Laid out on the side of the Eburru Escarpment, on a remarkably flat plateau, the Great Rift Valley golf course measures a modest 6,580 yards and its routing weaves in and out of a number of small residential clusters...
Laid out on the side of the Eburru Escarpment, on a remarkably flat plateau, the Great Rift Valley golf course measures a modest 6,580 yards and its routing weaves in and out of a number of small residential clusters...
The Great Rift Valley Lodge and Golf Resort lies halfway between the Samburu and Masai Mara reserves, near Lake Naivasha and, since opening in 2000, the course has gained the reputation as one of the most challenging of all Kenya’s championship tracks.
Laid out on the side of the Eburru Escarpment, on a remarkably flat plateau, the Great Rift Valley course measures just under 6,500 metres from the back tees and its routing weaves in and out of a number of small residential clusters, most of which are located on the back nine.
Water comes into play at a few holes on the front nine: at the par three 3rd (where a small reservoir threatens the tee shot to the left of the green), at the par four 7th (which has a couple of small ponds lurking to the left of the green) at the short par four 9th, where a lake-sized water hazard fronts the putting surface. On the inward half, golfers are only ever aquatically challenged at the 361-metre 11th.
Architect Thomas Fjastad commented as follows:
I built the course at Windsor Golf & CC under the tutelage of that great golf course architect Tom Macauley of N. Ireland. Following that, I designed and supervised the construction of Leisure Lodge in Diani, south of Mombasa. Great Rift Valley Lodge & Golf resort then followed.
I have since completed a design for the Aga Khan on the island of Zanzibar but, due to political reasons, this is on hold. A 9-hole course on the shores of Lake Victoria and an 18-hole course off the Thika Highway are also on hold at the moment.
The land at Great Rift Valley was total bush with a scattering of wild animals, including buffalos. Walking with a GPS, I positioned all the natural features on a map. I found the ideal position for the clubhouse, parking, driving range and, most important, the finishing hole. Figuring the layout fell into place, after many attempts!
The latest ranking of the Top 100 Golf Courses in the World serves as the ultimate global golf bucket list. Most members of our World Top 100 Panel are seasoned golfers, each playing 20-30 of these courses annually while travelling extensively over decades to form their opinions on others. We recognise that opinions vary—even among our panel members. Rankings are subjective, and there are undoubtedly 50 or more courses in the UK and USA alone that could easily fit onto this list. Links Golf Pilgrimages The rankings
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The purpose of the Review of The Month feature is twofold. Top100GolfCourses has always aimed to salute and encourage those who are putting admirable effort into reviewing the world’s great golf courses. Moving forward, we are also looking to learn from these experts! We’ll be chatting with the month’s star authors and discussing topics such as golf in their area, what they like to see in a strong course review, and of course dig a little deeper into their own winning review. March 2023’s Review of The Month comes from Philip Thinggard, who made his first golfing journey to colorful Kenya, and from it produced a wonderful writeup on Limuru Golf Club. Was this your first round of golf in Kenya, or have you had the opportunity to play any other courses in the region? Yes, it was indeed my first round. Also played three others (Muthaiga, Royal Nairobi, VetLab) in Nairobi but that was it for now, unfortunately. Kenya is obviously not a golf trip hotspot, and Limuru does not have a renowned course designer to its name. When considering the merits of a course such as Limuru, is it unfair to hold it up against quality clubs in other nations? I guess it is unfair, but I try to judge courses I visit keeping in mind their particulars and circumstances. Which is why I always try to talk to locals. You cannot simply show up at X golf club expecting to find the standards of an affluent golf course in the U.S. or Spain, or some other bigger golf nation. However, resort courses are an exception, as good condition and playability are integral parts of the standard deal. We hear about kikuyu annually during the PGA's Genesis Open at Riviera. Did the turf type seem to mesh with the design of the course? I'd say yes, the stiffness of this grass type is a great contrast to soft greens they had when I was there. But hard to say based on my visit, as everything was very dry. Now that you're a celebrated "Review of The Month" winner, let us know what factors you appreciate in a strong golf course review! Personal touch, paint a story with no fear of including yourself as an experiencer of the reviewed course. Readers need to feel the writer was there for them and noticed stuff and details. What did this course make me think and feel? If I was there one day only, I try to imagine how the course is under different conditions. Try to select and describe holes that made an impact on me as a golf writer and as a golf player, rather than trying to characterize the whole course. It's boring hearing about every hole, and most courses do not have a clear profile anyway. They have great holes and not-so-great holes. I'd go play a course based on a convincing description of three to four holes that stand out and are worth the visit in and of themselves. The remaining 14 to 15 holes? It's still golf! What's one course that you're excited to write a review for in the upcoming year? Sand Valley (Poland)
Top 10 Golf Courses of Kenya 2017 The PGA Baobab course at Vipingo Ridge remains at the top of our newly updated Kenyan rankings It’s exactly two years since we last updated our Kenyan listings, having just participated in a week-long Magical Kenya golfing safari organised by the Kenya Tourism Board, when we visited half a dozen of the top tracks in the country. This is the third revision of the chart that we initiated in 2009 and we’ve consulted many of our Kenyan contacts in the golf industry who helped shape the last edition of these rankings so we’re confident that we’re still highlighting the best ten courses in the country, albeit in a slightly different order to last time around. And so to our updated Top 10 for Kenya and we’ve determined the PGA Baobab course at Vipingo Ridge still retains the number 1 position at the top of the table. Designed by architect David Jones, this layout became the first in Africa to obtain PGA accreditation in October 2016, with Cabinet Secretary Hassan Wario and PGA Head of Property and Development Guy Moran unveiling a plaque at the club to commemorate the achievement. We were suitably impressed when we played here in 2015, terming it a “very chic, upmarket golf facility” where “the quality of the Vipingo Ridge layout is apparent right from the off.” Admiration for the course conditioning was indeed warranted, but so too was the design, described at the time as “a marvel of engineering (where) water gently cascades down from the highest point on the course to the lower reaches.” Climbing one place to number 2, the course at Muthaiga Golf Club will host the 48th Kenyan Open next month, a professional event that’s been held here most years since it became part of the European Challenge Tour in 1991. Peter Matkovich renovated the layout in 2004-5 and it’s regarded as one of the prettiest to play in East Africa, particularly on the back nine where several newly constructed lakes now add to the challenge. Also rising in the chart, up two to number 4, Karen Country Club celebrates its 80th anniversary this year. Laid out across the former coffee plantation of Danish authoress Karen Blixen, whose memoir Out of Africa was published the same year that the club was founded, the greens have recently been renovated under the guidance of architect David Jones and this upgrade certainly met the approval of our in-country panel of advisers, one of whom told us “they are the best I’ve seen at the club in thirty years”. Two other courses make positive moves up the chart, each of them edging up one place. At number 7, we have Limuru Country Club – where the prestigious Africa Amateur Team Championships were held in 2015 – and the tree-lined fairways of this mid-1940s course are laid out at an altitude of 7,000 feet above sea level in an area of rolling farmland and tea plantations an hour’s drive north of the capital. At number 9, the course at the Leisure Lodge Resort lies twenty miles south of Mombasa, close to the shores of the Indian Ocean. As the property consists of nothing more than an array of large coral outcrops, many thousands of tons of soil had to be trucked in to fashion the fairways before the course finally debuted in 1998. Rank/ To view further details of our newly revised Kenya Top 10 rankings click the link. If you’d like to comment on our newly revised Kenyan listings then please do so via the “Respond to this article” link at the top or bottom of this page. We look forward to receiving feedback whenever we re-rank any of our African national charts so if you have a strong opinion about anything you’re read in this article then feel free to let us know what you’re thinking. Jim McCann Editor Top 100 Golf Courses
Magical Kenya – where golfers and wildlife share the fairways European journalists on golfing safari, courtesy of The Kenya Tourism Board For most of us, East Africa might not feature high on our wish list of golfing destinations - especially when there’s tried and trusted old favourites like Spain and Portugal so close to home - but, for the more intrepid golfer, Kenya is such a great choice for an adventure holiday AND a fantastic golf trip. The Kenya Tourism Board recently hosted a familiarization trip for ten European journalists and the Top 100 Team was fortunate enough to receive one of the special invitations. The visit turned out to be something of an eye opener because the quality of the golf on offer far surpassed any prior expectations. The itinerary was one that most tourists would probably adopt, mixing safari with golf, which allowed a day on the course, followed by a day in a wildlife sanctuary or relaxing at a beach club on the coast – why play round after round on a daily slog when you can pace yourself, taking time out to observe the multitude of animals that roam around the national game parks and reserves? The opening day was actually a combination of golf AND safari, beginning with a visit to a Nairobi elephant orphanage, followed by a look around a local giraffe centre. After lunch, there was time to explore the old house of Karen Blixen (the Danish authoress best known for her “Out of Africa” book) before a quick look in at the Royal Nairobi clubhouse. Sadly there was no time to play the course before darkness fell which was a pity as this grand old dame looked very inviting. Next day, the media group was let loose on the 18-hole layout at Windsor Golf Hotel & Country Club, which is a championship-standard course attached to a rather impressive 130-bedroomed 5-star hotel. The off course amenities are first class and the course didn’t disappoint in any way either. Configured in two returning nines which are laid out over pleasantly undulating terrain, the course is exceptionally well bunkered, with the peninsula green at the 18th providing a grandstand finish to the round. There was just enough time for a very quick visit to nearby Muthaiga, where the Kenya Golf Union has its headquarters, but a late afternoon heavy rain shower curtailed even the short 9-hole round that had been scheduled. The clubhouse is currently undergoing extensive renovation work and a number of water hazards are being added to holes on the back nine so Muthaiga was not exactly at its very best, unfortunately. Having safely negotiated a way out of the early morning rush hour traffic in Nairobi, day three of the Press Trip took us to Sigona, a remarkable old Tom Simpson design from the 1930s, where much of the architect’s original work remains in play. The clubhouse exudes the lovely vibe of a “proper golf club”, which complements a classy old layout that sits effortlessly on the landscape. For great value golf, where green fees are significantly lower than other leading clubs in the local area, Sigona is hard to beat. All too soon, it was time to leave the golfing time capsule of the Sigona clubhouse and head along the very busy main upcountry highway to The Great Rift Valley Lodge and Golf Resort where, after a long day on the rather dusty road, the media group settled in for the night. Out on the course early next morning, previous sightings of the odd little monkey at Windsor or the baboons scampering around Sigona were nothing compared to the herds of zebra that freely roamed the fairways here, a number of them taking full advantage of the bright red earth patch close to the 14th tee to roll around in a “dust bath”. Tommy Fjastad designed the course here - he also laid our Leisure Lodge near Mombasa - and he’s still retained by the club on an on-going basis as course consultant. His course is very much a resort layout, which allows plenty of fairway width off the tees, but it’s one that also needs to be treated with respect, especially at the water-laden holes. Day five of the Kenyan trip and before flying from Nairobi to Malindi for the last leg of the tour, it was time for another little safari excursion and some close encounters with the local wildlife. The media group members each donned an orange life vest before heading across Lake Naivasha in a couple of small, 6-man narrow boats, passing herds of hippos basking in the shallow waters, to Crescent Island Game Sanctuary, where buffalos, giraffes and zebras have the run of the place - thankfully, the wildlife ranger in charge ensured that a safe distance was maintained at all times between the roving animals and their inquisitive visitors. And so to the highlight of the Press Trip: Vipingo Ridge, located to the north of Mombasa, on the eastern seaboard of Kenya. The club very kindly asked the Press team to join the members in their weekly afternoon competition so a very enjoyable morning was spent snorkelling at the club’s private Beach Club on the Indian Ocean before heading out onto the course after lunch. The first of two intended 18-layouts within a massive 2,500-acre property, the Baobab course has been constructed to exacting USGA specification. Designed by David Jones, former Northern Ireland professional and winner of the 1989 Kenyan Open, much of the course was constructed by local labour and it’s something of a technological marvel, with cool streams of water gently dropping down from the elevated clubhouse, alongside the closing fairways on either nine. We took the opportunity to canvass opinion from all sorts of people - architects, general managers, professionals and even caddies - as we moved from course to course during our stay in Kenya. All of these considered opinions have now been collated and evaluated to produce the latest re-ranking of our Kenyan Top 10 chart. Vipingo Ridge now moves up two places to take over the coveted Kenyan number one slot from Muthaiga, which drops down to number three. Sigona also makes a significant leap up the table, climbing six places to number two. Great Rift Valley, previously featured on this site as a “GEM,” now enters the national chart in position seven, at the expense of Kitale. If you have experience of playing golf in Kenya then please let us know if you think we’ve got things right with this new listing. Alternatively, if you feel we’ve got it all horribly wrong with the new national rankings then by all means tell us. We value each and every email that we receive, no matter the point of view expressed by the sender. Sincere thanks to Muriuki Murithi and Wausi Walya from the Kenya Tourism Boardfor organising such a wonderful trip. Thanks also to Private Safarisfor their assistance with transportation and to Hotel Royal Orchid Azurein Nairobi, Heritage Hotels at Great Rift Valley and Vipingo Ridge for their superb accommodation. It was the first time that most of the journalists had set foot in the country but there’s absolutely no doubt they’ll all be hoping it’s not the last time they visit Magical Kenya – an extraordinary country where top class golf and wildlife safari intermingle so naturally. Jim McCann Editor Top 100 Golf Courses
