Sean Critton Pappas (19 February 1966 – 7 June 2015) was a

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

Early life

Pappas was born in

Phalaborwa Phalaborwa (translated to English as ''better than the south; phala'' means ''better than and borwa'' means ''south'') is a town in the Mopani District Municipality, Limpopo province, South Africa. It is located near the confluence of the Ga-Sela ...

. He is the second oldest of four brothers Craigen (born 1959), Deane (born 1967), and Brenden (born 1970). He attended the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

from 1984 to 1987, with Deane and Brenden following him there. Deane and Brenden are both professional golfers who have won on the

Nationwide Tour The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at that level. T ...

and played on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...

. Sean turned professional in 1990 and stayed in South Africa playing on the

Sunshine Tour The Sunshine Tour is a men's professional golf tour based in Southern and East Africa. For much of its early history it was known either as the South African Tour or Sunshine Circuit; through sponsorship deals, it has also been known as the Vod ...

and teaching. As a result of the

sporting boycott of South Africa during the apartheid era South Africa under apartheid was subjected to a variety of international boycotts, including on sporting contacts. There was some debate about whether the aim of the boycott was to oppose segregation in sport or apartheid in general, with the l ...

, the Pappas brothers represented

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...

in the

European Amateur Team Championship The European Amateur Team Championship is a European amateur team golf championship for men organised by the European Golf Association which was introduced in 1959. The championship was played in odd-numbered years from 1959 to 2007 and has bee ...

and the

Eisenhower Trophy The Eisenhower Trophy (World Men's Amateur Team Championships) is the biennial World Amateur Team Championship for men organized by the International Golf Federation. Since the tournament was first played in 1958, it is named after Dwight D. Eise ...

in the 1980s.

Professional career

Pappas turned professional in January 1990 and played a few events on the

in 1991 and 1992. He also shot a 59 in the first round of the Hartland Classic a T. C. Jordan Professional Golf Tour event in

Bowling Green, Kentucky Bowling Green is a home rule-class city and the county seat of Warren County, Kentucky, United States. Founded by pioneers in 1798, Bowling Green was the provisional capital of Confederate Kentucky during the American Civil War. As of the ...

. He did not find much success in his early professional years and moved back to South Africa for the 1993 season. He first joined the Sunshine Tour in the 1993 season. He would win five times on the Sunshine Tour between 1993, when he won his first title, and the 2000 season. Pappas has earned over R768,000 in his career between 1993 and his most recent season 2002. He has played over 230 events in South Africa and finished in the top-10 over 30 times winning 1/3 of his playoffs. Pappas had a double-eagle in December 1999 at the

Vodacom Players Championship The Vodacom Players Championship was a golf tournament on the Sunshine Tour that was held in South Africa. It was founded as the FNB Players Championship in 1992 and was played for the final time in 2002. In 1996, it was also included on the sc ...

on the 3rd hole at the Royal Cape Golf Club during the 3rd round. He played briefly again in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

from 1994-95 finding limited success, with two mini-tour wins on the

NGA Hooters Tour SwingThought, formerly the NGA Pro Golf Tour, is the oldest developmental golf tour based in the United States. The tour was acquired by Golf Interact in 2014 and rebranded as SwingThought. The tour consists of around 25 professional golf tourna ...

in 1994. He then moved back to his residence in

. His most recent full season on the Sunshine Tour was in 2002. In 2010, Sean Pappas became the resident Club Professional at The Ranch Resort Executive Golf Course and Academy – officially opened on 22 May by the Premier of

Limpopo Province Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature is ...

Cassel Mathale Cassel Mathale (born 23 January 1961) is a South African politician who was the third Premier of Limpopo between March 2009 and July 2013. He is currently the Deputy Minister of Police in the South African government and before that was Deputy ...

. 24.5 km south of

Polokwane Polokwane (, meaning "Sanctuary" in Northern SothoPolokwane - The Heart of the Limpopo Provinc ...

. Pappas died in June 2015 of a heart attack.

Professional wins (7)

Sunshine Tour wins (4)

NGA Hooters Tour wins (2)

*1994 2 wins

Other wins (1)

*1994

Highveld Classic The Highveld Classic was a golf tournament on the Southern Africa based Sunshine Tour. It was held annually at Witbank Golf Club in Witbank on the highveld of Mpumalanga, South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (R ...

Team appearances

Amateur *

(representing Greece):

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast As ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...

, 1988 *

(representing Greece):

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

References

External links

*
The Ranch Resort Executive Golf Course
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pappas, Sean South African male golfers Greek male golfers Arkansas Razorbacks men's golfers Sunshine Tour golfers Golf instructors People from Phalaborwa Sportspeople from Limpopo 1966 births 2015 deaths