The 2025 Road to Mallorca season gets under way this week, with the SDC Open at Zebula Golf Estate & Spa taking place from January 23-26. Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the season-opener in South Africa…
A new era begins
HotelPlanner were announced as the new title partner of the Challenge Tour just last Friday, with this week’s SDC Open marking a historic moment in the Tour’s history, as the first under a new name.
Zebula Golf Estate and Spa plays host to the first four days under the HotelPlanner Tour banner, with all 156 players in the field looking to mark the milestone with a win.
The multi-year partnership will see players compete for a record total prize fund of over €9,000,000 on the HotelPlanner Tour this season, with 16 events seeing prize fund increases in 2025.
The Road to Mallorca starts now
As well as being the first week under the HotelPlanner Tour name, the SDC Open is the first of four co-sanctioned events with the Sunshine Tour which kick-starts the 29-event Road to Mallorca schedule. Over the next ten months, the HotelPlanner Tour will visit three continents in 18 different countries.
Road to Mallorca Ranking points are on offer at each event throughout the season, before the leading 20 players at the end of all 29 tournaments will earn a life-changing DP World Tour card. A strong start in South Africa could be crucial.
Zebula Golf Estate & Spa
Zebula Golf Estate & Spa returns to the HotelPlanner Tour schedule for the fourth time and as the season-opening venue for a second successive year.
Recognised as one of the best locations in the world for bushveld golf, Zebula provides a true South African bush experience, situated in the Waterberg region of Limpopo Province. Surrounded by nature and wildlife, the players this week will be treated to regular sightings of zebra, giraffe, blue wildebeest, impala and much more.
Two-time?
All three previous winners of the SDC Open will tee it up this week, with the trio of Clément Sordet, who won the first edition in 2022, JJ Senekal, who secured a famous victory on home soil in 2023, and last year’s victor Rhys Enoch, all back at Zebula with a chance to become a two-time winner of the event.
Whoever does triumph in Limpopo will need to go low in order to do so, with scores south of 20 under par imperative in previous editions. Welshman Enoch carded four rounds of 66 12 months ago to reach 24 under par and win by two shots.
