| Duration | 15 November 1989 – 10 March 1990 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 12 |
| Most wins | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Fulton Allem (2) John Daly (2) Trevor Dodds (2) |
| Order of Merit | John Bland |
← 1988–89 1990–91 → | |
The 1989–90 Southern Africa Tour was the 19th season of the Southern Africa Tour, the main professional golf tour in South Africa since it was formed in 1971.
Season outline
A variety of local golfers had success at the beginning of the season. South African Des Terblanche won the inaugural event, the Railfreight Bloemfontein Classic. It was his first victory on his home tour.[1] The next tournament was the Minolta Copiers Match Play, a medal match play event, held at Sun City Golf Course. In the quarterfinals, Fulton Allem tied the course record with a 65 to defeat competitor Hugh Baiocchi.[2] In the following two rounds Allem defeated "[t]ournament favourite" David Frost and John Bland to win the event.[2][3] Frost, however, came back and won the next event, the unofficial Nedbank Million Dollar Challenge.[4] Baiocchi, meanwhile, won the next official tournament on the calendar, the Twee Jonge Gezellen Masters.[5] In mid-January, the Lexington PGA Championship was held, hosted by Wanderers Golf Course. Allem opened with a course record 61 to take the lead.[6] He would go on to win the event.[7]
In the middle of the season, a newly turned professional from America named John Daly had much success. Daly won the seventh tournament of the year, AECI Charity Classic by one over Northern Irishman David Feherty.[8] Two weeks later, Daly won again at the Hollard Royal Swazi Sun Classic defeating South African John Bland by two strokes.[9]
At the end of the season, there was a three-horse race to win the Order of Merit between Bland, the leader, with Wayne Westner directly behind him, and Tony Johnstone in third. The top two would receive automatic entries in the 1990 Open Championship.[10] Bland won the 11th event of the season, the Dewar's White Label Trophy, "to clinch the circuit Order of Merit title."[11]
Schedule
The following table lists official events during the 1989–90 season.[12][13]
| Date | Tournament | Location | Purse (R) |
Winner[lower-alpha 1] | OWGR points |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 Nov | Railfreight Bloemfontein Classic | Orange Free State | 250,000 | Des Terblanche (1) | 8 | |
| 24 Nov | Minolta Copiers Match Play | Transvaal | 250,000 | Fulton Allem (6) | 8 | |
| 17 Dec | Twee Jonge Gezellen Masters | Cape | 250,000 | Hugh Baiocchi (11) | 8 | |
| 13 Jan | ICL International | Transvaal | 250,000 | Gavan Levenson (5) | 8 | |
| 20 Jan | Lexington PGA Championship | Transvaal | 250,000 | Fulton Allem (7) | 8 | |
| 27 Jan | Protea Assurance South African Open | Transvaal | 280,000 | Trevor Dodds (2) | 8 | |
| 3 Feb | AECI Charity Classic | Transvaal | 250,000 | John Daly (1) | 8 | |
| 10 Feb | Goodyear Classic | Cape | 250,000 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Philip Jonas (1) | 8 | |
| 18 Feb | Hollard Royal Swazi Sun Classic | Swaziland | 250,000 | John Daly (2) | 8 | |
| 24 Feb | Palabora Classic | Transvaal | 250,000 |  Tony Johnstone (12) | 8 | |
| 3 Mar | Dewar's White Label Trophy | Natal | 250,000 | John Bland (14) | 8 | |
| 10 Mar | Trustbank Tournament of Champions | Transvaal | 250,000 | Trevor Dodds (3) | 8 | Tour Championship |
Unofficial events
The 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 Dec | Nedbank Million Dollar Challenge | Transvaal | US$2,500,000 | David Frost |
14 | Limited-field event |
Order of Merit
The Order of Merit was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in South African rand.[14][15]
| Position | Player | Prize money (R) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Bland | 180,893 |
| 2 | Wayne Westner | 135,094 |
| 3 | Trevor Dodds | 133,359 |
| 4 | John Daly | 123,704 |
| 5 | Tony Johnstone | 119,225 |
Notes
- ↑ 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.
References
- ↑ "Rest of the News in Sport". Sunday Telegraph. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
- 1 2 "Allem shoots 65 to equal course record". The Daily Telegraph. 25 November 1989. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
- ↑ Lancaster, Alex (27 November 1989). "90,000 jackpot for Strange". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
- ↑ "Frost wins Million Dollar Challenge". Florida Today. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
- ↑ "Ogle three clear to take victory". The Daily Telegraph. 18 December 1989. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
- ↑ McLean, Bill (18 January 1990). "Allem steals show with record round". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
- ↑ Rodgers, Justin (22 January 1990). "Rafferty counts the calories and cash". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
- ↑ "Rest of the News in Sport". Sunday Telegraph. 4 February 1990. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
- ↑ "Norman's eagle foils Faldo". The Daily Telegraph. 19 February 1990. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
- ↑ "Traffic is reduced on Old Course". The Daily Telegraph. 28 February 1990. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
- ↑ James, Richard (5 March 1990). "Woosnam recovers to win". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
- ↑ "1990 Tournament schedule". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
- ↑ Wilson, Mark (1991). The Royal & Ancient Golfer's Handbook 1991. Macmillan. pp. 97–98. ISBN 0333547330. Retrieved 23 December 2023 – via Archive.org.
- ↑ Berkovitz, Anton; Samson, Andrew (1993). South Africa and international sports factfinder. D. Nelson. p. 96. ISBN 1868061019. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
- ↑ "Woosnam recovers to win". The Daily Telegraph. London, United Kingdom. 5 March 1990. p. 33. Retrieved 6 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.