[Mark_Rowlinson]

Reading the long lists of A1 golf courses on Long Island, in the Met area and the Philadelphia area made me ask myself, for some reason, whether I could name 10 African courses that could keep equal company with those illustrious courses.  I could not.  In fact I could really only suggest Durban CC.  The conclusion I have come to is that the whole of the continent of Africa does not have as many fine courses as Westchester County, or, even perhaps, Bethpage State Park.  Am I dismissing other African courses unfairly?  I have never been there.

[Adrian_Stiff]

Reading the long lists of A1 golf courses on Long Island, in the Met area and the Philadelphia area made me ask myself, for some reason, whether I could name 10 African courses that could keep equal company with those illustrious courses.  I could not.  In fact I could really only suggest Durban CC.  The conclusion I have come to is that the whole of the continent of Africa does not have as many fine courses as Westchester County, or, even perhaps, Bethpage State Park.  Am I dismissing other African courses unfairly?  I have never been there.

Mark, I think South Africa is pretty rich in golf courses now, the courses around the Cape area particularly. I played Rabat many moons ago in Morocco that was nice, I cant think of other African hotspots.

[Brian Joines]

While in Africa last summer I played Arusha Golf Club in Arusha, Tanzania. It's the only course in the city and one of 3 in the country I think. It's a 9 holer that is hardly notable in anyway. I am guessing the less developed countries have really no golf to speak of so it's very possible that your theory is correct.

[Bob_Huntley]

Mark,

I haven't played in Africa for a number of years but the two courses that had merit and conditioning as good as the courses on Long Island, were the Durban Country Club and Nchanga Golf Club up on the Copperbelt. I am sure that recent additions such as The River Club, halfway between Johannesburg and Pretoria, and Fancourt C.C. down in the Cape, may have their supporters.


Bob

[Philip Gawith]

Mark, South Africa has not problem putting a together a top 50 list of golf courses and many of them are meritorious. In fact, in addition to the ones Bob cites, the country has had something of a course-building boom over the last 5 years or so, so there are a lot of new ones to choose from.

What they may lack in architectural pedigree many will make up for through scenery, charm etc - if you allowed to say that on GCA! Zimbabwe has some good courses, like Leopard Rock and Mauritius has a few, but I think the continent as a whole is not that blessed.

Having said that, I can think of a number of quite well established countries which might fail to match the stellar courses in the areas you cite.

[Padraig Dooley]

Mark, Bethpage State Park has only five courses. To suggest that the whole continent has only five good courses is dismissing it unfairly.

South Africa alone has a host of top quality golf courses. I have played a lot of golf down there.

I would rate the following, which I've played, with 5 or higher on the Doak scale.

Leopard Creek
Sun City, Gary Player CC + Lost City
Glendower
Royal Johannesburg East + West
Royal Cape
Johannesburg CC (Woodmead)
Wild Coast Sun
Arabella
Erinvale
Atlantic Beach
Pearl Valley
Fancourt (Montagu)
George
Houghton
Wanderers
Randpark
Clovelly

There are a few I haven't played which are rated very highly

Durban CC
The Links at Fancourt
Humewood
The River Club

As well as a host of new developements on the Cape Coast and Garden Route.

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