Martin Vorster held his nerve when it mattered most to win his first event on the Sunshine Tour, by closing out the DNi Tour Championship presented by RMB at the always magnificent De Zalze Golf Club in Stellenbosch. He became the 25th different golfer to pick up a Tour win, with only Casey Jarvis (three) and Jayden Schaper and Luis Carrera (two) being multiple winners, but few players were more deserving of Vorster.

He had been in and around the top of the leaderboard on several occasions over the summer and after a course-record opening 63 at De Zalze, that consistency put him in the box seat.

'I've been working on the fundamentals of the swing and set-up, but I haven't changed too much there. It's been more a focus on just playing golf and being a bit more creative and reactive. I feel like a kid again just trying to hit different shots, and it's made a huge difference not worrying too much about how the swing looks and just playing.

'It's been a very consistent season. It's been a bit frustrating in the sense that I had a lot of good finishes between eighth and 20th, and a lot of weeks where I was just one or two shots outside the top five, which is where you want to be in terms of maximum points. I've felt like I've played a lot of good golf,' he said.

He led at De Zalze at halfway, before a moving-day 71 saw him slip three behind Jaco Prinsloo and two behind Altin van der Merwe, both also chasing their first win of the season. However, Vorster displayed all the consistency that had underscored his season when he hit the front around the turn. He never looked back, taking route 66 to come home.

In a purple patch from holes 6-10 he went birdie-par-eagle-birdie-birdie to move to the top of the leaderboard and then parred the last eight holes for an ultimately comfortable victory, despite Van der Merwe's late charge where he finished eagle-birdie for a 69

'It's incredible. My family have supported me all the way, and it was so special to win in front of them. If it wasn't for what my parents, and especially my dad, have done for my career I wouldn't be standing here. It's pretty emotional to have had my dad on the bag for this. It was so special to do it with him. I wouldn't have wanted it to be with anybody else' said Vorster.

On the eve of the DNi Tour championship, The Sunshine Tour held its annual season awards.

Jarvis took the Commissioner's Award, in recognition of the player who broke through and just kept on achieving. 'Casey did exactly this over the season. He's a wonderful young talent and we wish him all the best as he now looks forward to playing the Majors as well,' said Thomas Abt, Commissioner of the Sunshine Tour.

Herman Loubser was recognised by his fellow professionals with the Players' Player of the Year Award for a season in which he won on the Vodacom Origins of Golf series and had a further four top-five finishes in what has been his most successful season on the Tour.

'I wasn't expecting this. When other players vote for you and they recognise how much work it takes and how hard it is to perform, it really is special to receive that,'' he said.

Shaun Norris received the Sportsman of the Year Award for his act of sportsmanship during his playoff with Schaper in December's Alfred Dunhill Championship, when he applauded Schaper's brilliant fairway bunker shot onto the green in the playoff.

'We all strive to win tournaments, and here was a youngster, with all the talent in the world who had a wonderful year leading up to that event. It's hard to win, so for him in that position, to pull off a shot like that, I just felt it deserved an applause. I was amazed by the shot,' said Norris.

2025/26 SEASON WINNERS

        Louis Albertse
       (Sunbet Challenge – Sun Sibiya)

        Austin Bautista
(Sunbet Challenge – Wild Coast)

Oliver Bekker
(Jonsson Workwear Durban Open)

Dan Bradbury
(Joburg Open)

Jonathan Broomhead
(Sunbet Challenge – Time Square)

MJ Daffue
(NTT Data Pro-Am)

Hennie du Plessis
(Blue Label Unlimited Challege)

Will Enefer
(Cape Town Open)

Ben Follett-Smith
(Cell C Challenge)

Deon Germishuys
(PGA Championship)

Michael Hollick
(FNB Eswatini Challenge)

Jacques Kruyswijk
(VOG – Devonvale)

Herman Loubser
(VOG – Parys)

Malcolm Mitchell
(Gary & Vivienne Player Challenge)

Pieter Moolman
(Limpopo Championship)

Haydn Porteous
(VOG – Gowrie Farm)

Warwick Purchase
(Fortress Invitational)

Kristoffer Reitan
(Nedbank Golf Challenge)

JC Ritchie
(Stella Artois Players Championship)

Samuel Simpson
(Zambia Open)

Daniel van Tonder
(The Courier Guy Playoffs – Serengeti)

MJ Viljoen
(SDC Open)

Kieran Vincent
(Waterfall City Tournament of Champions)

Martin Vorster
(DNi Tour Championship)