The 2000–01 Sunshine Tour, titled as the 2000–01 Vodacom Tour for sponsorship reasons, was the 30th season of the Sunshine Tour (formerly the Southern Africa Tour), the main professional golf tour in South Africa since it was formed in 1971.
| Duration | 16 March 2000 – 25 February 2001 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 22 |
| Most wins |  Mark McNulty (3) |
| Order of Merit | Mark McNulty |
| Rookie of the Year |  Trevor Immelman |
2001–02 → | |
It was the fourth season of the tour under a title sponsorship agreement with Vodacom, that was announced in June 1997.[1]
Schedule
editThe following table lists official events during the 2000–01 season.[2]
| Date | Tournament | Location | Purse (R) |
Winner[a] | OWGR points |
Other tours[b] |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 Mar | Cock of The North | Zambia | 200,000 | n/a | New to Sunshine Tour | ||
| 26 Mar | Stanbic Zambia Open | Zambia | 500,000 | n/a | |||
| 1 Apr | FNB Botswana Open | Botswana | 180,000 | n/a | |||
| 14 Apr | Lombard Tyres Classic | Gauteng | 125,000 | n/a | |||
| 7 May | Vodacom Series (Gauteng) | Gauteng | 200,000 | n/a | |||
| 13 May | Pietersburg Classic | Limpopo | 125,000 | n/a | |||
| 28 May | Vodacom Series (Eastern Cape) | Eastern Cape | 200,000 | n/a | |||
| 17 Sep | Emfuleni Classic | Gauteng | 200,000 | n/a | New tournament | ||
| 1 Oct | Bearing Man Highveld Classic | Mpumalanga | 200,000 | n/a | |||
| 15 Oct | Observatory Classic | Western Cape | 200,000 | n/a | New tournament | ||
| 29 Oct | Western Cape Classic | Western Cape | 200,000 | n/a | |||
| 12 Nov | Platinum Classic | North West | 400,000 | n/a | |||
| 17 Nov | Riviera Resort Classic | Gauteng | 200,000 | n/a | New tournament | ||
| 26 Nov | CABS/Old Mutual Zimbabwe Open | Zimbabwe | 700,000 | 12 | |||
| 10 Dec | Vodacom Players Championship | Western Cape | 2,000,000 | 26 | |||
| 14 Jan | Nashua Nedtel Cellular Masters | Eastern Cape | 1,000,000 | 12 | |||
| 21 Jan | Alfred Dunhill Championship | Gauteng | £500,000 | 18 | EUR | ||
| 28 Jan | Mercedes-Benz South African Open | Eastern Cape | US$1,000,000 | 32 | EUR | Flagship event | |
| 4 Feb | Dimension Data Pro-Am | North West | 2,000,000 | 28 | Pro-Am | ||
| 11 Feb | South African PGA Championship | Gauteng | 1,000,000 | 12 | |||
| 18 Feb | Investec Royal Swazi Sun Open | Swaziland | 500,000 | 12 | |||
| 25 Feb | The Tour Championship | Mpumalanga | 2,000,000 | 16 | New tournament Tour Championship |
Order of Merit
editThe Order of Merit was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in South African rand.[3][4]
| Position | Player | Prize money (R) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1,603,481 | |
| 2 | 686,415 | |
| 3 | 632,383 | |
| 4 | 620,211 | |
| 5 | 619,766 |
Awards
edit| Award | Winner | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| Rookie of the Year (Bobby Locke Trophy) | [5] |
Notes
edit- ^ 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.
- ^ EUR − European Tour.
References
edit- ^ "Vodacom boosts PGA tour, annoys competitor". Mail & Guardian. Johannesburg, South Africa. 13 June 1997. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
- ^ "2000/01 Tournament schedule". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
- ^ "2000/01 Order of Merit". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
- ^ "Els back for finale". Independent Online. 20 February 2001. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
McNulty's ownership of the Order of Merit title is assured, having amassed over R1.5-million in five events.
- ^ "Fichardt's putter puts him in lead". News24. 24 February 2001. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
Rookie of the Year Immelman is looking good to overhaul both Roger Wessels and Bradford Vaughan for second spot on the order of merit behind Mark McNulty.