Alfred Dunhill Championship

Alfred Dunhill Championship
Tournament information
LocationMalalane, Mpumalanga, South Africa
Established2000
Course(s)Leopard Creek Country Club
Par72
Length7,249 yards (6,628 m)
Tour(s)European Tour
Sunshine Tour
FormatStroke play
Prize fund1,500,000
Month playedDecember
Tournament record score
Aggregate264 Charl Schwartzel (2012)
To par−24 as above
Current champion
South Africa Louis Oosthuizen
Location map
Leopard Creek CC is located in South Africa
Leopard Creek CC
Leopard Creek CC
Location in South Africa
Leopard Creek CC is located in Mpumalanga
Leopard Creek CC
Leopard Creek CC
Location in Mpumalanga

The Alfred Dunhill Championship is a men's professional golf tournament which is played in South Africa. It is part of the Southern African Sunshine Tour and is one of several events in South Africa that are co-sanctioned by the more prestigious European Tour.

History

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The tournament was founded in 2000, but its origins lie in Dunhill's sponsorship of the South African PGA Championship between 1995 and 1999. Following the 1999 Alfred Dunhill PGA Championship, the company decided to discontinue their association with the South African PGA, and create their own stand alone tournament. The first event was held in January 2000 at the Houghton Golf Club in Johannesburg, and replaced the South African PGA Championship on the European Tour calendar.[citation needed]

In 2004, the tournament was rescheduled to December, resulting in two events being staged that year; one in January and one in December. Following this change, the Alfred Dunhill Championship has formed part of the following year's European Tour season. In addition, the event was moved to the Leopard Creek Country Club, just south of the Kruger National Park in Malalane, Mpumalanga.[citation needed]

The 2021 event was scheduled to take place at Leopard Creek Country Club from 9–12 December. It was to be a co-sanctioned event between the European Tour and the Sunshine Tour. However, due to COVID-19 travel restrictions in place in the UK from South Africa, the event was cancelled less than two weeks before the tournament was due to start.[1]

Flagship event

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In 2016, the Alfred Dunhill Championship replaced the South African Open as the tour's flagship event by the Official World Golf Ranking governing board. The winner was awarded 32 OWGR points. The change only lasted for one edition before reverting to the South African Open the following year as no tournament was held.[2] In 2020, the Alfred Dunhill Championship once again became the tour's flagship event.[3] The event was intended to be the flagship event again in 2021. However, due to the cancellation of the tournament, the flagship event status was passed onto the South African Open.[4]

Winners

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Sunshine Tour (Flagship event) 2016, 2020
Sunshine Tour (Regular) 2000–2015, 2017–2018, 2022–
# Year Tours[a] Winner Score To par Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up Venue
Alfred Dunhill Championship
23rd 2023 AFR, EUR South Africa Louis Oosthuizen 270 −18 2 strokes South Africa Charl Schwartzel Leopard Creek
22nd 2022 AFR, EUR South Africa Ockie Strydom 270 −18 2 strokes Spain Adrián Otaegui Leopard Creek
2021 AFR, EUR Cancelled due to the effect of COVID-19 related travel restrictions[5]
21st 2020 AFR, EUR South Africa Christiaan Bezuidenhout 274 −14 4 strokes England Richard Bland
United States Sean Crocker
Poland Adrian Meronk
South Africa Jayden Schaper
Leopard Creek
20th 2019 AFR, EUR Spain Pablo Larrazábal 280 −8 1 stroke Sweden Joel Sjöholm Leopard Creek
19th 2018 AFR, EUR United States David Lipsky 274 −14 2 strokes Scotland David Drysdale Leopard Creek
2017: No tournament due to course renovation
18th 2016 AFR, EUR South Africa Brandon Stone 267 −21 6 strokes South Africa Richard Sterne Leopard Creek
17th 2015 AFR, EUR South Africa Charl Schwartzel (4) 273 −15 4 strokes France Grégory Bourdy Leopard Creek
16th 2014 AFR, EUR South Africa Branden Grace 268 −20 7 strokes South Africa Louis Oosthuizen Leopard Creek
15th 2013 AFR, EUR South Africa Charl Schwartzel (3) 271 −17 4 strokes England Richard Finch Leopard Creek
14th 2012 AFR, EUR South Africa Charl Schwartzel (2) 264 −24 12 strokes Sweden Kristoffer Broberg Leopard Creek
13th 2011 AFR, EUR South Africa Garth Mulroy 269 −19 2 strokes Scotland George Murray Leopard Creek
12th 2010 AFR, EUR Spain Pablo Martín (2) 277 −11 2 strokes South Africa Anthony Michael
Denmark Thorbjørn Olesen
South Africa Charl Schwartzel
Leopard Creek
11th 2009 AFR, EUR Spain Pablo Martín 271 −17 1 stroke South Africa Charl Schwartzel Leopard Creek
10th 2008 AFR, EUR South Africa Richard Sterne 271 −17 1 stroke Sweden Johan Edfors
England Robert Rock
Leopard Creek
9th 2007 AFR, EUR England John Bickerton 275 −13 1 stroke South Africa Ernie Els
England Lee Slattery
Leopard Creek
8th 2006 AFR, EUR Spain Álvaro Quirós 275 −13 1 stroke South Africa Charl Schwartzel Leopard Creek
Dunhill Championship
7th 2005 AFR, EUR South Africa Ernie Els 274 −14 3 strokes South Africa Louis Oosthuizen
South Africa Charl Schwartzel
Leopard Creek
6th 2004
(Dec)
AFR, EUR South Africa Charl Schwartzel 281 −7 Playoff England Neil Cheetham Houghton
5th 2004
(Jan)
AFR, EUR Germany Marcel Siem 266 −22 Playoff France Grégory Havret
France Raphaël Jacquelin
Houghton
4th 2003 AFR, EUR England Mark Foster 273 −15 Playoff Denmark Anders Hansen
South Africa Trevor Immelman
Scotland Paul Lawrie
Scotland Doug McGuigan
South Africa Bradford Vaughan
Houghton
3rd 2002 AFR, EUR England Justin Rose 268 −20 2 strokes England Mark Foster
South Africa Retief Goosen
South Africa Martin Maritz
Houghton
Alfred Dunhill Championship
2nd 2001 AFR, EUR Australia Adam Scott 267 −21 1 stroke England Justin Rose Houghton
1st 2000 AFR, EUR England Anthony Wall 204[b] −12 2 strokes Scotland Gary Orr
Wales Phillip Price
Houghton

Notes

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  1. ^ AFR − Sunshine Tour; EUR − European Tour.
  2. ^ Shortened to 54 holes due to rain.

References

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  1. ^ "Irish golfers battling travel chaos to get back from South Africa after pulling out of Joburg Open". Irish Independent. 26 November 2021.
  2. ^ "SA Open receives world ranking flagship status". News 24. 8 January 2018. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  3. ^ "How the ranking evolved". Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  4. ^ Sherman, Michael (1 December 2021). "SA Open goes ahead without co-sanctioned status for first time in 25 years". IOL. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  5. ^ Butler, Lynn (26 November 2021). "Sunshine Tour confirm SA Open to go ahead in Sun City, Alfred Dunhill Championship cancelled". Sport24. News24. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
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