The 1997–98 Southern Africa Tour, titled as the 1997–98 Vodacom Tour for sponsorship reasons, was the 27th season of the Southern Africa Tour, the main professional golf tour in South Africa since it was formed in 1971.
| Duration | 10 April 1997 – 8 March 1998 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 24 |
| Most wins |  Desvonde Botes (3) |
| Order of Merit |  Mark McNulty |
| Rookie of the Year | Richard Fulford |
← 1996–97 1998–99 → | |
Vodacom title sponsorship
editIn June 1997, it was announced that the tour had signed a title sponsorship agreement with Vodacom, being renamed as the Vodacom Tour. The agreement was reported to be worth R 100,000,000 over five years.[1]
Schedule
editThe following table lists official events during the 1997–98 season.[2][3]
| Date | Tournament | Location | Purse (R) |
Winner[a] | OWGR points |
Other tours[b] |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 Apr | Kalahari Classic | Northern Cape | 70,000 | Sean Pappas (3) |
n/a | ||
| 27 Jun | Vodacom Series (Eastern Cape) | Eastern Cape | 150,000 | Des Terblanche (4) |
n/a | New tournament series | |
| 5 Jul | Bosveld Classic | Limpopo | 150,000 | Desvonde Botes (2) |
n/a | ||
| 12 Jul | Vodacom Series (Mpumalanga) | Mpumalanga | 150,000 | Robbie Stewart (1) |
n/a | ||
| 26 Jul | Trustbank Gauteng Classic | Gauteng | 120,000 | Bradford Vaughan (1) |
n/a | ||
| 9 Aug | Vodacom Series (Gauteng) | Gauteng | 150,000 |  John Nelson (1) |
n/a | ||
| 30 Aug | FNB Botswana Open | Botswana | 150,000 | Nasho Kamungeremu (1) |
n/a | New tournament | |
| 13 Sep | FNB Namibia Open | Namibia | 150,000 | Wallie Coetsee (1) |
n/a | New tournament | |
| 21 Sep | Bearing Man Highveld Classic | Mpumalanga | 75,000 | Darren Fichardt (1) |
n/a | ||
| 11 Oct | Vodacom Series (Free State) | Free State | 150,000 | Dean van Staden (1) |
n/a | ||
| 18 Oct | Vodacom Series (Western Cape) | Western Cape | 150,000 | Desvonde Botes (3) |
n/a | ||
| 25 Oct | Vodacom Series (KwaZulu-Natal) | KwaZulu-Natal | 150,000 | Grant Muller (1) |
n/a | ||
| 1 Nov | Lombard Tyres Classic | Gauteng | 120,000 | Andrew McLardy (1) |
n/a | ||
| 16 Nov | Leopard Rock Classic | Zimbabwe | 100,000 |  Adilson da Silva (1) |
n/a | ||
| 23 Nov | Zambia Open | Zambia | 250,000 |  James Loughnane (1) |
n/a | ||
| 30 Nov | Zimbabwe Open | Zimbabwe | 400,000 | Nick Price (10) |
20 | ||
| 14 Dec | Mycom Mafunyane Trophy | Limpopo | 200,000 | Kevin Stone (3) |
n/a | ||
| 17 Jan | Platinum Classic | North West | 100,000 | Desvonde Botes (4) |
n/a | ||
| 1 Feb | Nashua Wild Coast Sun Challenge | Western Cape | 500,000 | Adilson da Silva (2) |
14 | ||
| 8 Feb | South African Open | KwaZulu-Natal | £450,000 | Ernie Els (10) |
30 | EUR | |
| 15 Feb | Alfred Dunhill South African PGA Championship | Gauteng | £400,000 | Tony Johnstone (17) |
36 | EUR | |
| 22 Feb | Dimension Data Pro-Am | North West | 1,900,000 | Nick Price (11) |
18 | Pro-Am | |
| 28 Feb | Stenham Royal Swazi Sun Open | Swaziland | 500,000 |  Paul Friedlander (2) |
12 | ||
| 8 Mar | Vodacom Players Championship | Gauteng | 1,000,000 | Mark McNulty (28) |
14 |
Unofficial events
editThe 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 Dec | Nedbank Million Dollar Challenge | North West | US$2,500,000 | Nick Price
|
44 | Limited-field event |
Order of Merit
editThe Order of Merit was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in South African rand.[4]
| Position | Player | Prize money (R) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mark McNulty |
589,053 |
| 2 | Tony Johnstone |
553,327 |
| 3 | Scott Dunlap |
368,378 |
| 4 | Marco Gortana |
289,062 |
| 5 | Nic Henning |
277,552 |
Awards
edit| Award | Winner | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| Rookie of the Year (Bobby Locke Trophy) | Richard Fulford |
[5] |
Notes
edit- ^ 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
edit- ^ "Vodacom boosts PGA tour, annoys competitor". Mail & Guardian. Johannesburg, South Africa. 13 June 1997. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
- ^ "1997/98 Tournament schedule". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
- ^ "1997/98 Vodacom Tour". Sunshine Tour. Archived from the original on 15 August 2000. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
- ^ "1997/98 Order of Merit". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
- ^ "Nick Price wins Golfer of the Year Award". Sunshine Tour. Archived from the original on 25 January 1999. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
The Bobby Locke Rookie of the year award went to Richard Fulford. He won just over R37,000 in 18 events, including a number of top ten finishes.