The Sunshine Ladies Tour on Monday announced its 2021 schedule and women's golf fans can look forward to six weeks of action, capped by the South African Women's Open from 18-20 March in Cape Town.
The eighth season of the local women's professional circuit launches with the Cape Town Ladies Open at Royal Cape Golf Club from 3-5 February.
Next up is the annual Dimension Data Ladies Pro-Am from 12-14 February. The eighth edition will boast a purse of R600 000, with an additional R100 000 up for grabs for the leading 10 teams in the Better Ball Pro-Am competition. The first two rounds will be played at George Golf Club and the final round will be contested at the Outeniqua Course at Fancourt.
From George, the circuit travels to Sun City for the SuperSport Ladies Challenge, where the iconic Gary Player Country Club will once again serve up an exciting challenge from 24-26 February.
The Sunshine Ladies Tour then spends two weeks in Johannesburg for the Joburg Ladies Open and the Jabra Ladies Classic before returning to the Mother City for the season-finale showpiece.
The popular Joburg Ladies Open makes its sixth appearance on the circuit from 3-5 March and returns to the Soweto Country Club for a third successive year. The following week, the Jabra Ladies Classic celebrates its third edition at Glendower Golf Club.
The South African Women's Open at Westlake Golf Club will bring down a curtain to the summer and will be co-sanctioned with the Ladies European Tour.
"Although we have a slightly shortened schedule in 2021, we are excited to offer our players some wonderful incentives next year," said Sunshine Ladies Tour general manager, Pauli van Meersbergen.
"The 2021 Investec Order of Merit will commence with the Cape Town Ladies Open. It will be based on a points system and the winner at the conclusion of the South African Women's Open will receive a bonus prize of R100 000.
"At this time, we are unable to confirm the incentives on offer to the winners of the Jabra Ladies Classic and the South African Women's Open. However, once confirmed by the Ladies European Tour, they could result in life-changing opportunities for our players.
"These incentives will add up to huge rewards for the players supporting the Sunshine Ladies Tour and will undoubtedly make for another highly competitive season of inspiring feats, rousing shot-making and contests to savour."
Sunshine Tour Commissioner Thomas Abt said it is wonderful to see the Sunshine Ladies Tour continue as strong as ever, despite the hardships golf in South Africa experienced in 2020.
"Since the Sunshine Ladies Tour launched in 2014, the circuit has blossomed and grown into a wonderful stage where the next generation can cut their teeth and build experience competing against the top talents from South Africa and abroad," said Abt.
"Over the last seven years, the tour has showcased the talents of international champions Ashleigh Buhai and Lee-Anne Pace and campaigners Stacy Bregman, Nicole Garcia and our 2020 Order of Merit winner Monique Smit.
"The Sunshine Ladies Tour has also proven highly successful in building future champions, including Lejan Lewthwaite, Nobuhle Dlamini and Casandra Hall, who are all competing on the Ladies European Tour now. The next generation have also greatly benefitted from the experience of competing at this level, with the likes of Zethu Myeki, Kajal Mistry, Kaiyuree Moodley, Caitlyn Macnab and Kaylah Williams all excelling at amateur level.
"The Sunshine Ladies Tour increasingly draws a growing pool of international competitors, who come out to South Africa to take advantage of our weather, our great golf courses and a highly competitive circuit at the start of the year. And our partnership with the Ladies European Tour provide our local players great opportunities to gain access to the international stage. We look forward to another successful Sunshine Ladies Tour in 2021."
2021 Sunshine Ladies Tour Schedule:
3-5 February - Cape Town Ladies Open at Royal Cape Golf Club
12-14 February - Dimension Data Ladies Pro-Am at George Golf Club and Fancourt
24-26 February - SuperSport Ladies Challenge at Gary Player Country Club
3-5 March - Joburg Ladies Open at Soweto Country Club
10-12 March - Jabra Ladies Classic at Glendower Golf Club
18-20 March - Investec South African Women's Open at Westlake Golf Club