Sunshine Tour announces strong start to 2021

The Sunshine Tour has announced that it will tee off 2021 with a strong run of seven tournaments, including three which will be co-sanctioned with the European Challenge Tour.

The local golf year will begin with the R1 million Kit Kat Group Pro-Am at Houghton Golf Club from 5-7 February.

This will be followed by the three Challenge Tour co-sanctioned tournaments of the R6 million Dimension Data Pro-Am, the R3 million Cape Town Open and the R3 million Limpopo Championship.

The Dimension Data Pro-Am, won by South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout in 2020, will take place at Fancourt Golf Estate, George, from 11-14 February where each player will be paired with an amateur and play one round on each of the venue’s three courses – The Links, Montagu and Outeniqua – before a third round cut leaves the leading players to compete for the title in the final round.

A week later, the Cape Town Open will return to King David Mowbray Golf Club and Royal Cape Golf Club from 18-21 February. Sweden’s Anton Karlsson secured his first Challenge Tour victory in the 2020 edition of the event against the iconic backdrop of Cape Town’s Table Mountain.

The Challenge Tour’s South African Swing will conclude with the Limpopo Championship, won by South Africa’s JC Ritchie in 2020, from 25-28 February at Euphoria Golf Club and Koro Creek Golf Club as members of both Tours compete for early season Road to Mallorca Rankings points.

The Sunshine Tour will then continue with The Players Championship (offering a minimum purse of R1 million) from 11-13 March at a venue still to be announced, the R1 million Gauteng Championship presented by Betway from 18-20 March at Ebotse Golf and Country Estate, and the R1.5 million Tour Championship from 25-28 March at Serengeti Golf and Wildlife Estate.

Thomas Abt, the Sunshine Tour Commissioner, said: “We’re delighted to be able to announce our early 2021 schedule, which makes for a strong start to the year for our members. I’d like to thank our Chairman, Johann Rupert, our Executive Director, Selwyn Nathan, as well as our Board of Directors, sponsors and partners for their support as we’ve worked on a schedule that gives us a very healthy base from upon which to build the rest of our 2021 schedule.”

“I’m very pleased that we can tee off these seven tournaments with a new tournament and a new sponsor in Kit Kat Cash and Carry for the Kit Kat Invitational, and we welcome them to the Sunshine Tour schedule. It’s also a great pleasure to welcome back the Challenge Tour to South African fairways. The Sunshine Tour is a tour of opportunity and we’re focused on providing our members with as many opportunities as possible to realise our vision that GreatnessBeginsHere. The partnership with the Challenge Tour provides us with yet another level in the game whereby our members can gain access onto the greater international stage.”