Durban Country Club (pictures)

[Philip Gawith]

Described by Tom Doak as "the most isolated great golf course in the world", and one of his gourmet 31. Certainly a course with an unequalled pedigree in South African golf, not only for its architectural merits, but also for having hosted the South African Open sixteen times - won twice by Bobby Locke, three times by Gary Player, and more recently by Ernie Els and Tim Clark.

I had the good fortune to play the course yesterday in fantastic weather -  Durban is very humid in summer, so playing it in 22 degree weather in winter is ideal.

The course has about 6-8 exceptional holes, and quite a few pretty dull ones as well. I have concentrated the pictures on the better known holes.

The course is a stone's throw from the Indian ocean and derives much of its character from the coastal vegetation. Indeed, it has the most memorable trees I have seen on any golf course. Its real glory lies in the way in which the dunes are an integral feature of some the best holes.

The greens are not particularly challenging, though many are elevated and this poses its own set of challenges. The bunkers have quite a distinct character - large, geometric shaped bowls with dark red soil.

The championship course is 6157 metres, par 72, rated 72. The club course is 5910m, rated 71.




The clubhouse behind the first tee, a medium length ltr dogleg par four.



looking back down the first hole - showing the elevated greens which are a feature.



The course has three very good short holes - and this is the first of them, the elevated tee to the second. This is another feature of the course - many tees situated on top of the dunes.



The tee shot on the famous par five third hole...



The third hole from landing area for the drives. The distant bunker is actually about 50 yards short of the green.




Looking back at third tee....



Looking back down the third hole



The short fourth hole



The daunting tee shot on the stroke one, par four 5th hole. The coastal highway is yards away, and the prevailing wind is normally coming right to left, taking you towards the bush on the left.



Looking back down the 5th hole.



The green on the par five 8th hole.



The famous "Prince of Wales" 12th hole in the distance (9th green in foreground) giving you an idea of how steep the slopes either side of the green are.



The "Prince of Wales" hole....



Tee shot on the 17th. The line is towards the caddies on the right side.



Approach to 17th, showing the plunging fairway as it rides the dunes.



The view from behind the 17th green.




The tee shot on the famous 250 metre, par four 18th hole. The line is left edge of the clubhouse. An eagle opportunity for  the brave, but a lot of trouble if you miss on the right. The flag is just below the tallest building.



This shot shows how the fairway feeds the ball right to left towards the hole.



Looking back down the 18th.


(I have a few more pictures if there is appetite...)

[Brad Swanson]

Philip,
   I'm ready for the next course (culinarily speaking )  These pics are great.

Cheers,
Brad

[Scott Witter]

It isn't hard to see why Tom D. liked the course, just look at those billowing and rumpled fairways, without the vegetation, it seems like it would be a cool links course.  The third hole is nestled between the dunes quite nice and the 17th fairway is remarkable.  Seems like a lot of natural green sites as well.

[Mark Bourgeois]

Philip,

Thanks for the pics. Do you have any travel recs? I understand Royal Durban Hotel is the place to stay.  Any comments / recs on logistics etc. much appreciated.

Mark

[Philip Gawith]

Mark I am not the expert as I am normally staying privately, though the Royal Hotel certainly used to be a good one. Send me an IM and let me know what you are looking for - I will be able to get you some answers I am sure.

[Bob_Huntley]

Phillip,

Thank you for posting those wonderful photographs of the Durban Country Club. It was there in 1963 that I played my final round of golf before emigrating to the U.S.

I had just motored 1650 miles from Northern Rhodesia to Durban where I was to catch a plane to London and then board the Queen Mary from Southamton for the Atlantic crossing to New York. I was lucky enough to meet up with Bobby Locke who invited me to join him for a round at the club. It was rather a sad farewell to Africa but made up for it by playing with a man who was as convivial a human being as one could find. His deterioration of his later years pained me greatly.

Did you ever see Papwa Sewsunker play?

Bob

[Brad Swanson]

Bob/Phillip,
   Is the heaving terrain at Durban typical of the area or unique to the property the course is routed on?  It certainly has a unique and appealing look to it.  Also, was the par 3 "Prince of Wales" created by shaving the top of one of the "dunes" to create the green, or was it built up by man's hand?

Cheers,
Brad

[Bob_Huntley]

Brad,

Not a mile or so away is Royal Durban Golf Club, in the middle of a racecourse. Nothing like Durban C.C., as far as ground contours but if I remember correctly  it was just a brute of a course, much, much harder to score upon than DCC. Perhaps Phillip can confirm my very hazy ideas of the place.

Bob

[Tyler Kearns]

The fairway contours on #17 are outstanding, simply breathtaking. The 'Prince of Wales' hole would be fine for matchplay, however, it would get a little old for mine over regular stroke play days.

TK

[Jim Nugent]

Golf Magazine rates the par 5, number 3 at Durban, as one of the 18 best holes in the world.  

[Philip Gawith]

Bob - I saw Papwa play on TV when I was a child at the tail end of his career (I think his surname was Sewogulum). For those who are wondering, he was a South African golfer of Indian descent who played all his shots left hand low.

He was prominent when the apartheid race laws were at their height which meant he was not treated as an equal with white competitors, not allowed in clubhouses etc. Indeed, there is a plaque on the side of the clubhouse at DCC commemorating his achievements, and although it is not explained, I think the background (if memory serves) is some episode when he was not allowed in the clubhouse despite coming second - or something similarly shameful.


What a way to leave Africa Bob - a round at DCC with Bobby Locke! Your fame must have gone ahead of you. I watched him play once at Houghton - all I remember is his very unathletic appearance and the raking draw he hit! As I recall,  his record in the US was amazing in terms of success rate.

Brad  - Bob is right to recall that Royal Durban is a flat course situated within a racecourse. Actually, as you can see from some of the surrounding suburbs, Durban is quite a hilly place but DCC is down on the flat bit at the front, next to the sea. As you travel north there is quite a bit of similar terrain, but it is all residential. I don't think there are any other courses with similar land.

[Tom_Doak]

Philip:

Good pictures, although you didn't get the full effect of the par-5 eighth which was one of my favorite holes.  The first day I was there, a pack of monkeys came across the fairway and went swinging in the trees to the right; sadly they didn't come out the next two days when I had my camera ready.  

While the course is quite good, you did not mention its one glaring weakness ... the two stretches of holes you did not photograph (9-11 and 13-15) are extremely flat as they extend past the end of the dunes, and make for pretty dull golf.

[Tom_Doak]

Forgot to ask:  I heard last year that David Kidd was doing some consulting on the course.  Have there been any recent changes that you know of?  None were obvious in your pictures.

[Philip Gawith]

Obviously you are right about the flat holes Tom - but I did not want to seem to be merely copying out TCG analysis of the course (which I share!) in its entirety.  

I perhaps did not also stress sufficiently what a tough start the first five can be, especially if the wind is blowing; and what a great finish 17 and 18 represent. How many other national Opens finish with an eminently driveable short par four? It must surely be one of the best in the game?

You are also right I did not capture the 8th hole in the set of pictures - but if you look at the second set I posted (in a different thread) you can probably work out that there are a few pictures of the 8th there - one of the drive and one or two of the approach. The hole plays a bit more difficult than it looks  - if you hit a good drive, the second can be only a medium iron, but the elevated green is small and the distance is difficult to judge so it is easy to fritter away shots at the commercial end of the hole.

[TEPaul]

I don't know about you guys but if I were an architect given land and topography like those photos I would go very light on bunkering and maybe do none. What would be the point of it? That topography and some firmness looks like it can pretty much do everything needed strategically on its own.  

[Philip Gawith]

Tom - the only changes I could see was that they appear to have lengthened the par 5 10th by about 60 yards, and there have been some changes to the short 15th in recent years. That would certainly be different from when you played it - but it remains the least exceptional of the short holes.

[Philip Gawith]

TEP: I think broadly the architect agreed with you! The course is not very heavily bunkered, except for one or two of the short holes. I did not find myself thinking about the bunkers as hazards, though some of the flatter holes do need the bunkering to add interest.

On your point about firmness, I don't think the course will ever be firm like a links because the the coarse coastal grasses don't really lend themselves to a fast-running course. And, arguably, on some of the holes which have more dramatic slopes on them, you would not want them to be too fast-running otherwise control would become impossible.

 Although most of the holes allow you to run the ball up to the hole, it does not play like a links, albeit some holes have a links-like feel. I think this is more down to climate than greenkeeping practices, but I could be wrong.

I am a bit vague on the terminology, but I think the grasses are similar to what you get in Florida where the climate is the same.

Incidentally, the thick tough nature of the rough (not the same as the grass just being long) makes the course more playable on some of the holes like 3 and 5 which are quite tightly lined with thick coastal bush and susceptible to some strong crosswinds. The rough is not fun to play out of, but it does a good job of stopping your ball when it is travelling sideways.

[Bob_Huntley]

For more on Pawa Sewgolum see:


http://www.southafrica.info/ess_info/sa_glance/sports/greats/sewgolum.htm


Until the the Caucasion Clause was eliminated in November of 1961, under the not so gentle prodding of Judge Stanley Mosk, the PGA would have banned Tiger Woods from competition.

Bob

[Tom_Doak]

Actually most of the grass at Durban (including the greens) is a native form of paspalum ... it's the first place I saw paspalum.  The dunes are about a half mile from the sea and the water source is salty.  Back when I saw it in 1993 they called the paspalum there "Country Club grass" because Durban CC was the pioneer.

[Mark Bourgeois]

bump

[Carlyle Rood]

How do you pronounce "Sewsunker 'Papwa' Sewgolum?"

C

[Bill_McBride]

How many other national Opens finish with an eminently driveable short par four?

I can think of one: The Open Championship when contested on The Old Course!  

[ed_getka]

Thanks for bumping this thread.

Philip or Tom D,
     What could be done to improve the flat holes? I would imagine there must be something that could be done with the greens at least to add interest.

[David Stamm]

Philip. thanks so much for posting those pictures. Durban has long been a course that I admire, albeit only through photos. I used to know a gentleman that lives here in San Diego that moved here many years ago, but keeps his membership active there so he can go back a couple of times a year to play it.

Bob, I remember Player saying that Locke was the only man he ever saw that could actually hook a putt. Is this true?

[Bob_Huntley]

David,

I don't know about hooking a putt but I have never ever seen anyone so confident about holing out from anywhere.


He was a genius.

Bob