Bryanston

Bryanston Country Club was formed in 1948 and within three years a 9-hole course was established, constructed by Tommy Tomsett and Koes de Beer from plans drawn up by architect C.H. Alison. Four years later, the course was extended to the full 18-hole layout that is still in play today.

The Country Club has developed a number of activities over the years, building tennis and squash courts, a bowling rink and swimming pool so the sporting needs of members are well catered for at Bryanston Country Club, none more so than on their elegant, well tended parkland course.

Bryanston plays very long (7,400 yards from the back markers) and the tone is set for the round with back-to-back par fives at the opening two holes. Over half the fairways on the back nine are doglegged, the toughest of which is the downhill, 498-yard par four 10th, where a stream has to be crossed twice as it runs along then across the fairway.

The 2002 makeover of putting surfaces by architect Rob O’Friel transformed the course into a tougher challenge, virtually overnight. O’Friel had previously redesigned the River Club and Wanderers courses, but, as he says, “this was a different and more extensive project because we reshaped the entire green complexes at Bryanston. The course is now a lot more strategic… because the greens are defined by shape and elevation. We also set them on a diagonal, and hollows and swales have been built to assist in drainage.”