1999–2000 Southern Africa Tour
| Duration | 14 April 1999 – 6 February 2000 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 17 |
| Most wins | Bobby Lincoln (2) Hennie Otto (2) |
| Order of Merit | Darren Fichardt |
| Rookie of the Year | Jean Hugo |
← 1998–99 2000–01 → | |
The 1999–2000 Southern Africa Tour, titled as the 1999–2000 Vodacom Tour for sponsorship reasons, was the 29th season of the Southern Africa Tour, the main professional golf tour in South Africa since it was formed in 1971.
It was the third season of the tour under a title sponsorship agreement with Vodacom, that was announced in June 1997.[1]
Schedule
The following table lists official events during the 1999–2000 season.[2][3]
| Date | Tournament | Location | Purse (R) |
Winner[a] | OWGR points |
Other tours[b] |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 Apr | Lombard Tyres Classic | Gauteng | 125,000 | Brett Liddle (4) | n/a | ||
| 23 Apr | Vodacom Series (Gauteng) | Gauteng | 200,000 | Nico van Rensburg (1) | n/a | ||
| 8 May | Pietersburg Classic | Limpopo | 100,000 | Hennie Otto (1) | n/a | ||
| 15 May | Vodacom Series (Eastern Cape) | Eastern Cape | 200,000 | Ashley Roestoff (6) | n/a | ||
| 12 Jun | Vodacom Series (KwaZulu-Natal) | KwaZulu-Natal | 200,000 | Hennie Otto (2) | n/a | ||
| 14 Aug | Vodacom Series (Mpumalanga) | Mpumalanga | 200,000 | André Cruse (1) | n/a | ||
| 12 Sep | Bearing Man Highveld Classic | Mpumalanga | 100,000 | Bobby Lincoln (5) | n/a | ||
| 25 Sep | Vodacom Series (Free State) | Free State | 200,000 | Desvonde Botes (7) | n/a | ||
| 30 Sep | Royal Swazi Sun Classic | Swaziland | 200,000 | Bradford Vaughan (2) | n/a | ||
| 10 Oct | Vodacom Series (Western Cape) | Western Cape | 200,000 | Sean Ludgater (1) | n/a | ||
| 31 Oct | Platinum Classic | North West | 200,000 | Bobby Lincoln (6) | n/a | ||
| 28 Nov | Zimbabwe Open | Zimbabwe | 475,000 | Jean Hugo (1) | 12 | ||
| 12 Dec | Vodacom Players Championship | Western Cape | 2,000,000 | Nic Henning (1) | 20 | ||
| 16 Jan | Alfred Dunhill Championship | Mpumalanga | £500,000 | Anthony Wall (n/a) | 12 | EUR | New tournament |
| 23 Jan | Mercedes-Benz South African Open | Gauteng | US$1,000,000 | Mathias Grönberg (n/a) | 32 | EUR | Flagship event |
| 30 Jan | Dimension Data Pro-Am | North West | 2,000,000 | Lee Westwood (n/a) | 22 | Pro-Am | |
| 6 Feb | Stenham Swazi Open | Swaziland | 1,000,000 | Mark McNulty (29) | 12 |
Unofficial events
The following events were sanctioned by the Southern Africa Tour, but did not carry official money, nor were wins official.
| Date | Tournament | Location | Purse (R) |
Winner | OWGR points |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 Jul | Wild Coast Sun Pro-Am | Eastern Cape | 75,000 | James Kingston | n/a | |
| 17 Aug | PGA's Cup | Gauteng | 80,000 | Darren Fichardt Paul McErlean |
n/a | Title shared |
| 27 Aug | Royal Swazi Sun Pro-Am | Swaziland | 75,000 | Justin Hobday | n/a | |
| 5 Dec | Nedbank Million Dollar Challenge | North West | US$2,500,000 | Ernie Els | 40 | Limited-field event |
Order of Merit
The Order of Merit was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in South African rand.[4][5]
| Position | Player | Prize money (R) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Darren Fichardt | 558,735 |
| 2 | Nic Henning | 525,388 |
| 3 | Tjaart van der Walt | 443,705 |
| 4 | David Frost | 347,527 |
| 5 | Ashley Roestoff | 330,590 |
Awards
| Award | Winner | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| Rookie of the Year (Bobby Locke Trophy) | Jean Hugo | [6] |
Notes
- ^ The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of Southern Africa Tour events they had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for Southern Africa Tour members.
- ^ EUR − European Tour.
References
- ^ "Vodacom boosts PGA tour, annoys competitor". Mail & Guardian. Johannesburg, South Africa. 13 June 1997. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
- ^ "1999/2000 Tournament schedule". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
- ^ "1999/2000 Vodacom Tour". Sunshine Tour. Archived from the original on 15 August 2000. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
- ^ "1999/2000 Order of Merit". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
- ^ Winter, Grant (6 February 2000). "Supermac's putter burns up the course". Independent Online. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
This was the final event of the 1999/2000 Vodacom Tour and Darren Fichardt has won the Order of Merit with earnings of R558 735, closely followed by Nic Henning on R525 388 with Tjaart van der Walt third on R443 705. Nick Price (R501 896) and Retief Goosen (R479 000) earned more than Van der Walt but do not qualify for the Order of Merit as they have not played in four tournaments, which is a minimum requirement.
- ^ "Jean Hugo". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
1999: Winner of Bobby Locke Trophy for Rookie of the Year