2022–23 Sunshine Tour

The 2022–23 Sunshine Tour was the 52nd season of the Sunshine Tour (formerly the Southern Africa Tour), the main professional golf tour in South Africa since it was formed in 1971.

2022–23 Sunshine Tour season

Duration	13 May 2022 (2022-05-13) – 23 April 2023 (2023-04-23)
Number of official events	33
Most wins	George Coetzee (2) Dylan Mostert (2) Albert Venter (2)
Order of Merit	Ockie Strydom
Rookie of the Year	Casey Jarvis
← 2021–22 2023–24 →

Changes for 2022–23

The season marked the return of the FBC Zim Open, having not been played since 2018.^[1]

In May 2022, the tour announced that the Order of Merit would be rebranded as the Luno Order of Merit, calculated using a points-based system rather than money earned.^[2]

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 2022–23 season.^[3]

Date	Tournament	Location	Purse (R)	Winner[a]	OWGR points	Other tours[b]	Notes
15 May	Lombard Insurance Classic	Western Cape	1,200,000	Herman Loubser (1)	7
22 May	FBC Zim Open	Zimbabwe	2,000,000	Albert Venter (1)	14
29 May	Sishen Classic	Northern Cape	3,000,000	Deon Germishuys (1)	14		New tournament
3 Jun	SunBet Challenge (Sun City)	North West	1,000,000	Rourke van der Spuy (3)	4
12 Jun	Kit Kat Group Pro-Am	Gauteng	1,000,000	Dylan Mostert (1)	4		Pro-Am
30 Jul	FNB Eswatini Nkonyeni Challenge	Eswatini	1,000,000	Jaco Prinsloo (6)	4		New tournament[c]
6 Aug	Vodacom Origins of Golf at De Zalze	Western Cape	1,150,000	George Coetzee (13)	4
13 Aug	Bain's Whisky Ubunye Championship	Gauteng	1,200,000	Merrick Bremner (8) and Martin Rohwer (3)	n/a		New team event
19 Aug	SunBet Challenge (Time Square Casino)	Gauteng	1,000,000	Albert Venter (2)	2.43
27 Aug	Vodacom Origins of Golf at Highland Gate	Mpumalanga	1,150,000	Anthony Michael (1)	2.01
10 Sep	Gary & Vivienne Player Challenge	KwaZulu-Natal	1,200,000	Jaco van Zyl (15)	2.32		New tournament
17 Sep	Vodacom Origins of Golf at San Lameer	KwaZulu-Natal	1,150,000	Wynand Dingle (1)	2.29
23 Sep	SunBet Challenge (Wild Coast Sun)	Western Cape	1,000,000	M. J. Viljoen (2)	1.97
1 Oct	Vodacom Origins of Golf at St Francis	Eastern Cape	1,150,000	Ruan Korb (2)	1.74
9 Oct	Fortress Invitational	Gauteng	1,500,000	Pieter Moolman (1)	2.40		New tournament
15 Oct	Blue Label Challenge	North West	2,500,000	Stephen Ferreira (1)	2.19		Pro-Am
21 Oct	SunBet Challenge (Sun Sibaya)	KwaZulu-Natal	1,000,000	Dylan Naidoo (1)	1.37
30 Oct	Vodacom Origins of Golf Final	Western Cape	1,500,000	Combrinck Smit (1)	1.88
6 Nov	PGA Championship	Eastern Cape	1,200,000	George Coetzee (14)	2.37
27 Nov	Joburg Open	Gauteng	17,500,000	Dan Bradbury (n/a)	9.24	EUR
4 Dec	Investec South African Open Championship	Gauteng	US$1,500,000	Thriston Lawrence (3)	12.12	EUR
11 Dec	Alfred Dunhill Championship	Mpumalanga	€1,500,000	Ockie Strydom (2)	14.59	EUR
18 Dec	AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open	Mauritius	€1,000,000	Antoine Rozner (n/a)	8.60	EUR
5 Feb	Bain's Whisky Cape Town Open	Western Cape	US$350,000	Benjamin Follett-Smith (2)	5.67	CHA
12 Feb	Dimension Data Pro-Am	Western Cape	7,000,000	Oliver Bekker (8)	6.05	CHA	Pro-Am
19 Feb	SDC Open	Limpopo	US$350,000	J. J. Senekal (3)	5.21	CHA
26 Feb	Nelson Mandela Bay Championship	Eastern Cape	US$350,000	Dylan Mostert (2)	5.25	CHA	New tournament
11 Mar	Mediclinic Invitational	Gauteng	2,000,000	Stefan Wears-Taylor (1)	2.34		New tournament
19 Mar	SDC Championship	Eastern Cape	US$1,500,000	Matthew Baldwin (n/a)	14.81	EUR	New tournament
26 Mar	Jonsson Workwear Open	Gauteng	US$1,500,000	Nick Bachem (n/a)	13.85	EUR
2 Apr	Limpopo Championship	Limpopo	2,000,000	Ryan van Velzen (1)	2.51
16 Apr	Stella Artois Players Championship	Gauteng	2,000,000	Kyle Barker (1)	2.75
23 Apr	The Tour Championship	Gauteng	2,000,000	Jaco Ahlers (11)	2.88		Tour Championship

Unofficial events

The following events were sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour, but did not carry official money, nor were wins official.

Date	Tournament	Location	Purse (R)	Winner	OWGR points	Other tours[b]	Notes
13 Nov	Nedbank Golf Challenge	North West	US$6,000,000	Tommy Fleetwood	14.92	EUR	Limited-field event
21 Apr	Altron Vusi Ngubeni Tournament	Gauteng	100,000	Robin Williams	n/a

Order of Merit

The Order of Merit was titled as the Luno Order of Merit and was based on tournament results during the season, calculated using a points-based system.^[4][5] The top three players on the Order of Merit (not otherwise exempt) earned status to play on the 2024 European Tour (DP World Tour).^[6]

Position	Player	Points	Status earned
1	Ockie Strydom	3,336	Already exempt[d]
2	Jaco Prinsloo	2,327	Promoted to European Tour
3	Thriston Lawrence	2,318	Already exempt[d]
4	Oliver Bekker	2,117	Promoted to European Tour
5	Dylan Mostert	1,912

Awards

Award	Winner	Ref.
Rookie of the Year (Bobby Locke Trophy)	Casey Jarvis	[9][10]

See also

• 2022 Big Easy Tour

Notes

1. The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of Sunshine Tour events they had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for Sunshine Tour members.
2. CHA − Challenge Tour; EUR − European Tour.
3. Tournament's debut delayed from 2020.
4. Strydom and Lawrence were already exempt due to being tournament winners on the 2023 European Tour (DP World Tour).^[7][8]