A purse of R1.5-million will be on offer for the Tour Championship at Serengeti, a new tournament to end the 2017-18 Sunshine Tour season.
The Tour Championship at Serengeti will be played at Serengeti Estates from March 15-18.
The field will be limited to the top 50 players on the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit, who will battle it out over 72 holes for the Sid Brews Trophy; the prize for winning the moneylist at the end of the season.
‘Having the Tour Championship at Serengeti to finish off our Order of Merit is just the climax to the Sunshine Tour season we need,’ said Sunshine Tour Executive Director Selwyn Nathan.
‘It gives players who have supported the Tour the opportunity to play in an exclusive tournament to cap their achievements for the season.
‘We’re grateful to our partners at Serengeti Estates for their commitment to the Tour, and their generosity in helping us create this unique tournament,’ added Nathan.
The championship will feature a prestigious pro-am element called The Serengeti Pro-Am Invitational, during which the pairs of invited amateurs will be given the opportunity to bid for the 25 teams of professional golfers and celebrities, at the auction dinner on the Tuesday evening. Successful bidders will then go on to play 54 holes with their respective teams.
The first round of The Serengeti Pro-Am Invitational will be played on Wednesday March 14, and the second and final rounds will be played concurrently with the first two rounds of The Tour Championship. The pros will be playing on their own for the final two rounds of the Tour Championship.
‘We look forward to bringing fun and excitement back to golf at Serengeti with this tournament – and, given the rebirth of this magnificent lifestyle estate, the timing couldn’t be better. Players and spectators at next month’s event will be able to see the alterations that have been fast-tracked at the Serengeti clubhouse as part of our quest to improve the overall golfing experience, along with the roll-out of new facilities that will provide our homeowners and club members with the ultimate lifestyle offering,’ says David Nagle, developer of Serengeti Estates.
After The Invitational winners are announced on Friday, the Sunshine Tour professionals will be chasing some significant benefits available to top players on the Order of Merit. The winner of the Order of Merit gets into The Open Championship and the Nedbank Golf Challenge, while the top two players, not otherwise exempt, gets into the 2019 World Golf Championships-Mexico.
Additionally, the leading two available players, not otherwise exempt in a higher category, gets into the WGC-HSBC Champions, and there are 10 spots up for grabs off the Order of Merit list for the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on the European Tour.
