Category: Development Tour

NAIROBI – Wednesday, March 26, 2025: The Sunshine Tour, one of the top golf tours of the world, has expanded its footprint into Kenya and East Africa, introducing the Sunshine Development Tour.

The South Africa-based Sunshine Tour has signed a three-year exclusive contract with leading sports marketing agency IMG Kenya Limited to launch and operationalize this brand new mixed, professional development golf tour in Kenya and East Africa.

The Sunshine Development Tour – East African Swing, will offer professional golfers and elite amateurs, both men and women, a chance to play regular competitive golf tournaments organized in line with Sunshine Tour standards.

Commenting on the Tour, IMG Kenya CEO, Peter Gacheru said the Tour is set to revolutionize professional and elite amateur golf in the region.

“We are very pleased to be partnering with The Sunshine Tour of South Africa to bring The Sunshine Development Tour – East African Swing to the region. It is our conviction that this Tour will offer golfers the much-needed platform to play consistent and competitive golf to an ever-increasing standard, whilst providing them with a steady revenue stream.

“Our objective is to enhance the quality of professional golf in Kenya and the region, provide elite amateurs and juniors with a development pad, and elevate our profile as a golfing community on the global stage.

“We believe that, through this tour, our local and regional golf landscape will be transformed to produce globally acclaimed golf champions whilst providing a development pipeline for future talent,” he said.

“We look forward to joining hands with other like-minded partners to grow this event to make it bigger, more sustainable, and more impactful for the present and future of golf in the region,” he added.

This Tour will include 10 to 15 events annually and will deliver Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points, which are crucial for player advancement, providing local professional golfers with a genuine merit-based “pathway” into global golf. OWGR points are also crucial for qualification to the Olympic Games.

Commenting on the deal, Sunshine Tour Commissioner, Thomas Abt, said:
“The launch of the Sunshine Development Tour is a significant moment for golf in Africa as we are able to create unrivalled opportunities for professional golfers and the top amateurs in East Africa. We now have an effective vehicle to unearth the talent on the continent and bring new stars to the game.

“The Sunshine Tour and Sunshine Ladies Tour have effective global pathways in place that are perfectly suited to the development of talent in Africa.
“We look forward to launching the Sunshine Development Tour in what is a milestone moment for the game in Africa, and one in which we can play an important role in the growth of golf here.”

Ahead of the tour, IMG Kenya and the Sunshine Tour have organized a qualifying event (Q-School) from the 30th of March to 2nd of April 2025 at the Windsor Golf Hotel and Country Club. The qualifying school will be a four-day tournament with a prize money of Sh1 million.

“Ordinarily Q-Schools don’t offer Prize money, but we made a decision at IMG Kenya to kick start the Tour with an incentive for the professional golfers,” Gacheru added.

The ‘Q-School’ is a mandatory pre-requisite for earning OWGR points on the East Africa Swing, and all players hoping to join the tour may register online at easwing.epass.co.ke. Players completing the four-round qualifier event will be awarded tour cards for the 2025/26 season and the top 10 qualifiers will earn invitations to the Sunshine Tour Final Stage Qualifier in Johannesburg, 8 – 11 April 2025.

George Coetzee claimed the 15^th title of his Sunshine Tour career with a three-stroke victory in the Serengeti Playoffs on Sunday, and with it also secured the first win of the new Courier Guy Playoffs Series.

Coetzee signed for a solid 69 to win on 19 under par at Serengeti Estates. Daniel van Tonder finished second on 16 under par with a final round of 69.

After a slow and steady start with regular pars on the first seven holes, Coetzee made an eagle on the par-five eighth hole and added a further two birdies and just one bogey that was enough to ensure him a victory.

“It was a very busy day for me in my head. I tried to stay in my lane and do what I have to do, follow my routines and to follow my gameplan to play as well as possible. Things worked today, but you never know. It took me like five holes just to feel like it was me playing, and around the middle of the round it started to feel a little better,” he said.

For Coetzee, after returning from injury and celebrating the birth of his child in this time, this victory was very special.

“You want to do stuff that your kids can be proud of, like I am proud of my parents and I want my kid to be proud of me.”

With the victory Coetzee moves up with 48 places on the Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy to the 28^th spot, securing a place in next week’s tournament – the season-ending DNi Tour Championship presented by RMB.

The top 50 players on the Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy after this event progress to the DNi Tour Championship presented by RMB at Blair Atholl Golf and Equestrian Estate, which will bring down the curtain on the 2024/2025 season.

Playing in the leading group on Sunday, Daniel van Tonder, the current leader on the Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy leader, pushed hard on the final day but could not close in on Coetzee.

Stefan Wears-Taylor’s eight-under-par 64 in the final round moved him into a share of third place on 14-under-par with youngsters Kyle de Beer (67) and Stals Swart (70).

Altin van der Merwe ended the tournament in a share of sixth place on 13-under-par with a 68, and thereby secured his place as the current leader on the Fortress Top Rookie of the Year standings with the final tournament of the season to come. – Michael Vlismas Media