The sunshine awaits for Bedford’s Nick Cunningham after a tied second place finish at the latest Sunshine Tour qualifying school event in South Africa has earnt him a full card for the upcoming season.
Cunningham finished on -12 after four rounds at the Heron Banks Golf & River Resort near Johannesburg, level with Otto Van Buynder and three shots behind winner Altin van der Merwe, with the runner-up spot earning Nick full playing rights for 2024.
After a first round 69 on Tuesday, Cunningham made his move in the second round, shooting a spectacular six-under 65 on Wednesday, leaving him top of the leaderboard.
Further scores of 67 and a 71 on Friday was good enough to see Cunningham to joint second place.
The latest location on a world golf tour
Founded in 1971, South Africa’s Sunshine Tour covers Southern and Eastern Africa and will see Cunningham jet off to the likes of Pretoria, Western Cape and Zimbabwe.
Some of the games top names from the past decade such as Louis Oosthuizen and Dean Burmester won on the Tour last season and it will provide Cunningham with an opportunity to make it up the notoriously difficult professional golf ladder.
This is after a stint on the now defunct PGA EuroPro Tour and PGA Tour Canada where Cunningham earnt a half-season exemption after a top-10 finish at an event in California.
If Cunningham plays well, he could find himself as part of line-up for the co-sanctioned tournaments with the DP World Tour, formerly known as the European Tour and the Challenge Tour.
Speaking to Bedford Independent, Nick outlined his plans for the coming months, and reflected on a successful week in South Africa.
“It’s a cliché, but I’m generally working at all aspects of my game all the time to slowly improve and get better.
“My short game, putter and course management were all great this week as I didn’t have my best stuff tee to green for the whole week.
“It’s just like spinning plates!”
Cunningham doesn’t have long to wait until he is back out on the course, with just a solitary week off before the Zim Open that begins on 6th May at the Royal Harare Golf Club in Zimbabwe.
“I’m staying out here [South Africa] until June, before some time off and then returning at the end of July”.
You can follow Nick’s progress out in South Africa by visiting the Sunshine Tour website.
