The DP World Tour returns to South Africa this week for the SDC Championship, the first of two back-to-back co-sanctioned events with the Sunshine Tour. Here are your five things to know.
Africa swing continues
The inaugural SDC Championship marks the midway point of a three-week Africa swing on the DP World Tour. St Francis Links plays host with a $1.5 million prize fund available along with 2,000 points on the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex. Last week, Spaniard Jorge Campillo ended a three-year wait for his third DP World Tour title with a two-shot victory in the Magical Kenya Open Presented by Absa at Muthaiga Golf Club. Following this week’s stop, we will remain in South Africa for the Jonsson Workwear Open in Johannesburg as The Club at Steyn City hosts a DP World Tour tournament for the second year running.
Winners from major Tours on show
A strong selection of the most in-form players on both the DP World Tour and the Sunshine Tour are competing this week in the Eastern Cape. Thirteen out of the top 30 on the current Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex are competing, with five of the last 11 winners in the DP World Tour’s 2023 campaign. The Sunshine Tour’s stars include the top ten on the current Luno Order of Merit, with four out of the top five players having won locally or internationally in the last three months. The field will also include six out of the current top ten on the European Challenge Tour’s Road to Mallorca Rankings, including every single winner this season, as well as every winner of a Sunshine Tour co-sanctioned event since November 2022.
Sunshine Tour partnership
The relationship between the DP World Tour and Sunshine Tour goes back over a quarter of a century and was strengthened by a new landmark announcement in July 2021. The two Tours have combined close to 100 times on tournaments since the first co-sanctioned event, the Lexington South African PGA Championship at the Wanderers Club, in February 1995. The winner of that first event was Ernie Els. The four-time Major winner and former World Number One remains the most successful South African player in the Tour’s history. With recent winners including Thriston Lawrence and Ockie Strydom, the partnership continues to help the career development of South African players.
New venue
St Francis Links has already established itself as a championship venue through its hosting of several tournaments on the Sunshine Tour, and more recently as the home of the prestigious South African PGA Championship. Now, the Jack Nicklaus design will host its first DP World Tour and Sunshine Tour co-sanctioned tournament. The course was voted South Africa’s Best New Course in 2007 and is currently ranked fourth in the country. The 7,192 par-72 venue features a mix of ten par fours, four par threes and four par fives, including the 620-yard 16th. “If we get a bit of wind this golf course will be formidable from any tee and any pin placement,” Jeff Clause, St Francis Links CEO, said. “March weather is generally a bit more passive and then there will be a lot of birdies and opportunities out there. The golfer who can manage his ball around this golf course and keeps his ball in play will be right up there in the end.”
Second SDC-sponsored event of 2023
The SDC Championship enhances the Skills Development Corporation’s (SDC) already strong presence in golf through the SDC Open on the European Challenge Tour. Last month, JJ Senekal won his maiden Challenge Tour title in wire-to-wire fashion at the SDC Open. The South African finished on 25 under par, four clear of countryman Casey Jarvis, at Zebula Golf Estate & Spa as he ended a five-year wait since his last victory on the Sunshine Tour. The 35-year-old followed it up with a tie for third at the Nelson Mandela Bay Championship, a result that moved him to the top of the Challenge Tour’s season-long Road to Mallorca Rankings.
