Golf courses in South Africa

If you enjoy the challenge of a coastal course, there is a stunning selection available; if you prefer playing at altitude, where the ball flies that much further, the selection is just as good.

Probably the most famous golf course in South Africa is the Gary Player Country Club at Sun City, home to the the Nedbank Golf Challenge, that offers the largest first prize of any tournament in the world.

However, there are many other world-class courses that have featured on both the European PGA Tour as well as the local Sunshine Tour, not to mention a wealth of excellent courses besides.

South Africa has produced a number of golfers of the highest calibre, including Gary Player, Bobby Locke, Ernie Els and Retief Goosen, major winners all - and once you've experienced some of the courses we have to offer, you'll begin to understand why. Start planning your golfing safari now!

SOUTH AFRICA'S TOP 10 COURSES

Leopard Creek

Rated the best course in South Africa, and listed at number-25 in Golf Digest USA's list of top 100 courses outside the United States, Leopard Creek is situated on the border of the world famous Kruger National Park.
Designed by Gary Player, with the money behind the concept coming from international business entrepreneur Johann Rupert, the course uses the natural environment which is home to Africa's "big five" – lion, leopard, elephant, rhinoceros, and buffalo – and over 200 bird species, which make their homes in the trees surrounding the course, some of which are over 100 years old.
Players, though, are protected from wildlife through innovative architectural and landscaping techniques, although water hazards might include the odd hippopotamus or crocodile!

Gary Player Country Club

Probably the most famous course in South Africa because it is host to the Nedbank Challenge, the Gary Player Country Club at Sun City also features two holes that rank in Golf Online’s list of the 500 best holes in golf: the 520 metre par-five ninth, and the 402 metre par-four eighteenth. The course itself ranked twenty-ninth in Golf Digest's list of 100 best courses outside of the USA.

The course is one of the longest in South Africa and certainly one of the toughest, with the rough especially punishing. It places a premium on accurate approaches, with plenty of bunkers and water hazards sprinkled around the layout to test even the best.

Located at Sun City, which is also home to the Lost City Golf Course, another Gary Player designed course which ranks in the top echelon of South African courses, the Gary Player CC is but one part of a marvelous entertainment complex that includes the stunning Lost City too.

Sun City Resort, PO Box 2, Sun City 0316, North West Province, South Africa

Tel: (27) 014 – 557 1245/6

Wild Coast Country Club

Designed by the world-renowned Robert Trent Jones, the Wild Coast Country Club course is set against the background of the Indian Ocean. The course is beautiful, but the experience is punishing for those golfers that stray into the rough.

When the wind gets up, as it does from time to time on the coast, the Wild Coast Country Club can present a very difficult challenge. The course isn't long, but it presents interesting and challenging changes in elevation and while the fairways are wide, it is important not to stray from them at all.

The Wild Coast Country Club's signature hole is the par-three thirteenth, which measures only 146 metres. It's a real tester, however, and was included in Golf Online's selection of the 500 best holes in golf.

Tel: (27) 039 – 305 2799

Fancourt Hotel, Country Club and Golf Estate

The two teams that fought to a dramatic sundown stalemate at the 2003 Presidents Cup were mesmerized by the Links at Fancourt. This is South Africa's toughest course, and if it was situated on Irish or Scottish coastal terrain, it would be one of their toughest, too. As an homage to Ballybunion or Royal Troon—co-designer Gary Player thinks it has echoes of both—a flat former airfield was turned into a fantasy landscape of high mounds and dunes swaying with tall fescue and rye grasses. Tee shots bound down corridor-narrow fairways sown with a mix of cool-season grasses which, when firm, allow the ball to skip and twist along the land's every contour. On many holes, only the hot sun and the rugged Outeniqua Mountains, which dominate the horizon on this part of the Garden Route, remind golfers that Scotland is half a world away. The spell is powerful enough that even a handful of small lakes and marshes will fail to upset links purists.

Durban Country Club

The Durban Country Club has hosted 16 South African Open Championships, more than any other club in South Africa. The list of winners at the club includes Gary Player, Bobby Locke, Bob Charles, Ernie Els, and Tim Clark. It is ranked sixty-second by Golf Digest in the list of top 100 golf courses outside of the USA.

Golf Online includes three of the course' holes in its list of top 500 holes in golf, and they all occur within the first five holes! First up is the second, a par-three 176-metre hole, followed by the par-five third, which plays at anywhere from 460 metres to a lengthy 513 metres.

The fifth hole is a par-four 461 metre tester. Some have called the third hole the best third hole in the world, while others regard it as the best par-five. It is rated one of the best 18 holes in the world!

Built on an old swampland surrounded by high dunes, the course blends into its surroundings as it undulates along the coastline, a short distance from the Indian Ocean. The channels created by the dunes mean that the wind provides a huge test. At times, when caught in a channel, golfers won’t be subjected to wind, while at other times it is a very testing factor.

Arabella Country Club

Arabella Country Club has played host to the Nelson Mandela Invitational since 2003, drawing many of the world's top golfers, and sporting and entertainment celebrities to the fairest Cape. Designed by top South African designer Pete Matkovich, the course was ranked number-100 in the list of the best courses in the world outside of the United States, put together by Golf Digest USA.

It made a strong impact when it was named the best new course in South Africa in 1999 by Golf Digest and it has continued to keep up the high standard it set early on, featuring regularly as one of the top-10 courses in the country.

Bordering the largest natural lagoon in South Africa, with the ninth, seventeenth, and eighteenth running parallel to the water, the course provides both a wonderful golf challenge and an eye-catching landscape.

Glendower Golf Club

Built in 1937, the Glendower Golf Club made an early impact, hosting The Transvaal Open only two years into its existence. The winner was Bobby Locke in what was then a world record score of 265, after rounds of 66, 69, 66, and 64.

In the eighties, the course underwent major changes, with all 18 greens being reshaped and rebuilt, with new tee positions being implemented, and water hazards being clear and extended, and new water hazards added.

Since that time, the course has hosted the South African Open three times, in 1987, 1993, and 1997. Trees, water hazards - on 11 holes - and bunkers are plentiful. The signature hole is the par-four tenth, rated one of the 500 best holes in golf by Golf Online. It plays from 383 to 425 metres long and features water on the left, with tough bunkers on the right.

River Club Golf Course

The very exclusive River Club Golf Course in Sandton, Johannesburg is highly rated for its always immaculate conditioning. Unfortunately, only members and their guests have access to this scenic layout.

Apart from the course's stunning condition, the River Club also features one of the toughest finishing stretches to be found anywhere in South Africa. It is also a long course, playing to a length of about 6 500 metres.

Tel: (27) 011 – 783 1166

George Golf Club

Situated not far from Fancourt in the beautiful southern Cape, the George Golf club features a picturesque, rolling course, packed with trees. The front nine features only one par-three hole, but the back nine has three of them.

The signature hole is the last of the par-threes, the seventeenth. It's fairly long at up to 181 metres and it places a premium on accuracy, thus it is rated the second-most difficult hole on the inward nine, and the fourth most difficult overall. It is also rated one of the 500 best holes in the world.

Apart from George, only Durban Country Club and the Wild Coast Country Club boast par-three holes in the world's top 500.

Pecanwood Golf and Country Club Estate

Bordering the Hartebeespoort Dam, the Jack Nicklaus-designed Pecanwood Golf and Country Club Estate is set against the backdrop of the beautiful Magaliesberg Mountains. It makes for an eye-catching setting, with water sparkling under the rising wall of land.

Although the course is flat, well positioned bunkers ensure that it offers a good challenge to golfers of all standards. The greens feature Crenshaw bent grass, which is extremely resilient. This means that the can always be kept cut low and fast.

When the course was opened in 1998, it was voted best new course of the year by Golf Digest.