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Marty Bonnar

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Re: South Africa, golf and sightseeing
« Reply #25 on: January 12, 2017, 10:16:03 AM »
Is it safe?
I haven't been in SA, but have been to Kenya and Egypt, where we had armed 'escorts' just about everywhere we went.


F.
The White River runs dark through the heart of the Town,
Washed the people coal-black from the hole in the ground.

Pete Lavallee

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: South Africa, golf and sightseeing
« Reply #26 on: January 13, 2017, 01:07:21 AM »
Martin,


The Cape region is quite safe, I sometimes feel like I could get into more trouble in the US were guns are cheap and plentiful. Generally speaking, it's in every bodies best interest to keep a tourist region as crime free as possible. Now Joburg is another story. I'll find out for myself how bad that is next week.
"...one inoculated with the virus must swing a golf-club or perish."  Robert Hunter

Pete Lavallee

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: South Africa, golf and sightseeing
« Reply #27 on: January 13, 2017, 08:28:56 PM »
We played our last round in Capetown at Royal Cape to confirm my original impression that it by far the best the city has to offer. If anything my opinion has gone up, the course was even better than I remembered. I certainly greatly respect the opinions of Philip Gawith and Darius Oliver but if Atlantic Beach is better than Royal Cape I want to buy several ounces of what they are smoking! I give AB the fact that right now putts roll just a little bit better due to the bent grass greens, but in 10-15 years when the Poa invades there will be absolutely no comparison. They are both certainly entitled to their opinion but really how can you compare a course that has houses on both sides of every hole hole to one that has less than a 20 yard walk to the next tee. AB panders to the cart rider with concrete paths taking the walker on a circuitous route around the fynbos on every hole but the 18th. RC has just a wonderful set of push-up greens with good contour and tremendous firmness; you struggle to find a pitch mark even with a wedge shot in. The bunkering at RC is wonderfully 3 dimensional, perhaps it takes 100 years of sand splash to make that happen but they truly convey the message "don't go here"! Now as someone who plays in SD regularly I realize Kikuyu fairways are less than ideal, but if you're going to have them they should be completely homogeneous and these are the gold standard. You are required to carry a sand pouch for divot repair but these are totally unnecessary here as the ball sits up nicely and crisp iron shots are guaranteed with a decisive strike. The Club also has two unique holes 13 & 14 which are why we travel to play golf. Interestingly the ponds on 14 & 15 are now dry due to a prolonged drought and they were mowing the Kikuyu in the base them although they are still staked as hazards.


I think the bottom line here is if you visit Capetown make sure you leave time for a round at Royal Cape, if you can't be inspired by the golf presented here on a flat but beautifully sandy site then you have truly missed out on the very essense of golf architecture in its purest form.
"...one inoculated with the virus must swing a golf-club or perish."  Robert Hunter

Pete Lavallee

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: South Africa, golf and sightseeing
« Reply #28 on: January 20, 2017, 03:30:37 AM »
Both Glendower and Houghton from Johannesburg have now been added
"...one inoculated with the virus must swing a golf-club or perish."  Robert Hunter

C. Sturges

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Re: South Africa, golf and sightseeing
« Reply #29 on: January 20, 2017, 11:40:16 AM »
Pete,
Thank you for taking the time to give a write up of the courses you have played in South Africa.  This is what I had been hoping to find when I was looking up golf in South Africa.
I look forward to hearing more about your trip and what you think of Johannesburg.
Thanks,
Chris

C. Sturges

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: South Africa, golf and sightseeing
« Reply #30 on: May 29, 2017, 09:05:42 PM »
Hello All,


I wanted to thank everyone for there insight and advice.


I had a wonderful trip to South Africa!  A quick rundown and if anyone one has questions I will answer them the best I can.


I landed in Joburg and spent the night there after finding the hotel and my friend.  The next day we drove to Maccauvlei Golf Club.  The course just has that welcoming feeling and gets you excited to play as you drive by a couple holes on the way to the club house.
(I will write more about the course)


From here we headed east towards Krueger National Park, where we spent the next couple nights.  If you like wild animals you have to get there sometime in your life! 


As we left the park we played Leopard Creek Country Club.  From here we drove to Durban for a couple nights and the amazing Durban Country Club.  The vegetation is amazing, it feels like you are in a jungle in areas.
From Durban we drove inland on our way to East London and East London Golf Club.  There was some construction and then a bad accident on this stretch of road.


East London Golf Club was a wonderful surprise, it is very similar in feel to Durban CC, just a smaller version.  Unfortunately they have planted and continue planting to many trees which is taking away the strategy of the course.


From East London we continued driving west towards Port Elizabeth.  If anyone wants to go to the tallest bungee jump spot in the world, you will find it here!
In Port Elizabeth, I literally ran into the couple I sat next to on the flight from Atlanta to Joburg.  It really is a small world!  Here we played Humewood Golf Club, before we headed to Cape St. Francis.
 Here is a lovely beach town and the surprisingly good St. Francis Links!  It was so much better than I expected and that is always a great surprise!


Next we continued west to Knysna, where we played in the famous lagoon and played Pezula Golf Course.  I would head back to the place we stayed in a heart beat, it was just a great spot.  On the way out of town we played Sedgefield Links!  It is a must play for the love of the game!


From Knysna we headed to the town of Wilderness, just on the coast from the city of George and the Fancourt Resort.
We spent the next day playing both the Links Course and the Montague.  It was a great day of golf, and interesting to see the difference in maintenance between the two courses.  The Montague played much better in my opinion, as the Links Course was almost sponge with the amount of water they used on the day I visited.


From George we drove to Cape Town for some sightseeing, Robben Island, and the Cable Car to Table Mountain were great activities.  From here my friend headed home.  I played Royal Cape before flying back to Joburg.  It is a nice parkland course with great views of Table Mountain.


I got very good at driving at night in Joburg.  The next day I played Glendower Country Club and got paired up with two South African PGA tour professionals.  They played the course completely differently than I did, but they were nice enough to put up with me and played the last two holes with my hickories.  We were all surprised that club heads went flying off!
My last day in town I played Brynston Country Club.  Another course I knew very little about and had my expectations beat.  It seems to me Allison designed solid courses all over the world.


Philip- thanks for the good advice!  There was no trouble at all driving.


Sam- Go!  I loved the course and enjoyed the town.  You will enjoy not get bored playing the course and there is another course in town.  There are also many non golf activities to keep you busy.


MKrohn- I was told we should of played Simosa instead.  In my opinion Pezula is a one and done unless you own a house there.


Marty-  The Country felt safe for the most part.  We were told repeatedly not to drive at night, and there where places we drove through I was glad it was day light out.  I can take you to places here in Cleveland like that though.


Pete - thank you for the write ups you did.  I will do a write up of the courses in the next couple of days.


chris

Thomas Dai

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: South Africa, golf and sightseeing
« Reply #31 on: May 30, 2017, 04:26:17 AM »
Super report Chris. You packed a lot in.
Sedgefield Links - I recall driving by and thinking "Hello, that looks interesting".
Great place SA.
atb

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