 22-25 April. This is followed by the R3 million Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open at the Royal Cape Golf Club from 29 April to 2 May, and then the R6 million Dimension Data Pro-Am at Fancourt from 6-9 May.

The past history of each of these tournaments is testament to the potential they have to launch the international careers of the competing Sunshine Tour professionals.

JC Ritchie returns as the defending champion in the Limpopo Championship. Ritchie is aiming for a record hat-trick of titles in this event after winning the inaugural tournament in 2019 and then defending in 2020. It played a major part in Ritchie finishing top of the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit in the 2019-20 season, and this in turn secured Ritchie an exemption into his first Major Championship – the 2020 US Open at Winged Foot Golf Club – and a place in the World Golf Championship-Workday Championship at The Concession Golf Club in Florida.

The Tour then travels to Cape Town for the R3 million Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open. This was where Brandon Stone claimed his breakthrough victory as a professional in 2015. A year later he won both the South African Open and the Alfred Dunhill Championship to finish top of the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit in 2016. He made his Major Championship debut that same year in both The Open and The PGA Championship, and he secured his place on the European Tour which led to further success when in 2018 he won a major Rolex Series event in the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open.

Fancourt will host the final stop on this run of co-sanctioned tournaments for the R6 million Dimension Data Pro-Am, one of the longest-running tournaments on the Sunshine Tour and with a history of great champions including Lee Westwood, Retief Goosen, Trevor Immelman, Louis Oosthuizen, Mark McNulty, Nick Price, George Coetzee, Branden Grace, and Paul Lawrie.

Last year, Christiaan Bezuidenhout won at Fancourt as he started his rise up the world rankings. Bezuidenhout ended 2020 with wins in the Alfred Dunhill Championship and the South African Open, and has now climbed to 38^th on the Official World Golf Ranking.

These next three weeks on the Sunshine Tour could indeed open the door for South African golf’s next international star.

Schedule:

R3 million Limpopo Championship, Euphoria Golf and Lifestyle Estate : 22-25 April

R3 million Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open, Royal Cape Golf Club : 29 April – 2 May

R6 million Dimension Data Pro-Am, Fancourt : 6-9 May

The Sunshine Tour today announced that Bain’s Cape Mountain Whisky, one of the Distell Group’s leading and internationally awarded brands, will become the new title sponsor of the Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open which will be played at the Royal Cape Golf Club in April.

Bain’s Whisky has for several years been a supporter of the Cape Town Open, which is co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour and the European Challenge Tour.

“We’re delighted to join the Sunshine Tour as a supporter of a tournament that is very close to our hearts and aligns perfectly with our Bain’s brand. After all, what better synergy than bringing together Bain’s Cape Mountain Whisky, which has been awarded the World’s Best Grain Whisky and is made right here in the Cape, and the Cape Town Open,” said Kavir Gangiah, Distell Group Media, Sponsorship and Events Lead for Southern Africa.

“Bain’s Cape Mountain Whisky is a whisky distilled in the Cape and named after the Bainskloof Pass, which is an icon of the region. To associate with a tournament such as the Cape Town Open is the perfect expression of Bain’s as a locally distilled and internationally-awarded whisky, and for a tournament with an international field.”

This year’s Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open, set to be played at Royal Cape Golf Club from 29 April to 2 May and for a prize fund of R3 million, is the ninth edition of a tournament that has played a key role in the development of many Sunshine Tour professionals’ careers, most notably European Tour champion Brandon Stone who won his first Sunshine Tour title in the 2015 edition.

“We are so pleased to welcome Bain’s Whisky as the title sponsor of the Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open,” said Thomas Abt, Commissioner of the Sunshine Tour.

“Bain’s Cape Mountain Whisky prides itself as an innovative brand produced at Africa’s only commercial whisky distillery. Similarly, the Sunshine Tour prides itself on being a Proudly South African Tour and a breeding ground of champions under our banner of Greatness Begins Here. I think the two are a perfect fit.”

Dan Plato, the Executive Mayor of the City of Cape Town, said: “As a proud sponsor of the tournament for the last decade, the City of Cape Town is thrilled to welcome Bain’s Whisky on board for a sporting event that has become an integral feature of the City’s annual calendar. With the Mother City being one of the country’s popular golf tourism destinations, the Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open represents so much of the uniqueness of the Cape province and we’re looking forward to showcasing this authentic natural beauty to an international audience.”