Desvonde Pierre Botes (born 2 November 1974) is a South African professional golfer. Botes was born in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foot ...

. After winning the South African Amateur Championship in 1991 at the age of 16 years and 5 months, 20 days younger than the record set by

Ernie Els Theodore Ernest Els (; born 17 October 1969) is a South African professional golfer. A former , he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature (he stands ) along with his fluid golf swing. Among his more than 70 career victor ...

, Botes turned professional at the start of 1992. His first professional victory came in the Mercedes Benz Golf Challenge on the Southern Africa Tour in 1993. Following further successes on the Southern Africa Tour, including the

South African Masters The South African Masters was one of the most prestigious golf tournaments on the Sunshine Tour. It was last played in 2011. Before its discontinuation, it had a prize fund of 1.2 million rand and was held at the Wild Coast Sun Country Club on ...

in 1998, Botes attempted to qualify for the

European Tour The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fi ...

. He did not manage to gain full exemption in 1999, but returned the following year and was medalist at the European Tour Qualifying School less than a week after claiming his second

Platinum Classic The Platinum Classic was a golf tournament on the Sunshine Tour. It was founded in 1995, and was played at the nine-hole Mooinooi Golf Club, North West Province, South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is t ...

title in South Africa. He finished just outside the top 100 in the Order of Merit, with a best finish of 5th in the

Benson & Hedges International Open The Benson & Hedges International Open was a men's professional golf tournament which was played in England. It was founded in 1971 and for its first five years it was called the Benson & Hedges Festival of Golf. It was sponsored by Benson & Hedge ...

. Back problems in 2002 and 2003, meant Botes was unable to retain his place on the European Tour. He returned to South Africa and won the Parmalat Classic on his way to 3rd place on the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit. That promising form prompted another attempt at the European Tour Qualifying School. He claimed the last card for the 2004 season, but made only five cuts in the regular tour events, with a best finish of 9th, and failed to retain his playing privileges for the following season. Since then he has competed on the Sunshine Tour with limited success, although he has won several titles on the less competitive Winter Swing of the schedule.

Professional wins (14)

Sunshine Tour wins (12)

IGT Pro Tour wins (1)

Other wins (1)

*1993 Mercedes Benz Golf Challenge

Playoff record

Asian Tour playoff record (0–1)

Results in major championships

''Note: Botes only played in The Open Championship.''
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Results in World Golf Championships

"T" = Tied

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Botes, Desvonde South African male golfers Sunshine Tour golfers European Tour golfers Sportspeople from Pretoria People from Madibeng Local Municipality White South African people 1974 births Living people