| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Location | Malalane, Mpumalanga, South Africa |
| Established | 2000 |
| Course(s) | Leopard Creek Country Club |
| Par | 72 |
| Length | 7,287 yards (6,663 m) |
| Tour(s) | European Tour Sunshine Tour |
| Format | Stroke play |
| Prize fund | €1,500,000 |
| Month played | November/December |
| Tournament record score | |
| Aggregate | 264 Charl Schwartzel (2012) |
| To par | −24 as above |
| Current champion | |
 Christiaan Bezuidenhout | |
)  Leopard Creek Country Club ) Leopard Creek Country Club | |
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.
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.
In 2004, the tournament was rescheduled to December, resulting in two events being staged that year. 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.
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.[1] In 2020, the Alfred Dunhill Championship once again became the tour's flagship event.[2]
Winners
| Sunshine Tour flagship event | 2016, 2020 | |
| Sunshine Tour regular event | 2000–2015, 2017–2018 |
| # | Year | Tours[a] | Winner | Score | To par | Margin of victory | Runner(s)-up | Venue | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alfred Dunhill Championship | |||||||||
| 21st | 2020 | EUR, AFR | Christiaan Bezuidenhout | 274 | −14 | 4 strokes |  Richard Bland Sean Crocker Adrian Meronk Jayden Schaper | Leopard Creek CC | |
| 20th | 2019 | EUR, AFR |  Pablo Larrazábal | 280 | −8 | 1 stroke |  Joel Sjöholm | Leopard Creek CC | |
| 19th | 2018 | EUR, AFR | David Lipsky | 274 | −14 | 2 strokes |  David Drysdale | Leopard Creek CC | |
| 2017 | No tournament due to course renovation | ||||||||
| 18th | 2016 | EUR, AFR | Brandon Stone | 267 | −21 | 6 strokes | Richard Sterne | Leopard Creek CC | |
| 17th | 2015 | EUR, AFR | Charl Schwartzel (4) | 273 | −15 | 4 strokes |  Grégory Bourdy | Leopard Creek CC | |
| 16th | 2014 | EUR, AFR | Branden Grace | 268 | −20 | 7 strokes | Louis Oosthuizen | Leopard Creek CC | |
| 15th | 2013 | EUR, AFR | Charl Schwartzel (3) | 271 | −17 | 4 strokes | Richard Finch | Leopard Creek CC | |
| 14th | 2012 | EUR, AFR | Charl Schwartzel (2) | 264 | −24 | 12 strokes | Kristoffer Broberg | Leopard Creek CC | |
| 13th | 2011 | EUR, AFR | Garth Mulroy | 269 | −19 | 2 strokes | George Murray | Leopard Creek CC | |
| 12th | 2010 | EUR, AFR | Pablo Martín (2) | 277 | −11 | 2 strokes | Anthony Michael Thorbjørn Olesen Charl Schwartzel | Leopard Creek CC | |
| 11th | 2009 | EUR, AFR | Pablo Martín | 271 | −17 | 1 stroke | Charl Schwartzel | Leopard Creek CC | |
| 10th | 2008 | EUR, AFR | Richard Sterne | 271 | −17 | 1 stroke | Johan Edfors Robert Rock | Leopard Creek CC | |
| 9th | 2007 | EUR, AFR | John Bickerton | 275 | −13 | 1 stroke | Ernie Els Lee Slattery | Leopard Creek CC | |
| 8th | 2006 | EUR, AFR | Álvaro Quirós | 275 | −13 | 1 stroke | Charl Schwartzel | Leopard Creek CC | |
| Dunhill Championship | |||||||||
| 7th | 2005 | EUR, AFR | Ernie Els | 274 | −14 | 3 strokes | Louis Oosthuizen Charl Schwartzel | Leopard Creek CC | |
| 6th | 2004[b] | EUR, AFR | Charl Schwartzel | 281 | −7 | Playoff | Neil Cheetham | Houghton GC | |
| 5th | 2004[b] | EUR, AFR |  Marcel Siem | 266 | −22 | Playoff | Grégory Havret Raphaël Jacquelin | Houghton GC | |
| 4th | 2003 | EUR, AFR | Mark Foster | 273 | −15 | Playoff | Anders Hansen Trevor Immelman Paul Lawrie Doug McGuigan Bradford Vaughan | Houghton GC | |
| 3rd | 2002 | EUR, AFR | Justin Rose | 268 | −20 | 2 strokes | Mark Foster Retief Goosen Martin Maritz | Houghton GC | |
| Alfred Dunhill Championship | |||||||||
| 2nd | 2001 | EUR, AFR | .svg.png){kind=small} Adam Scott | 267 | −21 | 1 stroke | Justin Rose | Houghton GC | |
| 1st | 2000 | EUR, AFR | Anthony Wall | 204[c] | −12 | 2 strokes | Gary Orr.svg.jpg){kind=small} Phillip Price | Houghton GC | |
- ^ AFR – Sunshine Tour, previously known as the Vodacom Tour; EUR – European Tour.
- ^ a b There were two events in 2004 due to a change in scheduling from January to December.
- ^ Tournament reduced to three rounds because of rain.
See also
References
- ^ "SA Open receives world ranking flagship status". News 24. 8 January 2018. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
- ^ "How the ranking evolved". Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved 18 November 2020.