1989–90 Southern Africa Tour

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.

1989–90 Southern Africa Tour season
Duration15 November 1989 (1989-11-15) – 10 March 1990 (1990-03-10)
Number of official events12
Most wins Fulton Allem (2)
John Daly (2)
Trevor Dodds (2)
Order of Merit John Bland

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 NovRailfreight Bloemfontein ClassicOrange Free State250,000 Des Terblanche (1)8
24 NovMinolta Copiers Match PlayTransvaal250,000 Fulton Allem (6)8
17 DecTwee Jonge Gezellen MastersCape250,000 Hugh Baiocchi (11)8
13 JanICL InternationalTransvaal250,000 Gavan Levenson (5)8
20 JanLexington PGA ChampionshipTransvaal250,000 Fulton Allem (7)8
27 JanProtea Assurance South African OpenTransvaal280,000 Trevor Dodds (2)8
3 FebAECI Charity ClassicTransvaal250,000 John Daly (1)8
10 FebGoodyear ClassicCape250,000 Philip Jonas (1)8
18 FebHollard Royal Swazi Sun ClassicSwaziland250,000 John Daly (2)8
24 FebPalabora ClassicTransvaal250,000 Tony Johnstone (12)8
3 MarDewar's White Label TrophyNatal250,000 John Bland (14)8
10 MarTrustbank Tournament of ChampionsTransvaal250,000 Trevor Dodds (3)8Tour 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]

PositionPlayerPrize money (R)
1 John Bland180,893
2 Wayne Westner135,094
3 Trevor Dodds133,359
4 John Daly123,704
5 Tony Johnstone119,225

Notes
  1. 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
  1. "Rest of the News in Sport". Sunday Telegraph. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  2. "Allem shoots 65 to equal course record". The Daily Telegraph. 25 November 1989. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  3. Lancaster, Alex (27 November 1989). "90,000 jackpot for Strange". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  4. "Frost wins Million Dollar Challenge". Florida Today. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  5. "Ogle three clear to take victory". The Daily Telegraph. 18 December 1989. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  6. McLean, Bill (18 January 1990). "Allem steals show with record round". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  7. Rodgers, Justin (22 January 1990). "Rafferty counts the calories and cash". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  8. "Rest of the News in Sport". Sunday Telegraph. 4 February 1990. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  9. "Norman's eagle foils Faldo". The Daily Telegraph. 19 February 1990. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  10. "Traffic is reduced on Old Course". The Daily Telegraph. 28 February 1990. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  11. James, Richard (5 March 1990). "Woosnam recovers to win". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  12. "1990 Tournament schedule". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
  13. Wilson, Mark (1991). The Royal & Ancient Golfer's Handbook 1991. Macmillan. pp. 97–98. ISBN 0333547330. Retrieved 23 December 2023 – via Archive.org.
  14. Berkovitz, Anton; Samson, Andrew (1993). South Africa and international sports factfinder. D. Nelson. p. 96. ISBN 1868061019. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  15. "Woosnam recovers to win". The Daily Telegraph. London, United Kingdom. 5 March 1990. p. 33. Retrieved 6 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
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