The Sunshine Tour has decided to postpone its 2021 schedule by one month in light of the current rise of Covid-19 cases in South Africa.
This decision comes in light of President Cyril Ramaphosa's call for all South Africans to work together to help curb the spread of the virus.
Sunshine Tour commissioner Thomas Abt announced on Wednesday that the planned February start of the Sunshine Tour's 2021 schedule has now been postponed until March this year.
It was also confirmed that the Sunshine Ladies Tour, which was scheduled to get underway in February will also see the start of 2021 season postponed.
The Ladies Tour season will once again culminate in the South African Women's Open at Westlake Golf Club in May with the amended schedule to be released shortly.
"In light of the current increase in Covid-19 cases and after consultation with our own health experts and in partnership with GolfRSA and its Risk Mitigation Strategy team, we believe it is the most responsible course of action to postpone the start of our schedule," said Abt in a press statement.
"From the start of this virus, South African golf has worked very closely with government to ensure compliance of all health protocols, and most importantly to be seen as a sport that is acting in a safe and responsible manner. The safety of our members as well as our staff is our primary concern.
"I'd like to thank our chairman, Johann Rupert, our Executive Director, Selwyn Nathan, our Board of Directors as well as our members and sponsors for their continued guidance, patience and understanding amidst what remains a very fluid situation for our game. I would also like to thank our partners at the Challenge Tour for their understanding.
"We are in constant communication with all of our stakeholders and will be ready to resume playing as soon as we believe it is safe to do so."
The Sunshine Tour schedule will still begin with the new Kit Kat Group Pro-Am, which will now be played from 5-7 March.
This will be followed by three consecutive tournaments co-sanctioned with the Challenge Tour.
The Challenge Tour's "South African Swing" will begin in the week of 22-25 April with the tournament and venue still to be named.
The Challenge Tour moves to the Western Cape when the Cape Town Open at Royal Cape Golf Club gets underway from 29 April-2 May, and then the Dimension Data Pro-Am at Fancourt Golf Estate from 6-9 May.
The Limpopo Championship, which was set to be the third Challenge Tour event, was not mentioned in the Sunshine Tour press release and seems to have been cancelled.
The new dates and venues of the other tournaments on the schedule will be confirmed in due course.
- Compiled by Sport24 staff
