2006–07 Sunshine Tour


The 2006–07 Sunshine Tour was the seventh season of professional golf tournaments since the southern Africa based Sunshine Tour was rebranded in 2000. It marked the last year of a seasonal calendar. The Sunshine Tour represents the highest level of competition for male professional golfers in the region.
In 2005–06 there had been 21 tournaments. Of those, two tournaments were last held in 2005, but there were eight tournaments added for the 2006–07 schedule bringing the total up to 27. The tour was based predominantly in South Africa, with 24 of the 27 tournaments being held in the country. One event each was held in Swaziland, Zambia and Namibia. The new tournaments were the Stanbic Zambia Open, which returned after a hiatus in 2005, two South African Airways Pro-Am Invitational tournaments, the Sun Coast Classic, the Eskom Power Cup, the Coca-Cola Charity Championship, the first sanctioned year of the Nedbank Golf Challenge, and the Joburg Open which was co-sanctioned by the European Tour.
The Order of Merit was won for the third straight time by Charl Schwartzel.

Schedule

The table below shows schedule of events for the 2006–07 Sunshine Tour. As usual, the tour consisted of two distinct parts, commonly referred to as the "Summer Swing" and "Winter Swing". Tournaments held during the Summer Swing generally had much higher prize funds, attracted stronger fields, and were the only tournaments on the tour to carry world ranking points, with three events being co-sanctioned with the European Tour.
With the switch to a calendar-based schedule in 2007, the last five events of the 2006–07 season were also considered part of the 2007 schedule, and counted towards the final standings of both.
Prize funds shown did not count directly towards the Order of Merit. The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of official money Sunshine Tour events he had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for Sunshine Tour members.
YearDatesTournamentVenue
Prize fund
WinnerNotesRef
200617–19 MarStanbic Zambia OpenNchanga Golf Club, Zambia750,000 Steve Basson Returns to tour after one-year hiatus
200619–21 AprVodacom Origins of Golf Tour Arabella Country Club400,000 Jean Hugo
200627–29 AprSouth African Airways Pro-Am Invitational, Cape TownPaarl Golf Glub350,000 Jean Hugo New tournament
20063-6 MaySamsung Royal Swazi Sun OpenRoyal Swazi Sun Country Club, Swaziland550,000 Thomas Aiken
200611–13 MaySun Coast ClassicDurban Country Club350,000 Alex Haindl New tournament
200618–20 MaySouth African Airways Pro-Am Invitational, JohannesburgKempton Park Golf Club400,000 Tongoona Charamba New tournament
200624–26 MayVodacom Origins of Golf Tour Pretoria Country Club400,000 Vaughn Groenewald
200628–30 JunVodacom Origins of Golf Tour Selborne Golf Club400,000 Rossouw Loubser
200616–18 AugVodacom Origins of Golf Tour Bloemfontein Golf Club400,000 Rossouw Loubser
200623–25 AugTelkom PGA Pro-AmCenturion Country Club350,000 Doug McGuigan
200631 Aug – 2 SepEskom Power CupWanderers Golf Club350,000 Trevor Fisher Jnr New tournament
200613–15 SepVodacom Origins of Golf Tour Pezula Championship Course400,000 Kevin Stone
200628–30 SepSeekers Travel Pro-AmDainfern Country Club350,000 Desvonde Botes
20064–6 OctVodacom Origins of Golf Tour FinalMontagu Golf Course, Fancourt400,000 Darren Fichardt
200613–15 OctBearing Man Highveld ClassicWitbank Golf Club400,000 Darren Fichardt
200619–21 OctMTC Namibia PGA ChampionshipWindhoek Country Club, Namibia650,000 Anton Haig
200626–28 OctPlatinum ClassicMooinooi Golf Club600,000 Vaughn Groenewald
200616–19 NovLimpopo ClassicPolokwane Golf Club1,000,000 Bradford Vaughan Last year of this tournament
200621–23 NovCoca-Cola Charity ChampionshipArabella Country Club500,000 Alan Michell New tournament
200630 Nov – 3 DecNedbank Golf ChallengeGary Player Country Club$4,385,000 Jim FurykFirst year as sanctioned tournament
20067–10 DecAlfred Dunhill ChampionshipLeopard Creek Country Club€,1000,000 Álvaro QuirósCo-sanctioned with European Tour
200614–17 DecSouth African Airways OpenHumewood Golf Club€1,000,000 Ernie Els Co-sanctioned with European Tour
200711–14 JanJoburg OpenRoyal JHB & Kens – East€1,000,000 Ariel CañeteCo-sanctioned with European Tour
New tournament
200725–28 JanDimension Data Pro-AmGary Player Country Club1,600,000 Louis Oosthuizen
20071–4 FebNashua MastersWild Coast Sun Country Club1,200,000 Jean Hugo
200715–18 FebVodacom ChampionshipPretoria Country Club2,200,000 Richard Sterne
200722–25 FebTelkom PGA ChampionshipCountry Club Johannesburg2,250,000 Louis Oosthuizen

Order of Merit

was the highest money winner but did not qualify for the Order of Merit, having only played in three events. Álvaro Quirós was second in the money list thanks to his victory in the Alfred Dunhill Championship, but as a non-tour member and having not entered sufficient events, he was also ineligible for the Order of Merit.