SA's Branden Grace holes the winning putt during final round of the SA Open at Randpark Golf Club The Sunshine Tour, following in the footseps of the LIV Golf Series, will feature increased prize money at a host of events this season. Seen here SA's Branden Grace holes the winning putt during final round of the SA Open at Randpark Golf Club in 2020. Picture credit: Michael Sherman (ANA)
The Sunshine Tour has announced a significant increase in prize money on its schedule, with a host of tournaments, including this week’s FNB eSwatini Challenge, now featuring minimum purses of R2 million.
The prize money increase for the FNB eSwatini Challenge, to be played at the Nkonyeni Lodge and Golf Estate from Thursday to Sunday, is a particular boost for a tournament only in its second year on the schedule but which has already made a significant impact to the growth of the game in eSwatini.
“It’s quite significant for FNB eSwatini that in the one year since the tournament’s debut we have made such a meaningful contribution to raising the standard of professional golf locally. We are committed to this goal and are particularly excited that of the 120 players that will be playing in the 2023 FNB eSwatini Challenge, 15 of them are local and therefore have a fair chance at the prize fund,” said FNB eSwatini CEO, Dennis Mbingo.
The prize fund increase means this year’s winner will receive double what Jaco Prinsloo earned for winning the inaugural title.
Sunshine Tour Commissioner, Thomas Abt, said the prize money increase are the collective effort of the Tour and its loyal sponsors and partners to keep building on the growth of the past few seasons.
“We are extremely grateful to be able to elevate the status of many of our tournaments and raise their prize money to a minimum of R2 million. For tournaments such as the FNB eSwatini Challenge, this elevates them to Level 2-tier points status on The Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy, which means increased opportunity for those professionals taking part while at the same time strengthening the respective fields. We are thrilled to have a passionate brand like FNB eSwatini join us on this journey and we hope to grow the event with them for many years to come,” said Abt.
This year’s field is set to draw professionals from South Africa, eSwatini, the United States of America, Great Britain, Portugal, Greece, and Korea. Other African countries represented include Zimbabwe and Zambia.
eSwatini’s 15 representing golfers will include 13 professionals and two amateurs who qualified through the two-day pre-qualifier last month which featured over 80 local golfers vying for spots in the main tournament.
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