Sunshine Tour stars at Serengeti for season finale
10 April 2024 - 17:27
byMICHAEL VLISMAS
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Ryan van Velzen, who leads the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit. Picture: Sunshine Tour/Tyrone Winfield
Another stellar Sunshine Tour season will end on a high this week with the exclusive R2m Tour Championship at Serengeti Estates featuring the stars of the 2023/24 season.
The top 50 available professionals on the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit have qualified for this 72-hole tournament — with no halfway cut — which tees off on Thursday.
The event is just reward for the professionals’ consistency throughout one of the most successful Sunshine Tour seasons yet, with a number of new young stars emerging and the overall increase in events and prize money on the Tour.
Ryan van Velzen leads the field as the top-ranked player on the Sunshine Tour after a breakthrough season that includes three wins and puts him at the front of the race to secure the overall Order of Merit title. Victory would put him in an exclusive group in SA golf that includes Gary Player, Ernie Els and, more recently, Christiaan Bezuidenhout.
A further incentive is that the top three professionals at the end of the season will receive an added bonus — R500,000 for the first-placed finisher, R200,000 for second and R100,000 for third place, on top of their season’s earnings.
In second place, Robin Williams is challenging for his own honours this week as he seeks to claim the rookie of the year award and with it a R200,000 bonus.
Williams announced himself as a new star in the SA game this season, claiming a maiden Sunshine Tour title, a lost playoff for a DP World Tour co-sanctioned title in the SDC Championship, and third place in a European Challenge Tour co-sanctioned event in the Dimension Data Pro-Am.
This week’s field includes defending champion Jaco Ahlers; rising young star Casey Jarvis, who finished second last year; Nikhil Rama, who came close to winning the Joburg Open before finishing sixth; and 2018 champion Darren Fichardt.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Sunshine Tour stars at Serengeti for season finale
Another stellar Sunshine Tour season will end on a high this week with the exclusive R2m Tour Championship at Serengeti Estates featuring the stars of the 2023/24 season.
The top 50 available professionals on the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit have qualified for this 72-hole tournament — with no halfway cut — which tees off on Thursday.
The event is just reward for the professionals’ consistency throughout one of the most successful Sunshine Tour seasons yet, with a number of new young stars emerging and the overall increase in events and prize money on the Tour.
Ryan van Velzen leads the field as the top-ranked player on the Sunshine Tour after a breakthrough season that includes three wins and puts him at the front of the race to secure the overall Order of Merit title. Victory would put him in an exclusive group in SA golf that includes Gary Player, Ernie Els and, more recently, Christiaan Bezuidenhout.
A further incentive is that the top three professionals at the end of the season will receive an added bonus — R500,000 for the first-placed finisher, R200,000 for second and R100,000 for third place, on top of their season’s earnings.
In second place, Robin Williams is challenging for his own honours this week as he seeks to claim the rookie of the year award and with it a R200,000 bonus.
Williams announced himself as a new star in the SA game this season, claiming a maiden Sunshine Tour title, a lost playoff for a DP World Tour co-sanctioned title in the SDC Championship, and third place in a European Challenge Tour co-sanctioned event in the Dimension Data Pro-Am.
This week’s field includes defending champion Jaco Ahlers; rising young star Casey Jarvis, who finished second last year; Nikhil Rama, who came close to winning the Joburg Open before finishing sixth; and 2018 champion Darren Fichardt.
Burmester secures first LIV win after playoff with Garcia
McIlroy to pace himself at high-stakes Augusta
Masters brings PGA Tour and LIV players together
Confident Cara eyes Jabra Ladies Classic title
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Most Read
Published by Arena Holdings and distributed with the Financial Mail on the last Thursday of every month except December and January.