Sunshine Ladies Tour: Route to stardom

The Sunshine Ladies Tour is South Africa’s leading golf tour for professional and amateur women golfers, providing a route to the global stage for worldwide young talent.

Created in 2014, it provides an inclusive and accessible platform for young female professionals to take their careers to the next level and gives amateur players an incredible opportunity to get tournament experience.

Through its co-sanctioned events with the Ladies European Tour (LET), the Sunshine Ladies Tour provides valuable playing opportunities for female golfers across Europe and the world.

In February each year, golfers from over 40 countries play the first of six events in South Africa – seven including a qualifier for the final event, the Investec South African Women’s Open.

Huge incentives

The LET co-sanctions the tour’s flagship event, the Investec South African Women’s Open which has a purse of €320,000. It also co-sanctions the Joburg Ladies Open, the tour’s penultimate event with a purse of €300,000.

The winner of the Investec South African Women’s Open receives a tournament winner’s category exemption on the LET, along with exemption into the two of the five majors that are held in Europe: the Women’s British Open and the Evian Championship.

Also, the winner of the Jabra Ladies Classic will earn exemption to the LET’s Jabra Ladies Open at Evian Resort Golf Club in France, the final qualifying event for the Evian Championship.

At the conclusion of the schedule of tournaments, the top three professionals on the tour’s Investec Order of Merit will gain automatic entry into next year’s Investec South African Women’s Open, while the outright winner receives a bonus prize worth R200,000, (around €10,000)

Humphreys wins Joburg Ladies Open

On March 4, Lily May Humphreys from England won her first Sunshine Ladies Tour and Ladies European Tour title with a two-shot triumph at the Joburg Ladies Open.

Just 15 month into her pro career, the 20-year-old now owns a LET winner’s category exemption for the rest of the season, and the 2024 and 2025 seasons.

The victory took Humphreys to the top of the 2023 Investec Order of Merit and she will now try and win the money list race outright when the Sunshine Ladies Tour’s 10th season concludes at the Investec South African Women’s Open.

2023 Tour Schedule

Feb 1-3: SuperSport Ladies Challenge by Sun International, Gary Player Country Club (Winner: Casandra Alexander)

Feb 10-12: Dimension Data Ladies Pro-Am, Fancourt – The Montagu (Winner: Moa Folke)

Feb 15-17: Cape Town Ladies Open, Atlantic Beach Links (Winner: Hayley Davis)

Feb 22-24: Jabra Ladies Classic, Glendower Golf Club (Winner: Casandra Alexander)

Mar 1-4: Joburg Ladies Open, Modderfontein Golf Club (Winner: Lily May Humphreys)

Mar 6: Investec South African Women’s Open – Pre-Qualifier, Steenberg Golf Club

Mar 8-11: Investec South African Women’s Open, Steenberg Golf Club