[Padraig Dooley]

I went in to Soweto last week just before I came home, while in there I had a look at Soweto CC. Green Fees there are between 20 and 40 ZAR which is between $2.50 and $5. It had rained in the morning, was still dull and only had my mobile phone on me so the quality of the pictures is not great.

It wasn't in the best condition, but it would have been a great experience to play it and just wish the rain stopped earlier so we could have went out and played 18.

The view down the 18th.




Flag sticks are not used during the week, only at weekends so sometimes branches are used to indicate hole positions, I think this would have added to the fun. You can probably make out the general condition of the greens from this photograph.




Distance markers Soweto style



Par 3 17th




16th Green, the branch in the hole can be just made out on the right hand side.



Greenside bunker on 16, real hazard, no perfect lies here.

[Mark Bourgeois]

Padraig

Thanks for posting.  Several times across today I have found myself drawn back to these pictures.  A tree grows in Brooklyn...

What can you tell us about the history and origin of the course?

This is such a great website!

Thanks
Mark

[astavrides]

i surprised there is grass there, and the course is as well-conditioned as it is.  the people who play there probably take good care of it.

[Padraig Dooley]

Summer is the rainy season in southern Africa, and this year has been particularly wet so every course around Johannesburg is lush and green, rough very juicy in most places as well.

Winter is dry so come September and October most courses without fairway irrigation would be brown, very firm and fast.

Mark

I know little about the history and origin of the course. I've been invited to play a few times but didn't have the time, looks like I won't be back in Africa for the foreseeable future and wish I'd made the time now.

[Bob_Huntley]

An interesting story about Soweto.

UCLA about 1966, a discussion group made up of academics and pupils in an African Affairs class.

One teaching assistant of the most liberal hue, was holding forth on Colonialism and the effect it had had on African culture, some of which was quite true. He then went on to denigrate just about any benefit that might have accrued to the the indigenous peoples through the use of contour farming, medical and health care projects plus an organized civil service etc.

It was only when he mispronounced the names of several African names and said that Soweto was a Xhlosa word for something or other, that I realized he had never been to the continent. 

I made mention that Soweto was an acronym for the South Western Township, one of several around Johannesburg, set up by the government under the Group Areas Act. He was not amused.

Bob

[Jed Peters]

This is pretty darn cool.

5 bucks to play golf?

Neat stuff.

[Lou_Duran]

Mr. Huntley,

Knowledge gained from experience and achievement is hardly a strength of the Academy, particularly in the social sciences.  Of course, identifying problems and assigning fault are much easier skills to demonstrate than devising solutions and being accountable for the actual results.

Padraig,

These pictures don't project a particularly interesting course.  Can you describe some to the redeeming features?  Who typically plays there?  Are the locals taking up the game in any significant numbers?

[Padraig Dooley]

Lou

I was there for about 15 minutes and saw only 4 or 5 holes, the ground is fairly flat and didn't look that interesting but I'd have to see all the holes before giving it a full judgement.

The day I was there it has just finished raining, so there wasn't too many playing, one fiveball in the distance playing a money game, a couple of senior pros doing some practise on a couple of fairways and a few random stragglers.

The times I've been invited to play were by some of the caddies on the Sunshine Tour, quite a lot of whom live nearby and play there.

The population in Soweto is quite diverse so the golf club gets a lot of diversity as well and would be reasonably busy, particularly at the weekend.

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