Sunshine Golf Development Tour launched in Kenya

The Sunshine Tour, one of the top golf tours in the world, has expanded its footprint into Kenya and East Africa, introducing the Sunshine Development Tour.

The South Africa-based Sunshine Tour has signed a three-year exclusive contract with leading sports marketing agency IMG Kenya Limited to launch and operationalize this brand-new mixed professional development golf tour in Kenya and East Africa.

The Sunshine Development Tour – East African Swing will offer professional golfers and elite amateurs, both men and women, a chance to play regular competitive golf tournaments organized in line with Sunshine Tour standards.

Commenting on the Tour, IMG Kenya CEO Peter Gacheru said the Tour is set to revolutionize professional and elite amateur golf in the region.

“We are very pleased to be partnering with The Sunshine Tour of South Africa to bring The Sunshine Development Tour – East African Swing to the region. It is our conviction that this Tour will offer golfers the much-needed platform to play consistent and competitive golf to an ever-increasing standard whilst providing them with a steady revenue stream.

“Our objective is to enhance the quality of professional golf in Kenya and the region, provide elite amateurs and juniors with a development pad, and elevate our profile as a golfing community on the global stage.

“We believe that, through this tour, our local and regional golf landscape will be transformed to produce globally acclaimed golf champions whilst providing a development pipeline for future talent,” he said.

“We look forward to joining hands with other like-minded partners to grow this event to make it bigger, more sustainable, and more impactful for the present and future of golf in the region,” he added.

This Tour will include 10 to 15 events annually. It will deliver Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points, which are crucial for player advancement, providing local professional golfers with a genuine merit-based “pathway” into global golf. OWGR points are also crucial for qualification to the Olympic Games.

Commenting on the deal, Sunshine Tour commissioner, Thomas Abt termed it as a monumental event in the development of the game in Kenya.  

"The launch of the Sunshine Development Tour is a significant moment for golf in Africa as we are able to create unrivalled opportunities for professional golfers and the top amateurs in East Africa. We now have an effective vehicle to unearth the talent on the continent and bring new stars to the game.

“The Sunshine Tour and Sunshine Ladies Tour have effective global pathways in place that are perfectly suited to the development of talent in Africa.

“We look forward to launching the Sunshine Development Tour, which is a milestone moment for the game in Africa and one in which we can play an important role in the growth of golf here.”

Ahead of the tour, IMG Kenya and the Sunshine Tour have organized a qualifying event (Q-School) from the 30th of March to the 2nd of April 2025 at the Windsor Golf Hotel and Country Club. The qualifying school will be a four-day tournament with a prize money of Sh1 million.

“Ordinarily, Q-Schools don’t offer Prize money, but we made a decision at IMG Kenya to kick start the Tour with an incentive for the professional golfers,” Gacheru added.