The partnership between the DP World Tour and the European Challenge Tour co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour is becoming a launching pad for local professional golfers.
The Commissioner of the Sunshine Tour, Thomas Abt, says the relationship is aimed at offering more opportunities for member professionals to secure playing privileges on international tours.
Abt was speaking at the launch of the SDC Open which will also be a co-sanctioned tournament that will be played at the Zebula Golf Estate and Spa. It will form part of two DP World Tour events and three Challenge Tour events taking place in South Africa this month.
The 2022 Sunshine Tour schedule includes two new tournaments on the DP World Tour and seven tournaments co-sanctioned events with the European Challenge Tour.
It also includes a maiden visit to Tanzania. Abt sees the new venture as an enhancement of their global pathway to success for local golfers.
The SDC Open at the Zebula Golf Estate and Spa in Limpopo will take place later this month.
“Our players can play in these tournaments and do very well and move on to the challenge tour then the DP World Tour which is a stone’s throw away for them and so accessible to them with so many tournaments with our friend at the DP Tour and Challenge Tour.”
Last year’s DP Challenge :
SA’s capability to host events
The hosting of the number of tournaments in South Africa shows the capability of the country to host these events. The tourism industry which has suffered immensely due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic will also receive a major boost from the international events lined up.
“If you look at the number of tournaments we’ve had on the DP World Tour and the Challenge Tour no one beats us this year in terms of our calendar year. We will have probably five or six tournaments with the DP World Tour and no other country will have as many as that so what we have created and what we continue to create going forward is very exciting from a South African perspective.”
With the return to normality fast approaching, spectators will be allowed to attend these tournaments.
“Getting from point a to point b for a professional golfer is simple, the prize finds obviously need to attract the right level of golfer which we seem to be doing as well and it is just an incredibly exciting time coming out of a pandemic and things are looking up. Spectators are allowed to come to watch golf, who are fully vaccinated, so everything is on a positive swing excuse the pun, so long may it continue.”
The tournaments will be lucrative for South African professional golfers and could change the lives of the participants. The SDC Open alone has a purse of $250 000.
