The Sunshine Boys - a golf book about South Africa's finest

31/08/2021

Sally Little is without question South Africa’s greatest woman golfer. What an honour and privilege to present a signed Limited Edition of “The Sunshine Boys” to her at the Sally Little Centre For Excellence in Pinelands. Sally, with 2 Majors and numerous other titles, is the only SA woman to have won on American soil. She truly is our Sunshine Girl.
Sally’s biography from “The Sunshine Boys.”
Sally Little
Full name: Sally Knight Little
Nicknames:
Born: 12 October 1951
Parents: Percy and Yvonne
Siblings: Janeen and Donovan
Turned professional: 1971
Majors: 2
Women’s PGA Championship: 1981
Du Maurier Classic: 1988
Other LPGA victories: 13
Amateur:
Little was the low individual at the 1970 World Amateur Team Championship and won the South African Match Play and Stroke Play titles in 1971. As an amateur, Little tied for fifth at the 1971 Lady Carling Open.
Miscellany:
Twice finished second in US Women’s Open. Tied 2 in 1978 and 2nd on her own in 1986.
Won the Dinah Shore Invitational in 1982. The following year the tournament was declared one of the women’s Majors.
South African Sportsman of the Year 1970
LPGA Tour Rookie of the Year 1971
Named Golf Digest’s 1988 Comeback Player of the Year
Awarded the 1989 Ben Hogan Comeback Player of the Year Award
In 2000 joined a group of her peers in founding The Legend’s Tour, the women’s senior division of the LPGA Tour
Recognized during the LPGA’s 50th Anniversary in 2000 as one of the LPGA’s top 50 players and teachers
Named captain of the World Team vs the US in the 2014, 2015 Handa Cup competition
Inducted into the South African Sports Hall of Fame in 2016

06/07/2021

Following a number of queries some information on how to order a copy of The Sunshine Boys from my book seller in South Africa – Blue Weaver.

“As per our Distribution Agreement we make your book available through Global Book Marketing and Central Books. This is a service we provide and we pay to have the books shipped there. The book is in stock in the UK and can be ordered by the public or international book retailers through the link below.
Sunshine Boys, The (centralbooks.com)

The Sunshine Boys is is listed on Book Depository. Please note this is an international service and the price reflected on the Book Depository website is indicated in the currency from the country from which the query emanates. There currently is not much bibliographic info pertaining to the book, nor a cover image, but I am working on this.

https://www.bookdepository.com/Sunshine-Boys-DAN-ED-RETIEF/9780620867177

Please see the Link below for Australian and NZ purchase.
Sunshine Boys by Dan Ed. Retief, Paperback, 9780620867177 | Buy online at The Nile

Please see the link below for USA purchase.
Mary Martin Booksellers

29/06/2021

Another limited edition (1 of only 200) ready for delivery. This is No144 - level par for 2 rounds - however some higher numbers have been taken

21/06/2021

Louis Oosthuizen’s brave 70-hole challenge for the U.S. Open, before he came a cropper on the 71st tee, once more illuminated the international standing of South Africa’s Sunshine Tour golfers.
Added to Garrick Higgo’s stellar recent run and breakthrough PGA Tour victory in the Palmetto Championship, Wilco Nienaber’s news-catching debut in America, Branden Grace’s top 10 in the U.S. Open and the high number of Rainbow Flags in tournament line-ups South African golfers have attracted renewed media interest.
Oosthuizen, who was tied second with Broeks Koepka in the U.S. PGA Championship at Kiawah Island a month ago, has moved up to 12th on the Official World Golf Rankings (after slipping to No31 at the time of the U.S. Masters) is, and has been for a while, his country’s best golfer.
His is an archetypal tale of Sunshine Tour player – from his days in the Junior Golf Foundation (alongside Charl Schwartzel) to becoming one of the world’s leading golfers.
Louis’ story and those of the trail-blazers who went before him made for fascinating research and stimulating writing while I was working on my book The Sunshine Boys.
From Bobby Locke, via Gary Player, Sally Little, Nick Price (who cut his teeth on the Sunshine Tour), Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Trevor Immelman, Oosthuizen and Schwartzel it is a history of exceptional achievement given South Africa’s remote location on the globe and comparatively small number of golfers.
The Sunshine Boys truly is the epic story of how South Africa’s golfers conquered the world.
Just a forewarning to everyone who expressed an interest in getting a copy of the Limited Edition package of The Sunshine Boys that only 45 books are left.
Just 200 first-run collector’s copies, numbered and signed by myself on a Certificate of Authenticity, of this beautifully presented hard cover, gold-foiled, edition of “The Sunshine Boys” – a history of the amazing achievements of South African professional golfers – were produced. It is presented in a handsome box and “African” themed shoe bag in support of the women who make them.
*“The Sunshine Boys” is an official publication of the Sunshine Tour. All funds raised by the sale of this limited deluxe edition of “The Sunshine Boys” will go to the National Youth Development Centre NPC, a facility established by Johann Rupert to assist youth and sports development.
I handle all despatches of the Limited Edition myself through a strictly controlled accounting process. Please contact me with your details.
Cost:
South Africa R2 500.00
Shipping overseas: R1 000.00 (on average)
$ 185.00 – ± $75.00 (courier fee)
£ 130.00 – ± £55.00 (courier fee)
€ 150.00 - ± €60.00 (courier fee)
How to order:
Name:
Contact details:
E-mail:
Tel:
Address:
VAT number (if applicable)
Number required: Lowest available
*On receipt of your order an Invoice will be issued by the National Junior Development Centre NPC.
Payment will be to: NATIONAL JUNIOR DEVELOPMENT CENTRE NPC
On confirmation of payment being received your order will be despatched by Dan Retief via the kind offices of Skynet; South Africa’s leading courier company.
Further information:

Dan Retief
E-mail: [email protected]
Mobile: 082 853 4840

*In the event of extraordinary shipping charges being incurred Costs of Delivery/Courier services will be for the account of the purchaser.
*The Soft Cover edition can be sourced from The ProShops, Exclusive Books other book stores or by ordering from Books Direct.

* A striking photograph of Bobby Locke's statue at Parkview Golf Club in Johannesburg taken by the club's director of golf, Mark Fraser

09/06/2021

THE SUNSHINE BOYS
The epic story of how South Africa’s golfers conquered the world.
Just a forewarning to everyone who expressed an interest in getting a copy of the Limited Edition package of The Sunshine Boys that only 45 books are left.
Just 200 first-run collector’s copies, numbered and signed by myself on a Certificate of Authenticity, of this beautifully presented hard cover, gold-foiled, edition of “The Sunshine Boys” – a history of the amazing achievements of South African professional golfers – were produced. It is presented in a handsome box and “African” themed shoe bag in support of the women who make them.
*“The Sunshine Boys” is an official publication of the Sunshine Tour. All funds raised by the sale of this limited deluxe edition of “The Sunshine Boys” will go to the National Youth Development Centre NPC, a facility established by Johann Rupert to assist youth and sports development.
I handle all despatches myself. Please contact me with your details.
Cost:
South Africa R2 500.00
Shipping overseas: R1 000.00 (on average)
$ 185.00 – ± $75.00 (courier fee)
£ 130.00 – ± £55.00 (courier fee)
€ 150.00 - ± €60.00 (courier fee)
How to order:
Name:
Contact details:
E-mail:
Tel:
Address:
VAT number (if applicable)
Number required: Lowest available
*On receipt of your order an Invoice will be issued by the National Junior Development Centre NPC.
Payment will be to: NATIONAL JUNIOR DEVELOPMENT CENTRE NPC
On confirmation of payment being received your order will be despatched by Dan Retief via the kind offices of Skynet; South Africa’s leading courier company.
Further information:

Dan Retief
E-mail: [email protected]
Mobile: 082 853 4840

*In the event of extraordinary shipping charges being incurred Costs of Delivery/Courier services will be for the account of the purchaser.

04/05/2021

A line in my Prologue to The Sunshine Boys reads: “Stats could also be overtaken by the passage of time during the printing process, especially given the cluster of exciting and exceptionally talented young players starting their upward journey in 2020.”
The sentence was tapped out in September 2020 when the deadline “to put the book to bed” could no longer be delayed and I’m thankful for the psychic energies that guided my fingers for the stats have indeed changed – rapidly and impressively.
South Africa’s golfers have genuinely “burst the bubble,” so to speak, since competition was allowed to resume – George Coetzee and Garrick Higgo winning even while the presses at Associated Printing were running.
In the Sunshine Boys Erik van Rooyen's win in the 2019 Scandinavian Invitational was the 150th by a South African on the European Tour.
Since book went to print the honours board has had to be continually updated thanks to victories by:
George Coetzee (Portugal Masters September 2020, win No 151).
Garrick Higgo (Open de Portugal September 2020, No 152).
Christiaan Bezuidenhout (Alfred Dunhill Championship November 2020 and SA Open December 2020, Nos 153 and 154).
Justin Harding – 2021 Magical Kenyan Open (No 155).
Danie van Tonder – 2021 Savannah Open (No 156).
*Latter two in successive weeks at the Karen CC in Kenya.
Garrick Higgo – Gran Canaria Open (No 157).
Dean Burmester – Tenerife Open (No 158).
Burmester carded rounds of 63, 68, 66, 62 for an impressive 25-under-par total of 259.
In addition there have been 29 European Tour wins by Zimbabweans (whom I included in The Sunshine Boys because they are “our” boys) which takes the total to 187.
• Southern African players have captured 27 Major championships, 16 Senior Majors, won the World Cup five times and the Dunhill Cup twice. Golfers from the southern tip of Africa have won 126 US PGA Tour titles, 187 European Tour titles (and five; Bobby Locke, Gary Player, Nick Price, Ernie Els and Retief Goosen have been inducted in the World Golf Hall of Fame.

HOW TO BUY:

There are two versions of the book – a handsome Limited Edition hard cover of which just 200 copies were printed and a soft cover for the book trade. All funds raised by the sale of the limited deluxe edition of “The Sunshine Boys” will go to the National Youth Development Centre NPC, the facility established by Johann Rupert to assist youth and sports development.
This limited edition is likely to become a rare collector’s item, as it comes with a Certificate of Authentication (signed by the author), is beautifully presented in a unique African drawstring shoe bag, in support of Township Bags and the women who manufacture them, a solid gold-foiled box opening up to the striking gold-foiled cover in South African green-and-gold.
Numbers are awarded on a first-come basis and 131, plus No 200, have already been reserved. It is priced at R2, 500.00 and is an opportunity to secure a historic item or as a special gift while supporting a worthwhile cause.
* “The Sunshine Boys” is an official publication of the Sunshine Tour.
Limited Edition: Contact Dan Retief personally – [email protected] or call 082 853 4840.
Soft Cover:
Overseas orders: Contact Blue Weaver for a quotation on the cost plus shipping. Email: [email protected] . Tel No: (021) 701-4477
To buy online (in SA): Google Books Direct: The Sunshine Boys
Available from the ProShop and book stores such as Exclusive Books, Bargain Books, Clarkes, Bargain Books, Estoril and many other outlets.

01/04/2021

Experimenting with YouTube... what do you think?

Dan Retief

Dan talks about the great South African golfer Bobby Locke, and how Arthur D'Arcy Locke became known as Bobby!Dan also remembers some of the great stories he...