The 1996–97 Southern Africa Tour, titled as the 1996–97 FNB Tour for sponsorship reasons, was the 26th season of the Southern Africa Tour, the main professional golf tour in South Africa since it was formed in 1971.
| Duration | 11 April 1996 – 2 March 1997 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 25 |
| Most wins |  Mark McNulty (3) |
| Order of Merit | Nick Price |
← 1995–96 1997–98 → | |
It was the fifth season of the tour under a title sponsorship agreement with First National Bank, that began in 1992.[1]
Changes for 1996–97
editThe South African Open became co-sanctioned with the European Tour for the first time, benefitting from an increased purse and world ranking points.[2]
Schedule
editThe following table lists official events during the 1996–97 season.[3]
| Date | Tournament | Location | Purse (R) |
Winner[a] | OWGR points |
Other tours[b] |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 Apr | Kalahari Classic | Northern Cape | 70,000 | n/a | |||
| 21 Apr | Newcastle Classic | KwaZulu-Natal | 60,000 | n/a | |||
| 18 May | FNB Pro Series (Eastern Cape) | Eastern Cape | 100,000 | n/a | |||
| 6 Jun | FNB Pro Series (Swaziland) | Swaziland | 100,000 | n/a | |||
| 6 Jul | Bosveld Classic | Limpopo | 70,000 | n/a | |||
| 25 Aug | Platinum Classic | North West | 100,000 | n/a | |||
| 15 Sep | Bearing Man Highveld Classic | Mpumalanga | 70,000 | n/a | |||
| 28 Sep | IDC Development Tourism Classic | Mpumalanga | 100,000 | n/a | |||
| 5 Oct | FNB Pro Series (Western Cape) | Western Cape | 100,000 | n/a | |||
| 12 Oct | FNB Pro Series (Free State) | Free State | 100,000 | n/a | |||
| 19 Oct | FNB Pro Series (Botswana) | Botswana | 100,000 | n/a | |||
| 27 Oct | FNB Pro Series (Namibia) | Namibia | 100,000 | n/a | |||
| 1 Nov | Trustbank Gauteng Classic | Gauteng | 100,000 | n/a | New tournament | ||
| 10 Nov | Mycom Mafunyane Trophy | Limpopo | 200,000 | n/a | |||
| 15 Nov | Lombard Tyres Classic | Gauteng | 100,000 | n/a | |||
| 30 Nov | Leopard Rock Classic | Zimbabwe | 100,000 | n/a | New tournament | ||
| 8 Dec | Zimbabwe Open | Zimbabwe | 400,000 | 16 | |||
| 15 Dec | Zambia Open | Zambia | 150,000 | n/a | New to Southern Africa Tour | ||
| 19 Jan | San Lameer South African Masters | KwaZulu-Natal | 750,000 | 14 | |||
| 26 Jan | Nashua Wild Coast Sun Challenge | Western Cape | 750,000 | 14 | |||
| 2 Feb | FNB Players Championship | KwaZulu-Natal | 750,000 | 16 | |||
| 9 Feb | South African Open | Gauteng | £500,000 | 34 | EUR | ||
| 16 Feb | Dimension Data Pro-Am | Gauteng | £400,000 | 26 | EUR | Pro-Am | |
| 23 Feb | Alfred Dunhill South African PGA Championship | Gauteng | £300,000 | 24 | EUR | ||
| 2 Mar | Hollard Royal Swazi Sun Open | Swaziland | 500,000 | 12 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Dec | Nedbank Million Dollar Challenge | North West | US$2,500,000 | 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 | 1,223,027 | |
| 2 | 619,427 | |
| 3 | 301,304 | |
| 4 | 269,289 | |
| 5 | 255,811 |
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- ^ Berkovitz, Anton; Samson, Andrew (1993). South Africa and international sports factfinder. D. Nelson. p. 96. ISBN 1868061019. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
- ^ "Worry over card games". Evening Telegraph. Derby, United Kingdom. 5 February 1997. p. 50. Retrieved 8 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "1996/97 Tournament schedule". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
- ^ "1996/97 Order of Merit". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 8 October 2023.