Reigning AIG Women’s Open champion Ashleigh Buhai will headline the 30th Investec South African Women’s Open when the Sunshine Ladies Tour celebrates its 10th anniversary with an action-packed season in 2023.
Buhai, who became the country’s second women’s Major champion with her Muirfield triumph in August, finished her international season in style with a gritty one-stroke victory in the Women’s Australian Open at Victoria Golf Club.
It is entirely fitting that the pride of South African women’s golf will return to the fairways she forged her career upon as the Sunshine Ladies Tour celebrates a decade as Africa’s principal platform for professional women golfers and development conduit for amateurs coming through the ranks.
Buhai, the only amateur winner of the Sunshine Ladies Tour’s flagship event, will be targeting a fourth victory in March.
THAT's how you finish a season ????????
— Sunshine Ladies Tour (@SLadiesTour) December 4, 2022
The 2022 @AIGWomensOpen winner is the 2022 @AusOpenGolf champion!
Congratulations @ash_simon!
Can't wait to see you gun for a 4th #InvestecSAWomens title on the 2023 @SLadiesTour!
?? #AusOpenGolf#LevelUp #sunshineladiestour @Investec pic.twitter.com/ckv8h96Bg8
The world number 28 won her first SA Women’s Open title at Royal Johannesburg & Kensington in 2004 and was still an amateur when she repeated the feat at Durban Country Club three years later.
In 2018, the year Investec became the title sponsor of the national open, Buhai made it a hat-trick of wins with her first professional victory in the event and her third on Ladies European Tour.
The new season will tee off from 1-3 February at Sun City, South Africa's unrivalled No 1 holiday resort.
The homegrown talent will go head-to-head with the first international campaigners to hit South African shores in the SuperSport Ladies Challenge presented by Sun International, and the R1.3-million season-opener will be contested at the world-renowned Gary Player Country Club.
Next, the circuit heads to South Africa's premier lifestyle resort, Fancourt, nestled in the heart of South Africa's Garden Route for the Dimension Data Ladies Pro-Am.
The 10th edition from 10-12 February will be another milestone worthy of celebration, and to mark the occasion, the purse has been bumped from R600 000 in 2021 to a staggering R2.5-million.
In addition, the leading 10 teams on the final day will fight it out for the lion’s share of the R100 000 prize pot in the Betterball Pro-Am Competition.
FIRST EUROPEAN STOP BOASTS BUMP IN PRIZE MONEY
In previous editions of the popular Sunshine Ladies Tour stop, which is played concurrent with the Sunshine and Challenge Tour’s co-sanctioned Dimension Data Pro-Am, the first two rounds were played at the nearby George Golf Club and the final round at Fancourt.
This year all three rounds will be contested at the Outeniqua and Montagu courses.
Atlantic Beach Links in the Cape will host its first Sunshine Ladies Tour event with the R400 000 Cape Town Ladies Open from 15-17 February.
The City of Cape Town, who has hosted the Investec South African Women’s Open since 2018, has supported the event since 2015.
The former home of the Investec South African Open, Glendower Golf Club in Edenvale, will welcome back the fifth edition of the Jabra Ladies Classic from 22-24 March.
The winner of the Jabra Ladies Classic receives an invitation to compete in the Jabra Ladies Open on the Ladies European Tour.
The Joburg Ladies Open, returns to Modderfontein Golf Club from 1-4 March.
The first Ladies European Tour stop in South Africa boasts a significant bump in prize money – from €250 000 to €300 000 – making this event a hugely attractive drawcard for local golfers with aspirations to play in the Europe and the international contenders targeting an early advantage on the season-long Race to Costa del Sol.
The Investec South African Women’s Open will draw the curtain on the 2023 season from 8-11 March.
This 72-hole showdown will be played at the picturesque Steenberg Golf Club for a second successive year, and the field will be competing for an increased purse of €320 000 (over R5.9-million), thanks to the investment by Investec and the City of Cape Town.
“We are extremely excited for this 10th season of the Sunshine Ladies Tour,” said Thomas Abt, Sunshine Tour Commissioner. “The Sunshine Ladies Tour has grown into an attractive product and together with our partners, we will continue to grow this circuit for the benefit of our members.
“We are delighted to have committed sponsors who have gone the distance with us, and partners such as the Ladies European Tour with whom our flagship events, the Joburg Ladies Open and the Investec South African Women’s Open, are co-sanctioned.
“The success of the Sunshine Ladies Tour has been unfathomable. Participation has increased tenfold, especially with international participation and the prize money has more than quadrupled from what was on offer in our first season. And the knock-on effect for our rising amateurs has been fantastic, with many of our young golfers now flourishing on the international stage and US collegiate circuit.”
POINTS-BASED RANKING SYSTEM
The pathway the Sunshine Ladies Tour provides for young golfers to the bigger global platforms is best illustrated by 2022 Investec Order of Merit champion of 2022, Linn Grant.
The 23-year-old began her 2022 season in South Africa. She racked up victories in the Dimension Data Ladies Pro-Am, the Jabra Ladies Classic and the Joburg Ladies Open and won the season-long points race.
Building on this incredible start on the Ladies European Tour, Linn became the first female golfer to win on the DP World Tour in June, won the LET Rookie of the Year title and recently capped her season as the winner of the LET Race to Costa del Sol.
Throughout the 2023 season, the Sunshine Ladies Tour campaigners will vie for glory in the points-based ranking system.
The top three professionals on the final Investec Order of Merit will gain automatic entry into the 2024 Investec South African Women’s Open, and the winner receives a bonus prize worth R 200 000.
Should the winner of the 2023 Investec South African Women’s Open be a South African, she will be rewarded with the Investec Homegrown Award, worth R 100 000.
Peta Dixon, Investec’s head of sponsorships, said: “We are proud to continue to give our talented women in sport a platform to showcase their talent through our partnership with the Sunshine Ladies Tour and Ladies European Tour, and to ensure that these golfers are recognised for their dedication and given opportunities to excel.
“It has been very exciting to witness the growth of the local women’s professional circuit over the last decade and to empower women through sport. We are delighted to be part of the journey to grow Africa’s premier women’s professional golf circuit and through our investment in four of South Africa’s rising talents in Nicole Garcia, Stacy Bregman, Lejan Lewthwaite and Zethu Myeki.”
Alexandra Armas, Chief Executive Officer of the Ladies European Tour, said the LET is delighted to once again feature two premier events in South Africa on their 2023 schedule.
“We welcome the opportunity for international competition for our members, and we are very proud of our strong, longstanding relationship with the Sunshine Ladies Tour. Two co-sanctioned events on our global schedule strengthens our goal of providing competitive opportunities for our members on all the continents.
“Our sincere thanks to the Cities of Johannesburg and Cape Town and Investec for their incredible commitment. These events not only benefit our members, but undoubtedly also positively impact on participation and interest in the women’s game in Africa.”
Women’s PGA of South Africa chairperson, Margie Whitehouse, said: “We would also like to express our gratitude to the Sunshine Tour, and all our partners and sponsors who have ensured that the Sunshine Ladies Tour has gone from strength to strength in the last 10 years. Thanks to their tremendous support, our rising talent will once again have the opportunity to compete for fantastic incentives and competitive purses, and we look forward to watching the future stars showcase their talent on the 2023 Sunshine Ladies Tour.”
strong>2023 SUNSHINE LADIES TOUR SCHEDULE R1.3-million SuperSport Ladies Challenge presented by Sun International
1 – 3 February
Gary Player Country Club
R2.5-million Dimension Data Ladies Pro-Am
10 – 12 February
Fancourt (Outeniqua and Montagu Courses)
Better Ball Pro-Am (R100 000 prize money)
R 400 000 Cape Town Ladies Open
15 – 17 February
Atlantic Beach Links
R1-milion Jabra Ladies Classic
22 – 24 February
Glendower Golf Club
€ 300 000 Joburg Ladies Open *
1 – 4 March
Modderfontein Golf Club
€ 320 000 Investec South African Women’s Open *
8 – 11 March
Steenberg Golf Club
*Co-sanctioned with the Ladies European Tour