Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Sunshine Tour continues to build strong alliances with PGA and DP World Tours
THE Sunshine Tour has built strong alliances with the DP World Tour and PGA Tour, and it has helped to open the global pathway for southern African golfers and to develop their careers to the highest level.
The Sunshine Tour, founded in 1971, is a professional golf tour based in southern and east Africa. In recent years, it has hosted co-sanctioned events with the DP World Tour (formerly the European Tour) and the PGA Tour (USA and North America). These partnerships attract stronger fields to Sunshine Tour events.
Since its inception, the Tour has opened the way for local golfers to play on the PGA and DP World Tours.
Stand-out players include Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Louis Oosthuizen, Trevor Immelman and Charl Schwartzel, who have all gone on to win majors.
The Sunshine Tour has provided the springboard for not only the exceptional international success of South African golfers, but also for many Europeans and Americans who took important steps in Africa.
Thomas Abt, the commissioner of the Sunshine Tour, said the organisation has continued to build strategic alliances with the major tours.
“This past season, we've been able to do that and will keep working towards improving strategic alliances with golf's major organisations.
“The fragmentation of our global game has been an issue for all of us. Golf wins when we work together within the framework of our global ecosystem. Nobody wins when we go off on our own.
“The way we've overcome this is to keep focused on our core business, which is to create real sustainable value for our members, our partners and sponsors,” Abt said.
“The Sunshine Tour is a professional tour and is the pinnacle of what a young golfer aspires to reach.
“Being a professional in any sphere requires a sacrifice and a certain financial commitment. Our role is to ensure we create the best opportunity for a professional golfer to succeed. To this end, we work very closely with the South African Golf Development Board (SAGDB) and GolfRSA.
“They do the hard and powerful work of growing the game at the grassroots level and unearthing new talent in South African golf.
“Our role is to support this by providing the stage upon which they can showcase their talent to the maximum of their ability."
Over the past few years, the sense of opportunity abounds on the Sunshine Tour, and several first-time winners have emerged. This trend has continued this year.
“You need only look at the number of first-time winners we've had on the Sunshine Tour this past season to appreciate just how competitive our tour is," said Abt.
“It's not so much a question of bigger fields as it's a question of deeper fields in terms of the potential champions in any given week on tour.
“When you speak to the international golfers who come to play our tour, they'll also tell you that the quality of the competition here, the high standard of our golf courses, the overall running of the tour and the opportunities we offer for them to further their careers all adds up to a strong product.”