1978–79 Southern Africa Tour
Golf tour season
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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.
Dale Hayes (2) Simon Hobday (2) Hugh Baiocchi| 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 → | |
Season outline
Simon Hobday was the top player early in the season. At the inaugural event, the Rhodesian Dunlop Masters, he 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
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
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
- 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.