2011 Sunshine Tour


The 2011 Sunshine Tour is the 12th season of professional golf tournaments since the southern Africa based Sunshine Tour was relaunched in 2000, and the 5th since the tour switched a calendar based season in 2007. The Sunshine Tour represents the highest level of competition for male professional golfers in the region.
The tour is based predominantly in South Africa with other events being held in neighbouring countries, including Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Zambia and Namibia.

Schedule

The table below shows schedule of events for the 2011 Sunshine Tour season. As usual, the tour consists of two distinct parts, commonly referred to as the "Summer Swing" and the "Winter Swing". Tournaments held during the Summer Swing generally have much higher prize funds, attract stronger fields, and are the only tournaments on the tour to carry world ranking points, with some events being co-sanctioned with the European Tour. Since the tour switched to a calendar based season, this part of the tour has been split in two, with some events being held at the start of the year, and the remainder in December.
Prize funds shown do 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 won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for Sunshine Tour members.
DatesTournamentLocation
Prize fundWinnerOWGR
points		Notes
5-9 JanAfrica OpenEast London, Eastern Cape€1,000,000 Louis Oosthuizen 22Co-sanctioned by the European Tour
13-16 JanJoburg OpenJohannesburg, Gauteng€1,300,000 Charl Schwartzel 20Co-sanctioned by the European Tour
27-30 JanAfricom Zimbabwe OpenHarare, ZimbabweR1,250,000 Theunis Spangenberg 14Shortened to 54 holes due to weather
17-20 FebDimension Data Pro-AmGeorge, Western CapeR3,000,000 Hennie Otto 14
24-27 FebTelkom PGA ChampionshipJohannesburg, GautengR3,250,000 George Coetzee 14
17-20 MarMTC Namibia PGA ChampionshipWindhoek, NamibiaR1,200,000 J. G. Claassen 14
4-7 MayInvestec Royal Swazi OpenSwazilandR750,000 Justin Walters 14
12-14 MayNashua Golf ChallengeSun City, North WestR500,000 Adilson da Silva n/a
25-27 MayVodacom Origins of Golf Tour Pretoria, GautengR540,000 Jean Hugo n/a
3-5 JunLombard Insurance ClassicSwazilandR850,000 Justin Harding n/a
8-10 JunVodacom Origins of Golf Tour Western CapeR540,000 Chris Swanepoel n/a
27-29 JulVodacom Origins of Golf Tour Eastern CapeR540,000 Jean Hugo n/a
10-12 AugVodacom Origins of Golf Tour Kwazulu-NatalR540,000 Darren Fichardt n/a
31 Aug-2 SepVodacom Origins of Golf Tour Northern CapeR540,000 Adilson da Silva n/a
7-9 SepTelkom PGA Pro-AmGautengR500,000 Jaco Van Zyl n/a
15-17 SepNorthern Cape ClassicNorthern CapeR600,000 Oliver Bekker n/aNew tournament
21-23 SepVodacom Origins of Golf Tour FinalLimpopoR600,000 Jean Hugo n/a
6-8 OctPlatinum ClassicNorth WestR500,000 Hennie Otto n/a
12-15 OctKCM Zambia OpenChingola, ZambiaR1,200,000 Doug McGuigan 14
20-22 OctSuncoast ClassicKwazulu-NatalR500,000 Darren Fichardt n/a
28-30 OctBMG ClassicJohannesburg, GautengR600,000 James Kamte n/a
3-6 NovNashua MastersKwazulu-NatalR1,200,000 Shaun Norris 14
8-10 NovNedbank Affinity CupNorth WestR600,000 Warren Abery n/a
17-20 NovAlfred Dunhill ChampionshipMalelane€1,000,000 Garth Mulroy 20Co-sanctioned by the European Tour
24-27 NovSouth African OpenEkurhuleni€1,000,000 Hennie Otto 32Co-sanctioned by the European Tour
1-4 DecNedbank Golf ChallengeSun City, North WestUS$5,000,000 Lee Westwood 38

Order of Merit

and Louis Oosthuizen were ineligible for the Order of Merit having only played in three and one tournaments, respectively, during the season. Schwartzel earned R2,211,553 and Oosthuizen earned R1,394,800 from those events.