South African has many fun golf courses, many in exceptionally scenic surrounds, but few that hit the really high notes of GCA. There is a reason why Durban Country club (reopens in March after major post flooding revamp which closed the course for 12 months +) is the only SA course to have ever featured in GOLF magazine top 100 courses – and even then was a controversial entry. Of the older courses, Humewood, a genuine links in Port Elizabeth gets a lot of respect, and probably the two best known modern courses, on account of hosting big tournaments for sustained periods are two Gary Player creations – the Sun City course ( home since 1981 of the Million Dollar, now the Nedbank, claiming to be Africa’s Major) and Leopard Creek, host of the Dunhill event in December now for many years.
Although there have been many new courses built in the last 25 years, almost without exception these are all housing estate developments with all the compromises these involve. When it comes to golf tourism, most tend to visit the courses along the western Cape coast, with Fancourt the best known destination.
A somewhat unsung destination for golfers is Johannesburg which receives fewer visitors, partly because it is less of an obvious tourist destination, and partly because of its crime reputation. But for the intrepid golfer, Johannesburg has much to offer. From a central suburb like Rosebank within 20 minutes you can reach championship courses like Royal Johannesburg, Glendower, Houghton, Randpark and the Wanderers. Not to mention some strong member courses like Country Club, Parkview, Killarney, Bryanston and the River Club. If you take account of the second courses at clubs like Royal, Country club and Randpark, that is a total of 13 courses. Not included here are a whole host of newer build courses that are within a one-hour drive.
Very appealing for the tourist is that all of these courses are very welcoming of unaccompanied visitors. Bookings are easily made via websites and the golf is exceptionally cheap with rounds mostly in the $16-30 range (with the exception of the exclusive River club which does selectively admit overseas guests), at least over the quiet Christmas period when I recently visited. And caddies can be taken at all these courses for around $20.
Most of these courses are very well established – the youngest around fifty years old, and the older ones like Royal and Parkview are well over 100 years old. All though they are mostly attractive courses, many with exceptional trees and attractive, natural water features, they all feel like they belong to the pre-Instagram era and perhaps have also lacked the funds to do fancy restorations (Houghton is a notable exception, and Bryanston also in part) Most would in my judgement be 5-6 on the Doak scale, with the River Club probably scoring 7 on account of the exceptional finishing five holes, the high level of conditioning and possibly the prettiest set of water features I have seen on any golf course anywhere. But in different ways, most of these courses would pass the Geoff Shackelford RED test and can be recommended. The championship courses like Glendower and Royal East are sterner tests but also playable from the right tees (these two and River Club always rate top 10 in SA).
If I had to generalise, most of these courses lack the width of more modern courses being built. Rather they are relatively narrow, tend to have smaller greens, and are heavily tree-lined, so reward golfers who have good control. Greens also lack the dramatic internal undulations of many newer courses, but are capable of presenting serious challenge when speeds are up. All are parkland in character and most have a lot of water, simply reflecting the Johannesburg climate where there is a lot of summer rainfall.
A feature of all these courses is the kikuyu grass which provides for an excellent fairway surface, as the ball sits up a bit, but whose inherent stickiness in large part rules out the ground game.
Although some of these courses are on quite sloping land with reasonable elevation change – such as Royal Johannesburg, Wanderers and Country Club - it is hard to recall especially interesting fairway movement. And while the overall standard is high, it is hard to say that any of them – with the possible exception of River Club - have many holes that linger long in the memory. This is not meant to diminish – indeed I am here to praise! - just to say that courses can be very easy on the eye and fun to play while falling short of the highest standards or Instagram temptations.
As a sign of how times change, the Wanderers for many years hosted the Lexington PGA, won inter alia by Hale Irwin and Corey Pavin back in the Eighties, while the inaugural winner of the Million Dollar back in 1981 was Johnny Miller. Max Homa won last year at Sun City but not many of golf’s big beasts make it down to SA these days (Rory Mcilroy at Glendower in 2017 was an exception). But for lesser mortals, not intent only in notches on the buckle, Johannesburg is worth a visit, especially for those escaping winter in the North!