2007 Sunshine Tour


The 2007 Sunshine Tour was the eighth season of professional golf tournaments since the southern Africa based Sunshine Tour was rebranded in 2000, and the marked the beginning of a new era as the tour switched to a calendar based season, having previously been seasonal. The Sunshine Tour represents the highest level of competition for male professional golfers in the region.
The tour was based predominantly in South Africa, with 24 of the 28 tournaments being held in the country. Two events were held in Swaziland, with one each in Zambia and Namibia. There were five new tournaments, the Joburg Open, one of three events co-sanctioned by the PGA European Tour, the Nashua Golf Challenge, the Lombard Insurance Classic, the returning Mount Edgecombe Trophy, and the Nedbank Affinity Cup, introduced to the schedule as an appetizer to the high profile Nedbank Golf Challenge.
The Order of Merit was won for the first time by James Kingston, breaking Charl Schwartzel's three year stranglehold on the title.

Schedule

The table below shows schedule of events for the 2007 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.
The Winter Swing ran from March to November, starting with the Mount Edgecombe Trophy, and closing with the Coca-Cola Charity Championship. Since the tour switched to a calendar based season, this part of the tour effectively splits the Summer Swing into two, with five events being held at the start of the year, and the remainder in December. Due to these scheduling changes, the first five events of the 2007 season had already been part of the 2006-07 tour schedule, but continued to count 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.
DatesTournamentVenue
Prize fundWinnerOWGR
points		Notes
11–14 JanJoburg OpenRoyal Johannesburg and Kensington GC€1,000,000 Ariel Cañete 20Co-sanctioned by the European Tour
New event
25–28 JanDimension Data Pro-AmGary Player CC and Lost City GC, Sun CityR1,600,000 Louis Oosthuizen 14
1–4 FebNashua MastersWild Coast Sun CCR1,200,000 Jean Hugo 14
15–18 FebVodacom ChampionshipPretoria CCR2,200,000 Richard Sterne 14
22–25 FebTelkom PGA ChampionshipThe Country Club, JohannesburgR2,250,000 Louis Oosthuizen 14
8–11 MarMount Edgecombe TrophyMount Edgecombe GCR500,000 Steve van Vuuren New event, last held in 1994
30 Mar – 1 AprFinance Bank Zambia OpenNdola GC, Lusaka, ZambiaR750,000 Steve Basson
13–15 AprEskom Power CupPecanwood Golf EstateR400,000 Chris Swanepoel
18–20 AprVodacom Origins of Golf ArabellaArabella GCR400,000 Andrew Curlewis
2–5 MaySamsung Royal Swazi Sun OpenRoyal Swazi GC, SwazilandR600,000 Des Terblanche
9–11 MayVodacom Origins of Golf PretoriaPretoria CCR400,000 Hennie Otto
17–19 MaySuncoast ClassicDurban CCR400,000 Adilson da Silva
8–10 JunLombard Insurance ClassicRoyal Swazi GC, SwazilandR350,000 Peter Karmis New event
13–15 JunVodacom Origins of Golf SelborneSelborne Hotel Spa and Golf EstateR400,000 George Coetzee
28–30 JunNashua Golf ChallengeGary Player CC and Lost City GC, Sun CityR400,000 Warren Abery New event
1–3 AugVodacom Origins of Golf BloemfonteinBloemfontein GCR400,000 Ulrich van den Berg
22–24 AugVodacom Origins of Golf FancourtFancourt GCR400,000 Adilson da Silva
29–31 AugTelkom PGA Pro-AmCenturion CCR350,000 Michiel Bothma
6–8 SepSeekers Travel Pro-AmDainfern CCR400,000 James Kamte
26–28 SepVodacom Origins of Golf FinalSt Francis LinksR400,000 Titch Moore
5–7 OctBearing Man Highveld ClassicWitbank GCR400,000 Marc Cayeux
18–20 OctMTC Namibia PGA ChampionshipWindhoek Country Club, NamibiaR700,000 Keith Horne
25–27 OctPlatinum ClassicMooinooi GCR705,000 Louis Oosthuizen
20–22 NovCoca-Cola Charity ChampionshipArabella GCR500,000 Titch Moore
26–28 NovNedbank Affinity CupLost City GC, Sun CityR500,000 Mark Murless New event
29 Nov – 2 DecNedbank Golf ChallengeGary Player CC, Sun City$4,385,000 Trevor Immelman 34
6–9 DecAlfred Dunhill ChampionshipLeopard Creek CC, Malelane€1,000,000 John Bickerton 22Co-sanctioned by the European Tour
18–21 DecSouth African Airways OpenPearl Valley Golf Estates€1,000,000 James Kingston 32Co-sanctioned by the European Tour

Order of Merit

was the fifth highest money winner but did not qualify for the Order of Merit, having only played in three events. John Bickerton and Ariel Cañete were second and fourth respectively in the money list thanks to their victories in the Alfred Dunhill Championship and the Joburg Open, but as non tour members, and having not entered sufficient events, they were also ineligible for the Order of Merit.