When Jean Hugo won last year’s Vodacom Origins of Golf tournament at San Lameer on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast, he drew level with Ernie Els for the total number of victories on the Sunshine Tour.
It was his 16th victory on the Sunshine Tour, and he went on to surpass that total when he won the Vodacom Origins of Golf event at Parys’ Vaal de Grace, joining Tony Johnstone on 17 victories. And while he has a long way to go to match Gary Player’s 73 victories, he is the most successful golfer currently active on the local circuit.
Also ahead of Hugo on the list are Mark McNulty with 33 wins, the legendary Bobby Locke (30), eight-time winner of the South African Open Championship Sid Brews (26), and John Bland (21).
With six Vodacom Origins of Golf events on the Sunshine Tour’s schedule this year, it is not inconceivable that Hugo will add to his 17 titles and move closer to the top five on the list of all-time winners. That’s because he has made a habit of winning on that series, with the first of 11 victories in it coming back in 2006 at Arabella Golf Club in the Western Cape.
In 2011, he dominated the series, winning three times – at Pretoria Country Club, Simola Golf and Country Estate, and at the final at Legend Golf and Safari Resort.
He has taken home over R950,000 just in first-place prize money from the series, which is a tenth of his career prize money on the Sunshine Tour.
The first event of the 2016 series kicks off on Thursday 28 July at the Wild Coast Sun Country Club.
From sunshinetour.com
Top 26 winners on the Sunshine Tour:
1 Gary Player 73
2 Mark McNulty 33
3 Bobby Locke 30
4 Sid Brews 26
5 John Bland 21
T6 Jean Hugo 17
T6 Tony Johnstone 17
8 Ernie Els 16
9 Bobby Lincoln 15
T10 Darren Fichardt 14
T10 Jaco van Zyl 14
T12 Desvonde Botes 13
T12 Dale Hayes 13
T14 Adilson da Silva 12
T14 Des Terblanche 12
T16 Fulton Allem 11
T16 Hugh Baiocchi 11
T16 Justin Hobday 11
T16 James Kingston 11
T16 Hennie Otto 11
T16 Wayne Westner 11
T22 John Fourie 10
T22 Allan Henning 10
T22 Titch Moore 10
T22 Nick Price 10
T22 Ashley Roestoff 10