1999–2000 Southern Africa Tour Explained

Year:1999–2000
Tour:Southern Africa Tour
Regular Season:
No Of Events:17
Most Wins: Bobby Lincoln (2)
Hennie Otto (2)
Honor1:Order of Merit
Honoree1: Darren Fichardt
Honor2:Rookie of the Year
Honoree2: Jean Hugo
Prevseason:1998–99
Nextseason:2000–01

The 1999–2000 Southern Africa Tour, titled as the 1999–2000 Vodacom Tour for sponsorship reasons, was the 29th season of the Southern Africa Tour, the main professional golf tour in South Africa since it was formed in 1971.

It was the third season of the tour under a title sponsorship agreement with Vodacom, that was announced in June 1997.[1]

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 1999–2000 season.[2] [3]

DateTournamentLocationPurse
(R)
WinnerOWGR
points
Other
tours
Notes
17 Apr Gauteng 125,000 Brett Liddle (4) n/a
23 Apr Vodacom Series (Gauteng) Gauteng 200,000 Nico van Rensburg (1) n/a
8 May Limpopo 100,000 Hennie Otto (1) n/a
15 May Vodacom Series (Eastern Cape) Eastern Cape 200,000 Ashley Roestoff (6) n/a
12 Jun Vodacom Series (KwaZulu-Natal) KwaZulu-Natal 200,000 Hennie Otto (2) n/a
14 Aug Vodacom Series (Mpumalanga) Mpumalanga 200,000 André Cruse (1) n/a
12 Sep Mpumalanga 100,000 Bobby Lincoln (5) n/a
25 Sep Vodacom Series (Free State) Free State 200,000 Desvonde Botes (7) n/a
30 Sep Swaziland 200,000 Bradford Vaughan (2) n/a
10 Oct Vodacom Series (Western Cape) Western Cape 200,000 Sean Ludgater (1) n/a
31 Oct North West 200,000 Bobby Lincoln (6) n/a
28 Nov Zimbabwe 475,000 Jean Hugo (1) 12
12 Dec Western Cape 2,000,000 Nic Henning (1) 20
16 Jan Mpumalanga £500,000 Anthony Wall (n/a) 12 New tournament
23 Jan Gauteng US$1,000,000 Mathias Grönberg (n/a) 32 Flagship event
30 Jan North West 2,000,000 Lee Westwood (n/a) 22 Pro-Am
6 Feb Swaziland 1,000,000 Mark McNulty (29) 12

Unofficial events

The following events were sanctioned by the Southern Africa Tour, but did not carry official money, nor were wins official.

DateTournamentLocationPurse
(R)
WinnerOWGR
points
Notes
22 Jul Eastern Cape 75,000 n/a
17 Aug Gauteng 80,000 n/a Title shared
27 Aug Swaziland 75,000 n/a
5 DecNedbank Million Dollar ChallengeNorth WestUS$2,500,000 Ernie Els40Limited-field event

Order of Merit

The Order of Merit was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in South African rand.[4] [5]

PositionPlayerPrize money (R)
1 558,735
2 525,388
3 443,705
4 347,527
5 330,590

Notes and References

  1. News: Vodacom boosts PGA tour, annoys competitor . Mail & Guardian . Johannesburg, South Africa . 13 June 1997 . 8 October 2023.
  2. Web site: 1999/2000 Tournament schedule . Sunshine Tour . 8 October 2023.
  3. Web site: 1999/2000 Vodacom Tour . Sunshine Tour . 20 August 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20000815082942/http://www.pgatour.co.za/9900.htm . 15 August 2000.
  4. Web site: 1999/2000 Order of Merit . Sunshine Tour . 8 October 2023.
  5. News: Supermac's putter burns up the course . Independent Online . Grant . Winter . 6 February 2000 . 8 October 2023 . This was the final event of the 1999/2000 Vodacom Tour and Darren Fichardt has won the Order of Merit with earnings of R558 735, closely followed by Nic Henning on R525 388 with Tjaart van der Walt third on R443 705. Nick Price (R501 896) and Retief Goosen (R479 000) earned more than Van der Walt but do not qualify for the Order of Merit as they have not played in four tournaments, which is a minimum requirement..
  6. Web site: Jean Hugo . Sunshine Tour . 29 November 2023 . 1999: Winner of Bobby Locke Trophy for Rookie of the Year.