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Young Sunshine Tour professional Dylan Naidoo had just returned from the United States after securing playing privileges on the Mackenzie Tour at its qualifying school when his phone rang. It was Thomas Abt, the new commissioner of the circuit based in southern Africa, wishing to congratulate him.
“It was really nice to hear from him,” says Naidoo, who hadn’t notified anybody of his achievement. “He obviously pays close attention and he saw that I did it.”
In his new position, Abt specialises in little details that make a big difference.
The 45-year-old was officially appointed Sunshine Tour commissioner on 1 October 2020. It was a role he had long been groomed for by previous commissioner Selwyn Nathan, now the tour’s executive director.
Nathan, with the considerable support of Sunshine Tour chairman Johann Rupert and a powerful and passionate board of directors, built the South African tour up to being one of the most successful single-economy tours in world golf, with strong relationships with all the major circuits.
“I was hooked by the crowds and the hospitality and all that goes into a golf tournament of that magnitude, and seeing how happy it made the people there to be a part of it. I said to myself right there, ‘When I grow up, I want to work in this industry.’ ”
Thomas Abt
In Abt he had found the perfect successor – a man passionate about the game who had worked outside the ropes running Sunshine Tour events on behalf of a leading South African sports sponsorship and entertainment company. Abt is committed to seeing the Sunshine Tour continue to succeed.
“It was a tremendous honour for me to be handed this responsibility,” Abt says. “I’m grateful to Selwyn and our board of directors for giving me that opportunity. The Sunshine Tour is incredibly blessed to have a very strong board, and all of them share a common goal. They serve this game passionately and want to see the Sunshine Tour succeed. It’s a privilege to be able to work with a board like that.
“I see my role as not so much about putting my stamp on this position, but rather to build on the success we’ve had. I want professional golf in Southern Africa to be a product people want to be involved with.”
One of Abt’s first tasks as commissioner was the creation of the tour’s new slogan: “Greatness begins here.” It’s a reflection of the Sunshine Tour’s longstanding history of breeding future champions. Abt believes in this more than anybody, and he helps to cultivate it in paying attention to detail. Especially when it comes to his member professionals.
“First and foremost, we need to remember that the professional golfer is our customer,” he said. “He’s our client base and we need to serve him best.”
Abt is well aware that the language of professional golfers is more tournaments and more money. He has a five-year plan that includes the creation of a significant international event on the Sunshine Tour, which he feels will create interest in the game, and in turn bring new sponsors to it.
Since assuming this role, he has also significantly expanded the tour’s digital offering, from social media to the launch of a Virtual Sunshine Tour during the hard coronavirus lockdown in South Africa in 2020.
Abt believes implicitly in the entertainment value of golf. After all, although he is a single-figure handicapper, what first got him interested in golf was not the game itself, but rather the effect it has on people.
“I went to watch the Nedbank Golf Challenge with my father in the ’80s,” he said. “I wasn’t really interested in golf then, but I was blown away by what I saw at Sun City.
So when Naidoo climbed on a plane and travelled to the US to try his hand at qualifying for the Mackenzie Tour, he thought only he and his close family were paying attention. The Sunshine Tour commissioner was following his progress, too.
Whenever a Sunshine Tour event finishes, Abt sends thank-you letters to all of the key sponsors and staff members. When the Sunshine Tour was able, against expectations, to co-sanction three major tournaments with the European Tour at the end of 2020 and provide its members with much-needed playing opportunities, Abt sent 22 individual letters of thanks to everybody from the head greenkeepers to European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley. Not surprising then that Abt sends a congratulatory letter when a South African golfer does well internationally.
In a way, his hands-on approach reflects his love for carpentry as a hobby. “I love building things,” he says.
He’ll continue to do so on the Sunshine Tour, from a foundation of success built by those who came before him.
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