Royal Cape GC, South Africa, vintage photos

[Adam Lawrence]

I thought people might enjoy these old photos of the Royal Cape course, the oldest in South Africa, from the 1950s, found by my good friend, South African golf architect Andrew Goosen. It certainly doesn't look like that nowadays -- just take a look at some of those bunkers!

[Josh Stevens]

Funny place South Africa.  All very colonial, but apart from Durban there are no classic old courses.  Royal Cape is nice but nothing to get sweaty about and otherwise is all the new stuff.  Not sure what that happened - clearly Mackenzie never visited.
Of the old, Glengower is probably the best after Durban  in terms of pure design, but it gets no recognition

[Scott Macpherson]

Hi Adam,


That photo appears inside the front cover of the clubs' history publication 'The Winberg Links 1906-2006' written by golf course designer Peter Sauerman, who seems to have been involved with changes at the club since 1999.


It is an interesting photo, but is it more accurate to say that Andrew provided that photo to you, other than he 'found' it?


Regards,


Scott

[Philip Gawith]

Josh, you will be pleased to hear that Glendower gets a lot of love in the recently released Golf Digest SA ratings. It's return to prominence and affection has been triggered by hosting the SA Open I think three years in succession. If memory serves it now ranks number 4 in SA behind The Links at Fancourt[size=78%], Leopard Creek and Sun City. I think Durban Country Club was 5 but I may have got that wrong.[/size]



Philip

[Josh Stevens]

Wow, Durban so low?

Joburg is not great golfing country.  Not a lot of sand about and with wet summers the courses can get a bit soggy, and being the lightning capital of the world it can be bloody terrifying at times

[Robert Mercer Deruntz]

The bunkering looks better aesthetically,  but it doesn't look much different from the course I played in the 1996 SA Open.  The greens seem to be the same size and shape, which is really surprising , considering most courses suffer from sloppy mowing over the years.

[Greg Gilson]

Adam, lovely photos. Thank you.

I played RCGC about 6 years ago and cannot remember a single hole. I am usually good at that sort of thing so I think that says something about the course. Great city, however!!