2002–03 Sunshine Tour
| Duration | 21 February 2002 – 2 February 2003 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 15 |
| Most wins |  Hennie Otto (3) |
| Order of Merit | Trevor Immelman |
| Rookie of the Year | Charl Schwartzel |
← 2001–02 2003–04 → | |
The 2002–03 Sunshine Tour was the 32nd season of the Sunshine Tour (formerly the Southern Africa Tour), the main professional golf tour in South Africa since it was formed in 1971.
Schedule
The following table lists official events during the 2002–03 season.[1]
| Date | Tournament | Location | Purse (R) |
Winner[a] | OWGR points |
Other tours[b] |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 Feb | Capital Alliance Royal Swazi Sun Open | Swaziland | 500,000 | Andrew McLardy (3) |
12 | ||
| 10 Mar | Stanbic Zambia Open | Zambia | €95,000 |  Marc Cayeux (5) |
10 | CHA | |
| 23 Mar | FNB Botswana Open | Botswana | 275,000 | Hendrik Buhrmann (2) |
n/a | ||
| 11 May | Limpopo Industrelek Classic | Limpopo | 225,000 | Hennie Otto (3) |
n/a | ||
| 19 May | Royal Swazi Sun Classic | Swaziland | 200,000 | James Kingston (6) |
n/a | ||
| 28 Sep | Vodacom Golf Classic | Gauteng | 200,000 | Ashley Roestoff (10) |
n/a | ||
| 6 Oct | Bearing Man Highveld Classic | Mpumalanga | 200,000 | Titch Moore (3) |
n/a | ||
| 3 Nov | Platinum Classic | North West | 500,000 | Titch Moore (4) |
n/a | ||
| 17 Nov | Telkom PGA Championship | Gauteng | 1,250,000 | Michiel Bothma (1) |
12 | ||
| 24 Nov | Nashua Masters | Eastern Cape | 1,000,000 | Hennie Otto (4) |
12 | ||
| 8 Dec | Vodacom Players Championship | Western Cape | 2,000,000 | Mark McNulty (33) |
12 | ||
| 12 Jan | South African Airways Open | Western Cape | £500,000 | Trevor Immelman (2) |
32 | EUR | Flagship event |
| 19 Jan | Dunhill Championship | Gauteng | £500,000 |  Mark Foster (2) |
18 | EUR | |
| 26 Jan | Dimension Data Pro-Am | North West | 2,000,000 | Trevor Immelman (3) |
16 | Pro-Am | |
| 2 Feb | The Tour Championship | Mpumalanga | 2,000,000 | Hennie Otto (5) |
12 | Tour Championship |
Order of Merit
The Order of Merit was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in South African rand.[2][3]
| Position | Player | Prize money (R) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trevor Immelman |
2,044,279 |
| 2 | Mark Foster |
1,110,935 |
| 3 | Hennie Otto |
877,118 |
| 4 | Bradford Vaughan |
854,746 |
| 5 | Mark McNulty |
580,960 |
Awards
| Award | Winner | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| Rookie of the Year (Bobby Locke Trophy) | Charl Schwartzel |
[3] |
Notes
- ^ 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.
- ^ CHA − Challenge Tour; EUR − European Tour.
References
- ^ "2002/03 Tournament schedule". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
- ^ "2002/03 Order of Merit". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
- ^ a b Winter, Grant (3 February 2003). "Otto king of Leopard Creek jungle". Independent Online. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
Immelman topped the list on R2,044,279, with Briton Mark Foster second on R1 110 935, followed by Otto. Tim Clark (R901,036) earned more than Otto, but did not qualify for the order of merit due to having played only three events... Charl Schwartzel, 18, was awarded the Bobby Locke Trophy as rookie of the year.