1979–80 Southern Africa Tour

The 1979–80 Southern Africa Tour was the ninth season of the Southern Africa Tour, the main professional golf tour in South Africa since it was formed in 1971.

1979–80 Southern Africa Tour season
Duration22 October 1979 (1979-10-22) – 9 February 1980 (1980-02-09)
Number of official events11
Most winsSouth Africa Gary Player (4)
Order of MeritSouth Africa Gary Player

Season outline

In the first event of the season, the Asseng TV Challenge Series, Nick Price won, defeating joint runner-ups John Bland, Allan Henning, and Phil Simmons.[1] Simmons won the next tournament, the Victoria Falls Classic.[2] Simon Hobday managed to secure the title at the subsequent event, the Zimbabwe-Rhodesia Open.[3] A week later, at the ICL International, Faldo won by two shots ahead of Allan Henning.[4]

Gary Player dominated the remainder of the year. In late November, at the Lexington PGA Championship, he opened with an aggregate of 203 (–7) to take the solo lead.[5] He was then declared winner as the final round was cancelled due to heavy rain.[6]

The following week, at the SAB South African Masters, Player won by six shots ahead of John O'Leary.[7] The British Airways/Yellow Pages South African Open came next. Player won by one shot ahead of Ian Mosey.[8] The following week, at the Sun City Classic, Player won his fourth tournament in a row, defeating Bobby Verwey by four shots. This winning streak set a tour record.[9]

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 1979–80 season.[10]

Date Tournament Location Purse
(R)		 Winner[lower-alpha 1] Notes
25 OctAsseng TV Challenge SeriesTransvaal27,500Zimbabwe Rhodesia Nick Price (1)New tournament
3 NovVictoria Falls ClassicRhodesia15,000South Africa Phil Simmons (1)
11 NovZimbabwe-Rhodesia OpenRhodesia30,000South Africa Simon Hobday (3)New tournament
17 NovICL InternationalTransvaal40,000England Nick Faldo (1)
23 NovLexington PGA ChampionshipTransvaal80,000South Africa Gary Player (15)
1 DecSAB South African MastersCape80,000South Africa Gary Player (16)
8 DecBritish Airways/Yellow Pages South African OpenTransvaal65,000South Africa Gary Player (17)
15 DecSun City ClassicTransvaal100,000South Africa Gary Player (18)New tournament
19 JanKalahari ClassicBotswana20,000South Africa Tienie Britz (4)
26 JanOrkney OpenTransvaal27,500South Africa Allan Henning (7)New tournament
9 FebHoliday Inns InvitationalSwaziland27,500 Mark McNulty (1)

Order of Merit

The Order of Merit was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in South African rand.[11]

PositionPlayerPrize money (R)
1South Africa Gary Player49,680
2 Nick Price21,489
3 Denis Watson21,462
4South Africa Allan Henning20,817
5South Africa Bobby Verwey20,311

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. "1979 Asseng TV Challenge Series". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  2. "1979 Victoria Falls Classic". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  3. "1979 Zimbabwe/Rhodesian Open". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  4. Kennedy, Ray (19 November 1979). "Faldo Storms Home With 65". The Daily Telegraph. London, United Kingdom. p. 34. Retrieved 12 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "Player's 66 earns golf lead". Leicester Mercury. Leicester, United Kingdom. 24 November 1979. p. 28. Retrieved 12 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Player reigns at Lexington". Daily News. New York, New York. 26 November 1979. p. 439. Retrieved 12 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Player in first by six". The Kingston Whig-Standard. Kingston, Ontario, Canada. 3 December 1979. p. 7. Retrieved 13 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. "Gary Player wins S. Africa title". The Post-Crescent. Appleton, Wisconsin. 9 December 1979. p. 71 (E-8 in paper). Retrieved 13 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Now he's a record Player!". Birmingham Evening Mail. Birmingham, United Kingdom. p. 24. Retrieved 13 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. "1979/80 Tournament schedule". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  11. Berkovitz, Anton; Samson, Andrew (1993). South Africa and international sports factfinder. D. Nelson. p. 96. ISBN 1868061019. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
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