Mount Edgecombe (The Lakes)

It’s only a short drive north from Durban into the KwaZulu-Natal hills to reach the Mount Edgecombe Estate and its two championship golf courses. Built on a former sugar plantation, the number two layout (now called The Lakes) was fashioned in the mid-1990s and is much the younger of the two courses as number one (now called The Woods) predates it by sixty years.

DDV Design laid out the eighteen holes of the number two to the south of the old course and the fairways meander through a sizeable housing development. While the course is more open in aspect than its sibling, there are a number of water hazards to be avoided, including a stream that runs from east to west, a couple of sensitive wetland areas and the large expanse of the Pani Dam.

The architects describe number two as follows: “The course makes use of natural watercourses and uses the sometimes steep gradients of the rolling hills to its advantage. It also incorporates some of the remaining pockets of natural vegetation. Indigenous grass is used for the fairways and rough and emphasis is placed on spectacular planting in certain locations, adding to the detail of the design.”