Fortress Real Estate Investments Limited, sponsors of The Fortress Invitational on the Sunshine Tour, have expanded their support of next-generation greatness on the Tour with a new Rookie of the Year incentive for the country’s future stars.

The Rookie of the Year award is the Sunshine Tour’s most prestigious accolade for young talent and traditionally rewards the best performing rookie professional on the Tour for that season. The rookie professional who finishes the highest on the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy at the end of the current season will take home R200 000 in prize money.

The incentive is open to those who earned their Tour card for the 2023/24 season by way of the Qualifying School, the Altron Vusi Ngubeni Development Tournament, the Blue Label Development Tour and the Altron Big Easy Tour. The winner will be crowned at the Sunshine Tour’s season-ending Tour Championship.

Ian Vorster, CFO of Fortress, believes that golf aligns best with the brand’s core value of powering growth. “We are pleased to support new golfing talent as they come up through the ranks. Every Sunshine Tour professional has earned his playing rights through patience, passion and sheer hard work. It is our honour to acknowledge and celebrate the Rookie of the Year.”

Additionally, the prize money for this year’s Fortress Invitational has been increased to R2,000,000 and the tournament has grown to a 72-hole event. The second edition of this tournament tees off from 5-8 October 2023 at Glendower Golf Club.

“The Sunshine Tour and Fortress Real Estate Investments Limited are equally aligned when it comes to a focus on empowering growth. Following a warm welcome to our Sunshine Tour family last season as a tournament sponsor, we are grateful to Fortress for further entrenching themselves on our Tour through the Fortress Rookie of the Year incentive. This is a purpose-driven award that will inspire and reward tomorrow’s heroes,” said Thomas Abt, Commissioner of the Sunshine Tour.