Humewood - Eastern Cape - South Africa

I played Humewood a few times this year as I have family in Port Elizabeth. The course compares well with the links courses I played in the UK and is an absolute gem. The back 9 might be the best back 9 holes in SA.

Green fee for SA affiliated is R350. That is 17 pounds...

I played this course as I am a bit of a collector of true links courses, and this is considered to be the only true links course in Africa. I must confess it doesn’t look like a links course in Britain, but for the most part, it plays like one. The welcome in the well stocked pro shop was friendly and efficient. There was some confusion of starting times caused because the course was so busy. Matches were being played, and Gary Player was out coaching some juniors, would you believe ? The situation was well managed by a young manager, who took personal control of the tees to sort things out. Despite the recent dry spell they had endured, the course was in very good condition. Tees, fairways and greens were all very good. The course is easy to walk. Halfway house and after golf food and drink were excellent.

Humewood is an authentic links course with a wonderful routing. The par 3 - 6th sticks out as a highlight on the front and the stretch from 13 to 16 are great on the back. The only disappointing thing about the course was the fact the greens were extremely soft (10th Jan 2020) and reduced the links feel of the otherwise great green complexes. Humewood reminded me of the lesser known links courses of Ireland, no frills just great golf and a welcoming atmosphere. It's a must play if you're in Port Elizabeth and a nice change from the other Garden Route courses.

For those of us who have been extremely fortunate to travel the world playing golf, the identification of a ‘hidden gem’ is the Holy Grail that we all seek. Bobby Locke quite rightly once said “Humewood Golf Club is good enough to host The British Open should this Championship ever have to be played outside of Britain”. As a lover of true links golf and a native of Ireland, I couldn’t agree more. Humewood is the only links golf course in the entire continent of Africa, and with 44 bunkers it boasts a massively underrated layout worthy of major golf events.

I applaud the work of Darius Oliver as tagging Humewood in his Planet Golf Top 100 courses in the World list. This links is so enjoyable and under the radar that I re-arranged my itinerary to play it twice. It epitomizes the low-key nature of those sleepy golf clubs you find in GB&I. No frills, no country club, just 100% commitments to true links golf.

Among the many highlights on the front nine is the highly celebrated stretch of 2 through 6 which offer as much challenge as anything you’ll see on the Open rotation. The back nine highlights are numerous including the superb par 4 10th, and the magnificent uphill par 4 13th, which is arguably the best par 4 in the country.

Of the 12-15 members I spoke with in person, almost everybody had a different favourite hole, which indicated to me the wide array of excellent holes. It’s not the longest course in the world, but length is unquestionably irrelevant when you’re on an old classic like this. The routing and design variety at Humewood would even have MacDonald/Raynor taking photographs. The members don’t know how lucky they are to have access to such a fabulous layout which I’d happily play every week.

Excellent links golf course- greens and fairways in top condition. In a country where courses are often +7,400 yards it was great to play a course that you had to think your way around and not just blast the driver off the tee. A great test of golf for all levels of golfers.

Being a links fan, Humewood is probably one of my five favourite courses in South Africa (and I have played them all!) The greens were recently redone, but the course is generally in very good nick. The last 6 holes (from the beautiful 13th) roll and tumble over some great dunes, and 2 or 3 of these holes are quite Machrie-like in the severity of the slopes. Bobby Locke, who won 4 British Opens on either side of the 2nd World War, rated Humewood the best links course outside the British Isles, and I belive that Retief Goosen rates the short 6th his favourite par 3 in the world. Humewood is situated in Port Elizabeth, a lovely town to use as base for a golf trip in the Eastern Cape, one of SA’s best golfing regions. In addition to Humewood, you can play the great Jack Nicklaus Signature Course of St Francis Links (best course in SA in my opinion) as well as East London, Fish River Sun and Royal Port Alfred. All 5 courses will set you back about 250 Euros in total – a bargain! Kem Westdyk, Johannesburg, South Africa