Last year, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic and amid the lockdown of golf in South Africa, a remarkable thing happened.
The Sunshine Tour launched a virtual golf platform that, most significantly, was supported by its sponsors and partners. When professional golf was allowed to resume last August, the Sunshine Tour announced a new series - the Rise-Up Series. Again, more significantly, this series featured new main tournament sponsors in Betway, African Bank and Titleist. All three upgraded their status as partners of the Sunshine Tour to main tournament sponsor on this series.
During the most vulnerable months for the Tour, Vodacom committed to tournament sponsorship as part of its already long-standing support of South African professional golf. Sun International never wavered in its support of tournaments. And a…