I am in South Africa right now, on my third trip as my sister in law lives here. We have based our trips out of Cape Town and have twice driven the Garden Route along the Southern shore. It's a long drive from Capetown to Port Elizabeth. We were advised not to attempt the drive from Port Elizabeth to Durban as the only road goes inland. There are numerous reasonably priced inter city flights which can cut out the long drives. Even without the golf there is much to see and do and the current 14 to 1 exchange rate is very attractive. We had lunch at the Player designed Erinvale yesterday and had 2 bottles of wine, starter, mains, desert and after dinner drinks for 4 and even with a 20% tip paid less than $100! Sadly the wind is howling today and there are 3 fires raging very close by. If you go to the trouble get to Fancourt, Port Elizabeth and Humewood is not far away, you can fly to Durban from there. We will be trying Joburg for the first time in a few weeks. South Africans have a strange tradition of stopping for lunch between nines for 15 minutes, and not just a hot dog huge plate lunches; no wonder they are good at rugby!
Here's a rundown of the courses we've played:
Humewood 8: Designed by H V Hotchkin this is my favorite in SA. Not on the water but only a few hundred yards away this course plays very much like a links. The fairways are Bermuda although there was a lot of Kikuyu on the lower spots of the rippling terrain. They were making an effort to irradiate it 6 years ago, not sure how that's coming along. The design accommodates the wind and presents a classic strategy of challenging obstacles to gain advantage. There are a few world class holes with very little letdown.
Durban CC 7: On a par with Humewood this is jungle golf played over Kikuyu covered sand dunes just a motorways width away from the Indian Ocean. The jungle off the fairways is very penal but there is still decent width. Again there are several world class holes but a few mundane ones too. Interestingly Pasalum grass was discovered here as the course is often flooded by the Indian Ocean, giving it salt water resistance.
Fancourt 7: Gary Players opus is really a good course with nice width and a reasonable facsimile of links golf. The bunkers are revetted with tubular sand bags which is quite unique. Several water features detract rather than add to the experience. We didn't play either of the 2 other courses here.
George GC 4: A nice old school course in a pleasant environment with good topography, definetly worth a play if in the Fancourt area.
Plettenburg Bay 4: This course dates to the 1950's I believe and is not glaringly modern. Some nice holes with decent movement in the land, a fun day out amoungst the many baboons that inhabit the course.
Pinnacle Point 5: The Wolf Run of SA this is more of roller coaster ride than a golf course. The three cliff side holes on each nine are spectacular but the connecting holes are quite severe. Peter Matkovic just doesn't like wide fairways which is crazy in an area that gets 30+ mph winds on a regular basis. Definetly worth one play though.
Southbroom 4: Close to Wild Coast in the beachside communities an hour south of Durban this was recommended by gca'ers as a place you could cut loose with a good round after playing championship courses.
Knysna 3: Situated near the famous lagoon in this resort city it's actually better than it looks from the road. Nothing to write home about.
Pezula 4: A crazy Ron Fream cart ball track in Knysna built on land far too steep for a good golf course. Has some memorable holes but is totally unwalkable.
The Cape Town area has several solid courses but nothing truly world class:
Royal Cape 6: Flat as a pancake, the 4 foot high pimple on the long par 4 on the front nine is the biggest elevation change on the course! Still the C M Murray layout provides solid golf in a well manicured setting. A fantastic set of push-up greens with wonderfully 3 dimensional bunkering. Great mix of holes with a nice and long short par 4, varied par 5's and interesting par 3's. Best Kikuyu fairways I've seen, probably because everyone walks with very few buggies, amazing such a tough grass can't stand cart traffic! This would be the old money course in Capetown.
Atlantic Beach 5: After one play this course evokes a love, hate response. It's truly a housing course, every hole played through a corridor of very nice housing which is tastefully well removed from the boundaries. The course never quite gets to the beach, my guess would be 500 yards. But it does evoke a seaside environment. Built on sandy ground it was originally planted with Bermuda, but the Kikuyu takes hold in the low spots and spreads from there. This actually gives a nice contrast as the high spots of the mounds are a lovely tawny color. The greens are still bent and roll fantastically true. The 6th and 7th holes could easily hold a spot in an all SA eclectic. The front nine is really good, however I felt let down by the back nine where several holes reminded me of condo canyon golf in the US.
Westlake 4: Built in the 1930's this course fully accommodate the strong SW winds that blow quite frequently here. The fairways are plenty wide and lined with the ubiquitous stone pines and eucalyptus trees. The site has an overall tilt so there is nice movement to the land. Greens rolled quick and there are a nice variety of green shapes and sizes. The fairways are predominantly Kikuyu, but there is a mixture of Bermuda and cool season grasses as well. The most popular course they do 57,000 rounds a year. Centrally located near Constantia.
Mowbray 4: Interesting green shapes make this a fun course to play. They were transitioning to paspalum greens 3 years ago, hopefully they are up to speed now.
Rondebosch 4: Very quick Poa Annua greens make the course, the river comes into play on several holes.
Clovelly 4: A sporty resort style course that makes a nice day out.
Steenburg 4: Another Matcovic layout that is a bit gimmicky in spots. The landscaping that separates the course from the housing estate is incredible, the golf course not so much. Great food and wine offerings here. The course was recently closed for a year due to an irrigation issue forcing them to rebuild all their greens.
Milnerton 4: This course is right on the Ocean but was in a transition period of trying to be a links. The Kikuyu fairways were firm and dry enough to bounce balls onto greens but they were in the process of elimating penal parkland features; I hope they succeeded. Adding housing in the middle of the out and back layout compromised it somewhat.
Erinvale 4: This Gary Player housing estate course throws the kitchen sink at you with bunkering styles. There are sand bag revetted pot bunkers, cone shaped bunkers with wooden sleepers on the faces and the more traditional style thrown in for good measure. The front nine is flat withe back nine taking you into the hills for some spectacular views of Strand Beach and Gordon's Bay. At the 21, year mark Poa Annua has completely taken over the greens. A golfer behind us walked and carried so I know it's possible, but they pander to the cart rider here.
Durbanville 3: A decent local municipal course.
Somerset West 3: Built in 1908 the course consists of 3 paddocks, separated by a train line and a road where cars are going 60 mph, plan your crossing carefully! They will be doing a complete redesign next year to eliminate the farthest paddock which could be unsafe for a group of 2 ladies.
Strand 3: Next to Gordon's Bay on the eastern side of False Bay this is modern course built to sell condos, thankfully they are all to one side, completely separate from the golf course. I'll bet they can mow the greens in an hour as they are the smallest most undulated greens I've seen on a modern layout! Only 100 yards from the sea it's a bit tight to accommodate the stiff winds that are common in the area.
Johannesburg area:
Glendower 7: A true Championship course this place is like Africa itself, big, wide shouldered and tough as nails. Although C H Allison only designed the course, the construction was supervised by the local pro, there is an obvious touch of brilliance to the layout. The course plays through wide corridors with at least 40 yards separating parallel holes. The pure Kikuyu fairways have ample width, there is a clumpy wired grass in the rough that complicates offline shots. Sadly they thought their course a bit to easy and planted saplings in the 10 yard corridor of rough just off the fairways a year ago. The numerous waterways provide an ideal environment for weeping willows, which normally are out place on a golf course but work perfectly here as they are well removed from the line of play. The bunkering is outstanding, well placed with a lovely 3 dimensional aspect. They play really hard as anyone who watched this years SA Open would witness as they have an extremely fine grain, but unlike the beach sand bunkers of the U.K. they club digs instead of bouncing; just ask Rory how tough they are as his two shots out of the bunker on 17 cost him the Championship. The course is incredibly long, 7685 from the tips, 7213 from the regular men's tees and 6022 from the ladies! If one accepts the there is a 10% gain from the altitudes it seems acceptable but from my experience if you don't launch you shots high its of little use. The greens are quite large, really firm and quite well contoured with many slopes and ledges. The course also has the luxury of lots of room to the sides which helps accommodate big events like the SA Open. A must play if in the Joburg area.
Houghton 5: We showed up expecting to play a 1926 design that hosted 8 SA Opens and several Dunhill Cups. But as we drove in, the in vogue style of frilly edged bunkers were in view and something was amiss. Faced with a financial issue and with new members disappointed with the tiny old clubhouse the membership voted on a plan which sold small parcels at the periphery of the course for the development of 7 story condominium blocks. Armed with cash they hired Jack to blow up their course and completely reconstruct it; they did end up with a beautiful new clubhouse complete with a swimming pool on the 3rd floor. The new course has an extremely convoluted routing and has numerous frilly edged bunkers with a rust colored sand to thwart the army of long hitting South Africans. It is a pleasant course to play but our caddy indicated that the old course was both more enjoyable and popular; the members complain that there are too many bunkers but are all extremely proud of their new clubhouse. In the end it seems a pity that the home of SA golfing legend Sid Brews was blown up just to get a new Clubhouse.