1978–79 Southern Africa Tour
| Duration | 1 November 1978 – 7 February 1979 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 8 |
| Most wins |  Dale Hayes (2) Simon Hobday (2) |
| Order of Merit | Hugh Baiocchi |
← 1977–78 1979–80 → | |
The 1978–79 Southern Africa Tour was the eighth season of the Southern Africa Tour, the main professional golf tour in South Africa since it was formed in 1971.
Season outline[edit]
Rhodesian Simon Hobday was the most successful golfer in the early season, winning the first two events of the season, both in his home country. A number of players had success in the middle of the season but it was Hugh Baiocchi, who won the flagship Yellow Pages South African Open, that captured Order of Merit honors.
Hobday was the top player early in the season. At the inaugural event, the Rhodesian Dunlop Masters, Hobday was victorious.[1] The following event, the Victoria Falls Classic, also held in Rhodesia, was being played in the middle of the Rhodesian Bush War. Hobday tried to recruit a number of top European players to play in the event but was not successful.[2] He went on the win the event.[3]
South Africans Dale Hayes, Hugh Baiocchi, and Tienie Britz were the top players later in the season. In the third event, the ICL International, Hayes defeated Baiocchi in a playoff. At the fifth tournament, Baiocchi won the Yellow Pages South African Open by one shot.[4] The following week Hayes defeated Britz in a playoff at the Kronenbrau Masters.[5] Britz won the Kalahari Classic the week after, however.[6] Baiocchi went on to win the Order of Merit.[7]
Schedule[edit]
The following table lists official events during the 1978–79 season.[8][9][10][11]
| Date | Tournament | Location | Purse (R) |
Winner[a] | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 Nov | Rhodesian Dunlop Masters | Rhodesia | Rh$14,000 | Simon Hobday (1) |
|
| 11 Nov | Victoria Falls Classic | Rhodesia | 35,000 | Simon Hobday (2) |
|
| 18 Nov | ICL International | Transvaal | 35,000 | Dale Hayes (13) |
|
| 2 Dec | Lexington PGA Championship | Transvaal | 50,000 |  Hale Irwin (n/a) |
|
| 9 Dec | Yellow Pages South African Open | Cape | 45,000 | Hugh Baiocchi (7) |
|
| 15 Dec | Kronenbrau Masters | Cape | 30,000 | Dale Hayes (14) |
|
| 14 Jan | Kalahari Classic | Botswana | 18,000 | Tienie Britz (3) |
New tournament |
| 7 Feb | Holiday Inns Open | Swaziland | 20,000 | John Bland (4) |
Order of Merit[edit]
The Order of Merit was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in South African rand.[7]
| Position | Player | Prize money (R) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hugh Baiocchi |
19,804 |
Notes[edit]
- ^ The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of Southern Africa Tour events they had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for Southern Africa Tour members.
References[edit]
- ^ "1978 Rhodesian Dunlop Masters". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
- ^ "Golfers out to brave course with teeth". Birmingham Evening Mail. Birmingham, United Kingdom. 8 November 1978. p. 34. Retrieved 12 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Steel, Donald (12 November 1978). "World-wide harvest". The Sunday Telegraph. London, United Kingdom. Retrieved 12 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Graham rallies for victory in Mexico Cup golf". The Montreal Gazette. Montreal, Canada. 11 December 1978. p. 38. Retrieved 12 September 2023 – via Google News Archive.
South African Open
- ^ "Sport in brief". The Glasgow Herald. Glasgow, United Kingdom. 16 December 1978. p. 15. Retrieved 12 September 2023 – via Google News Archive.
Dale Hayes won the Cape Open Golf Tournament in a sudden death play-off...
- ^ "1979 Kalahari Classic". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
- ^ a b Berkovitz, Anton; Samson, Andrew (1993). South Africa and international sports factfinder. D. Nelson. p. 96. ISBN 1868061019. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
- ^ "1978/79 Tournament schedule". Sunshine Tour. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
- ^ McCormack, Mark H. (1979). Dunhill Golf Yearbook 1979. Doubleday. pp. 216–224, 370–375. ISBN 0385149409. Retrieved 8 November 2023 – via Archive.org.
- ^ McCormack, Mark H. (1980). Dunhill Golf Yearbook 1980. Springwood Books. pp. 193–204, 364–370. ISBN 0905947835.
- ^ Simms, George (1979). World of Golf 1979. Macdonald and Jane's. pp. 151–154. ISBN 0354090690.