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 edit
The 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 | Titch Moore (1) |
n/a | New to Sunshine Tour | |
| 26 Mar | Stanbic Zambia Open | Zambia | 500,000 |  James Loughnane (2) |
n/a | ||
| 1 Apr | FNB Botswana Open | Botswana | 180,000 | Richard Kaplan (4) |
n/a | ||
| 14 Apr | Lombard Tyres Classic | Gauteng | 125,000 | Brett Liddle (5) |
n/a | ||
| 7 May | Vodacom Series (Gauteng) | Gauteng | 200,000 | Nico van Rensburg (2) |
n/a | ||
| 13 May | Pietersburg Classic | Limpopo | 125,000 | Marc Cayeux (3) |
n/a | ||
| 28 May | Vodacom Series (Eastern Cape) | Eastern Cape | 200,000 | Ryan Reid (1) |
n/a | ||
| 17 Sep | Emfuleni Classic | Gauteng | 200,000 | Des Terblanche (5) |
n/a | New tournament | |
| 1 Oct | Bearing Man Highveld Classic | Mpumalanga | 200,000 | Sean Pappas (4) |
n/a | ||
| 15 Oct | Observatory Classic | Western Cape | 200,000 | Roger Wessels (4) |
n/a | New tournament | |
| 29 Oct | Western Cape Classic | Western Cape | 200,000 | Jean Hugo (2) |
n/a | ||
| 12 Nov | Platinum Classic | North West | 400,000 | Desvonde Botes (8) |
n/a | ||
| 17 Nov | Riviera Resort Classic | Gauteng | 200,000 | Ulrich van den Berg (1) |
n/a | New tournament | |
| 26 Nov | CABS/Old Mutual Zimbabwe Open | Zimbabwe | 700,000 | Mark McNulty (30) |
12 | ||
| 10 Dec | Vodacom Players Championship | Western Cape | 2,000,000 | Trevor Immelman (1) |
26 | ||
| 14 Jan | Nashua Nedtel Cellular Masters | Eastern Cape | 1,000,000 | Mark McNulty (31) |
12 | ||
| 21 Jan | Alfred Dunhill Championship | Gauteng | £500,000 |  Adam Scott (n/a) |
18 | EUR | |
| 28 Jan | Mercedes-Benz South African Open | Eastern Cape | US$1,000,000 | Mark McNulty (32) |
32 | EUR | Flagship event |
| 4 Feb | Dimension Data Pro-Am | North West | 2,000,000 |  Darren Clarke (n/a) |
28 | Pro-Am | |
| 11 Feb | South African PGA Championship | Gauteng | 1,000,000 | Deane Pappas (1) |
12 | ||
| 18 Feb | Investec Royal Swazi Sun Open | Swaziland | 500,000 | Bradford Vaughan (3) |
12 | ||
| 25 Feb | The Tour Championship | Mpumalanga | 2,000,000 | Darren Fichardt (2) |
16 | New tournament Tour Championship |
Order of Merit edit
The 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 | Mark McNulty |
1,603,481 |
| 2 | Bradford Vaughan |
686,415 |
| 3 | Roger Wessels |
632,383 |
| 4 | Hennie Otto |
620,211 |
| 5 | Trevor Immelman |
619,766 |
Awards edit
| Award | Winner | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| Rookie of the Year (Bobby Locke Trophy) | Trevor Immelman |
[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.