2002–03 Sunshine Tour


The 2002–03 Sunshine Tour was the third season of professional golf tournaments since the southern Africa based Sunshine Tour was rebranded in 2000. The Sunshine Tour represents the highest level of competition for male professional golfers in the region.
There were 15 official events on the schedule. This was an decrease of eight from the previous year, and represents the fewest in the 15 seasons that Sunshine Tour has existed. There were eight tournaments from the previous season that were eliminated: the Goldfields Powerade Classic, the Bloemfontein Classic, the Randfontein Classic, the Atlantic Beach Classic, the Western Cape Classic, the Graceland Challenge, Cock of the North, and the CABS/Old Mutual Zimbabwe Open. The tour was based predominantly in South Africa, with 11 of the 15 official tournaments being held in the country. Two events were held in Swaziland, and one event each was held in Botswana and Zambia. Two events, the Dunhill Championship and the South African Airways Open were co-sanctioned by the European Tour.
The Order of Merit was won by Trevor Immelman.

Schedule

The table below shows schedule of events for the 2002–03 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.
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
200221–24 FebCapital Alliance Royal Swazi Sun OpenRoyal Swazi Sun Country Club, Swaziland275,000 Andrew McLardy
20027–10 MarStanbic Zambia OpenLusaka Golf Club, Zambia450,000 Marc Cayeux Co-sanctioned with Challenge Tour
200221–23 MarFNB Botswana OpenGaborone Golf Club, Botswana200,000 Hendrik Buhrmann
20029–11 MayLimpopo Industrelek ClassicPietersburg Golf Club125,000 Hennie Otto
200217–19 MayRoyal Swazi Sun ClassicRoyal Swazi Sun Country Club, Swaziland100,000 James Kingston
200226–28 SepVodacom Golf ClassicRoyal JHB & Kensington G.C125,000 Ashley Roestoff Last year of tournament
20024–6 OctBearing Man Highveld ClassicWitbank Golf Club125,000 Titch Moore
20021–3 NovPlatinum ClassicMooi Nooi Golf Club300,000 Titch Moore
200214–17 NovTelkom PGA ChampionshipWoodhill Country Club650,000 Michiel Bothma
200221–24 NovNashua MastersWild Coast Sun Country Club500,000 Hennie Otto
20025–8 DecVodacom Players ChampionshipRoyal Cape Golf Club1,000,000 Mark McNulty Last year of tournament
20039–12 JanSouth African Airways OpenErinvale Golf Club3,000,000 Trevor Immelman Co-sanctioned with European Tour
200316–19 JanDunhill ChampionshipHoughton Golf Club2,500,000 Mark FosterCo-sanctioned with European Tour
200323–26 JanDimension Data Better-BallGary Player Country Club100,000 Hennie OttoUnofficial tournament
Last year of tournament
200323–26 JanDimension Data Pro-AmGary Player Country Club1,000,000 Trevor Immelman
200330 Jan – 2 FebThe Tour ChampionshipLeopard Creek Country Club1,200,000 Hennie Otto

Order of Merit