Top 100 Golf Courses of South Africa 2018
Ranking golf courses in South Africa is a relatively new business as Golf Digest produced its inaugural Top 50 for the country in 1998, more than thirty years after magazines in the United States had been producing state, national and international listings. Editor Stuart McLean, correspondent in South Africa, was the man who established that chart and he’s still responsible for the ongoing revision of what’s now become a Top 100 for South Africa.
We also created our own Top 50 in 2008, though it was quickly doubled in size the following edition, and we’ve since extended our coverage down to provincial level, allowing us to showcase more than a hundred and twenty-five courses across nine distinct geographical regions in the rainbow nation. Within our latest Top 100, thirteen courses remain in the same position, forty move up, forty-four fall down and three – Simbithi, Rustenburg and Hans Merensky – drop out.
The first of our chart non-movers is the Links course at Fancourt Hotel & Country Club, which retains its position as the number 1 in South Africa. The 5th staging of The Presidents Cup was held here in 2003, three years after the Gary Player-designed layout opened for play, and a reviewer described it last year as “fantastic” with “an incredibly unique feel to it” that was “unlike anything I have played before or since”. He continued: “there’s also been a real effort in the design to work with indigenous plants to encourage wildlife and support the local ecology, something I think more golf courses should try to do”.
Rising one place to number 3, we have another Gary Player design, Leopard Creek in Mpumalanga, where the layout lies on the southern fringes of the Kruger National Park. It’s just re-opened after an extensive revamp carried out by Golf Data to reposition fairway bunkers, widen landing areas, replace Kikuya fairways with Bermuda grass and replant greens with Champion bent grass. The par three 12th – featuring an unusual Redan-style green – was also redesigned during a comprehensive 8-month upgrade of the property and we’re now looking forward to receiving some reviews for the newly refurbished course in the months to come.
A couple of courses make noteworthy 3-position climbs within the Top 10 places in our new table.
Humewood, located in the sand dunes of Algoa Bay, to the south of Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape, is now at number four, having risen eleven places to number seven when we last re-ranked two years ago. Designed by Colonel S. V. Hotchkin in 1929, this course was the only African entry to make the True Links book authored by George Peper and Malcom Campbell in 2010. Our US Consultant Fergal O’Leary is a big fan of this place, calling it “a massively underrated layout worthy of major championships… 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”.
Two places behind Humewood at number 6, the East course at Royal Johannesburg & Kensington Golf Club continues its advance towards the very top of the chart, following a wide-ranging upgrade that was completed at the start of this year. Golf Data’s Robbie Marshall worked with Royal staff and club officials on a number of reforms, such as pruning trees and installing new bunkers, with the aim of improving the overall presentation of the layout. A similar project is now planned for the West course.
Also returning to the South African Top 10, the course at Glendower Golf Club leaps eight places to number 8, only one spot lower than the position it held in our inaugural chart of 2008. The last five South African Open Championships have been held on this old C. H. Alison design, with English professionals winning three of these events. Chris Paisley was the latest person to savour victory in this competition, claiming his maiden European Tour title at the 118th attempt back in January of this year. Glendower’s no stranger to hosting this prestigious national tournament actually, as the world’s second oldest Open also took place here in 1989, 1993 and 1997.
Advancing six places to number 14, the course at East London Golf Club in the Eastern Cape is another layout which was redesigned by S.V. Hotchkin during his visit to South Africa in the late 1920s. Golf Digest SA Editor Stuart McLean says of this layout: “East London has always been one of South Africa’s classic coastal layouts, magnificently situated in big dunes overlooking the Indian Ocean. It would be no exaggeration to describe this property as the best golfing site in the country. It is close to the city, between the Buffalo and Nahoon Rivers, yet exists in a space apart that has been thankfully undisturbed by development.”
One place behind East London at number 15, the course at George Golf Club in The Garden Route soars nine places up the listings. The layout’s classic tree-lined design dates back to the 1930s, when Dr Charles Molteno Murray set out the fairways, but the property benefitted greatly from an upgrade in 1999 when an area of alien vegetation in front of the clubhouse was cleared and replaced with a lake that now borders the opening and closing holes. “George doesn’t have bells and whistles” according to one reviewer, “but it is a proper golf course which should be enjoyed whilst walking and basking in the beauty of this part of South Africa.”
The Ernie Els-designed course at Highland Gate Golf & Trout Estate was one of our highest new entries two years ago when it debuted at number 33 and it now progresses another thirteen places to the number 20 slot in our revised standings thanks to a "Better Billy Bunker" installation. Situated a relatively short two-hour drive west of Nelspruit in Mpumalanga province, the course is fast gaining fame on the tournament circuit after recently hosting the Vodacom Origins of Golf event on the Sunshine Tour and the Els for Autism Final. Corporate golf days and local fund-raisers at the club are also popular, acting as a catalyst to attract golfers from all over the country to play this new layout.
In the lower half of the Top 100, several courses make double digit jumps up the table, including the early 1990’s layout from Peter Matkovich on the San Lameer Estate in Southbroom (up eighteen to 59), the Fred Hawtree-designed Rocklands course (formerly known as Woodlands) at Country Club Johannesburg (up thirteen to 61), and the old Bob Grimsdell course which Sean Quinn of Golf Data redesigned a while back for the Wedgewood Golf & Country Estate outside Port Elizabeth (up twelve to 85).
The most impressive upward move is made by King David Mowbray in Cape Town (up twenty places to number 75). The club only formed two years ago, when King David Golf Club and Mowbray Golf Club merged, and the amalgamated club now operates from the Mowbray clubhouse, a building that was reconstructed after a devastating fire in 1993. The club replanted its putting surfaces with paspalum a decade ago but this didn’t work out as well as intended. Three years ago, course consultant Mark Muller and greenkeeper Tinus Fouche started interseeding the greens with bent and poa, which thrives in the winter and spring, allowing the paspalum to dominate during the rest of the year, and this has resulted in far better all-year putting surfaces.
The first of three new entries arrives at number 60 and it’s the course at Vulintaba Country Estate near Newcastle in Kwazulu-Natal. Stuart McLean recently visited the remote 9-hole course in the Drakensberg and he told us it was “possibly one of the best 9-holers in the world”. Stuart continued: “I had been there when it opened about eight years ago. It was a Peter Matkovich design known as Dunblane with the intention to increase to eighteen holes. New owners decided nine holes were enough, and brought in another designer, Douw van der Merwe, to change two of the holes and build additional tees”. We ‘re happy to have this course fly into our new Top 100 at a prominent position and fully expect to see it hold its own in future chart editions.
Incidentally, Stuart has also alerted us to another interesting project that is ongoing this year and that’s the rebuilding of Soweto Country Club in Johannesburg. The PGA Tour in America has donated more than a million dollars towards building eighteen new holes on the original site to uplift golf in the heart of the black community. The original course was designed by Gary Player and the Black Knight design team is leading the redesign at no cost as their contribution towards the overall upgrade of this historic club.
Rank/
Click this link to see full details of our 2018 Top 100 Golf Courses in South Africa
We’re re always pleased to receive feedback after updating national listings so by all means get in touch if you’ve any strong feelings about our re-evaluated South African standings. Have we missed a course that truly deserves recognition or have we included one which really shouldn’t be there? Maybe we’re flying the flag a little too high for a particular track or there’s another layout lying too low in the chart? Whatever your thoughts, please click the “Respond to this article” link at the top or at the bottom of this page to share your views with us. The more informed opinions we receive the better.
Jim McCann
Editor
Top 100 Golf Courses
Top 100 Golf Courses of South Africa 2016 We announce the third biennial revision of our South African Top 100 ranking chart Two years ago, when we last updated our South African Top 100 chart, we stated, “this latest list will raise a few eyebrows”. Well, the results of the 2016 re-ranking exercise for the Rainbow Nation will do that and a lot more besides because there’s plenty of movement in our new chart – indeed, only two courses hold onto the same position as last time. We don’t know the statistical probability of that happening, actually. Suffice to say, bringing an ever-increasing number of different data streams into the process appears to be at least partly responsible for the volatility of our current chart and it might take another revision or two for the relative positions to settle down a little. So, onto our 2016 listings and it’s all change at the top, where three 18-hole layouts all leapfrog over our long standing No.1 course, Gary Player’s Leopard Creek, which is situated on the edge of the Kruger National Park. The course’s relatively prosaic front nine holes are a bit of a let-down for the more well-travelled golfers who’ve played the course and this may well have been a deciding factor in the course taking a tumble from the top perch. Rising one place to the new number 1 position, the Links course at Fancourt Hotel & Country Club is another Gary Player design that opened for play a couple of years before it hosted the Presidents Cup in 2003. Eight straight 6-ball reviews on the Top 100 website tell its own story and the latest reviewer to play here describes the Links course as “right up there with the very best courses I have played around the world”. Shooting up five places to the runner-up position, Durban Country Club returns to the number 2 spot that it held when we first established our South African chart in 2008. Our US Consultant Fergal O’Leary played there eight months ago when he completed his challenge of playing all of GOLF Magazine’s World’s Top 100 Golf Courses and he summed up his views of Durban by saying: “for keen golfers around the world, a round at the Durban Country Club is an experience not to be missed”. At number 3 in our new chart, rising two places, the Gary Player course at the Sun City Resort is another Black Knight design that returns to its inaugural chart position of eight years ago. The home of the Nedbank Golf Challenge since 1981, this fabulous course is instantly recognisable to golfers around the world who follow on television every year the exploits of a limited field of invited professionals competing for a huge prize pot. Two other courses make significant upward moves at the top end of the new standings. The first one is Humewood, near Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape, soaring eleven places to number 7 and this 1929 design from SV Hotchkin – the only true links in all of Africa – is one that has flown under the radar of many golfers for a long time now. The second layout is the very private Millvale course in Koster – which was a new entry in our 2014 chart at number 14 – and it climbs a further four places to number 10. Perhaps we’ll receive our first review for this remarkable course before our next biennial update? A little further down the rankings, the remote Northern Cape course of Sishen (Robert Grimsdell’s last design from the late 1970s) lies close to the Kalahari desert in the mining town of Kathu and it leaps an impressive nine places to number 17. Moving up five to number 20, the old course at East London is actually the club’s third layout, having been established thirty years after the club was formed by SV Hotchkin and George Peck in 1923. In fact, it’s rather appropriate that East London, Humewood and Durban Country Club should all feature so prominently in our listings as they’ve all played a very important part in the development of golf in South Africa. Remarkably, they’ve hosted a total of sixty national championships between them (twenty-nine SA Opens and thirty-one SA Amateurs) so they’ve collectively formed the foundation of the nation’s golfing traditions since the 1920s. In the bottom half of the Top 100, a handful of courses make double digit leaps up the table: Pretoria (up fifteen to 54) was upgraded by Gary Player in 2004, Victoria (up nineeen to 65) had its greens rebuilt by Golf Data a decade ago, Mount Edgecombe (No.1) (up eighteen to 69) is an early 1990s redesign from Hugh Baiocchi, Dainfern (up twenty-seven to 71) was co-designed by Gary Player and Phil Jacobs in 1991 and San Lameer (up twenty to 77) is an early 1990s offering from the country’s most prolific modern architect, Peter Matkovich. There are six new entries in our latest chart, the highest two of which appear in the top third of our national table. At number 29, we have the golf course at Steyn City, and this Jack Nicklaus-designed layout, which only opened last year, is the centrepiece of a massive residential development to the north of Johannesburg. At number 33, the new course at Highland Gate Golf & Trout Estate also makes a noteworthy debut in the South African Top 100. Nestled in the Steenkampsberg mountain range near Dullstroom, it’s the latest layout to come from the bourgeoning design portfolio of Ernie Els. Rank/ We always welcome your thoughts when we carry out our national re-rankings so feel free to let us know what you think if you have a strong opinion about our updated South African chart. Which courses have we missed out on or perhaps we’ve included one that really doesn’t deserve to be featured? Maybe there’s one sitting too high in the listings or one lying too low? Whatever you’re thinking, please click the “Respond to this article” link at the top or at the bottom of this page if you’d like to get in touch with us. Click the link to see full details of our 2016 Top 100 Golf Courses in South Africa Jim McCann Editor Top 100 Golf Courses
Top 100 Golf Courses of South Africa 2024 The first chart that we produced for South Africa was a Top 50 back in 2008. We then doubled the number of courses to a hundred in the following iteration of the listings and this now is the sixth edition of our Top 100 rankings for the Rainbow Nation. In this revision, forty-seven courses move up, forty-three drop down, six remain in the same place and four drop out, replaced by four newcomers. Don’t forget, our coverage also extends down to provincial level so we have a total of 140 courses featured across nine geographical regions within the country. Let’s crack on right away and look at some of the highlights from the top down. Fancourt The Links course at Fancourt was our South Africa #1 from 2016 to 2021 before it was usurped by the Country Club course at Durban Country Club but it regains the top spot once again, moving up one place from the runner-up position. Host venue for the Presidents Cup in 2003, this wonderful Gary Player layout is regarded as one of the Black Knight’s finest designs. Just a couple of months ago a reviewer wrote: “the course is visually outstanding, the only hole you see is the one you are playing…some of the championship tees are not for the faint hearted and not even offered for play to mere mortals, although maintained meticulously… a good experience and solid golf course.” The Montagu course at Fancourt rises an impressive eight places to #4, its highest ever position in the national standings. This track was part of the original 27-hole layout at Fancourt which David McLay Kidd then upgraded in 2005. Further modifications were made six years ago, when all the greens were resurfaced with bent grass as part of the improvement programme. The reviewer above also made the following comments: “the course is a strong parkland layout, certainly not a resort style of carefree golf, it demands the highest amount of concentration in order navigate, and continue momentum in the round… some really astounding par 3 holes throughout the layout, surrounded by water.” Pearl Valley Soaring nine places to #5, the 18-hole layout at Pearl Valley in the Cape Winelands region is a Jack Nicklaus production which was unveiled to the golfing world twenty years ago. Host venue for three editions of the South Africa Open between 2007 and 2009, the course was the second of six Nicklaus Signature designs that have opened in South Africa. Blair Atholl The Blair Atholl Golf & Equestrian Estate outside Johannesburg was Gary Player’s home for many years before the property was transformed into a residential development. The course that Gary designed returns to our elite Top 10 for the first time since 2014 (rising five to #10) with a reviewer last year describing it as “a long, stern test of golf” – and as it measures 7,500 metres from the back tees, we rather concur with that assessment! Champagne Sports The course at the Champagne Sports Resort in Central Drakensberg climbs twenty-one places to #28 in the new national chart. Hugh Baiocchi, the 1978 South African Open champion, designed the layout which debuted in the late 1990s, with the late architect Alasdair McLeod and club stalwart Trevor Livesey (who still serves the club) overseeing construction of the holes. Bryanston The elegant, well-tended 18-hole parkland layout at Bryanston Country Club in Sandton advances twenty-four places to #30. It’s a C.H. Alison design from the late 1940s – after the architect and his wife relocated from England to South Africa – with greens revamped by Rob O’Friel at the start of the new millennium to heighten the level of challenge. Steenberg Progressing twenty-two spots to #40, the course at Steenberg Golf Club outside Cape Town is a mid-1990s Peter Matkovich composition that recently hosted its first major tournaments when it staged the 2022 and 2023 editions of the South Africa Women’s Open. The golfing amenities on the property are complemented by a luxury boutique hotel, restaurants and a wine estate. Dainfern The largest upward move in our new SA standings is made by the Gary Player-designed course on the Dainfern Golf Estate in Sandton (up an incredible thirty-seven spots to #53) which is actually a revamped version of the original Fourways layout. The Jukskei River comes into play on several holes, with the par five 8th crossing this water hazard twice from tee to green. Paarl Moving up twenty-one rungs on the ladder to #71, the River and Paarl nines at Paarl Golf Club form the premier 18-hole course at a 27-hole facility which lies less than an hour’s drive east of Cape Town. Set within the Boschenmeer residential estate, the course is a 1990s David Frost redesign (along with architect Danie Obermeyer) and many of local hero Frost’s trophies are on display in the clubhouse. Parys Up twenty-three to #74, the course at Parys Golf & Country Estate in Free State province is a design from South African golfing great Cobie Le Grange and the late Douw van der Merwe. Routed in an old-fashioned out-and-back style, the layout lies on an island in the Vaal River, where players reach the tree-lined fairways via an old suspension bridge built in 1918. Mount Edgecombe The highest of four new entries arrives at #85 and it’s The Lakes course at Mount Edgecombe Country Club outside Durban. The Woods 18-hole layout – predating The Lakes by some 60 years – is the higher ranked course at this 36-hole facility but the younger course has more interesting topography with elevation changes and the large Pani Dam in the middle of the layout. The Lakes staged both the SA Men’s Amateur Strokeplay and SA Women’s Amateur events at the club last year. The other three chart newcomers are Kambaku [#90], Katberg [#94] and Waterkloof [#96]. The four layouts dropping out of the SA listings [with previous national ranking in brackets] are as follows: Durban (Country Club) – currently closed for renovation [#1], Durban (Beachwood) [#47], Worcester [#95] and Huddle Park [#100]. Click the following link to see the newly updated national rankings for South Africa. If you have any comment to make on the above article then please use the “WRITE A RESPONSE” link at the bottom of this page. Jim McCann Editor Top 100 Golf Courses
Top 100 Golf Courses of South Africa – 2014 Top 100 Golf Courses updates its South African rankings Top 100 Golf Courses has been ranking golf courses in South Africa since 2008, but in 2012 we extended the rankings from 50 to 100, this is therefore our second South African Top 100 iteration. Last month we visited the Western Cape and experienced a number of courses along the Garden Route. Our feeling is that South Africa is hard done by in terms of the number of courses listed in World Top 100 ranking lists. We are likely to include more of the Rainbow Nation’s golf courses in our future World Top 100 charts. As we said back in 2012, the Gary Player-designed course at Millvale Golf Estate keeps itself to itself, but things changed when the club hosted the 2013 and 2014 Investec Cup (won by Justin Walters and Trevor Fisher Jnr respectively). Millvale is our highest new entry, straight in at position 14 and while not many people will be lucky enough to walk these exclusive fairways, we can say that this unique golf facility is an entirely worthy highest new entry. Gowrie Farm, Milnerton, Westlake and Magalies Park also debut for the first time in our South African hundred. Leopard Park, Crown Mines, ERPM, Goldfields West and Langebaan made way for the new entries and slip off the national list and onto our Best In Province rankings. With 170 South African courses on our ever-increasing shortlist, there is certainly room for plenty of future change. Producing a universally approved golf course ranking list is an impossible task, as the best golf course rankings are embedded in the head of each and every golfer. No doubt this latest list will raise a few eyebrows, but we make no apology for showcasing South Africa’s best golf courses because many are underrated and truly deserve wider recognition. The Links course at Fancourt, which remains in 2nd place, is one example and a recent reviewer commented as follows: “The first thing to mention is that of the hundreds of courses that I have played around the world, The Links is an instant favourite and straight into my personal Top 5. Manufactured links courses normally at best can be called ‘links like’ – the Links at Fancourt breaks the mould and is good as many of the world greats in GB&I that set the standard.” Arabella Golf Club moves up two positions to 3rd… one reviewer posted as follows: “Gosh, this golf course is good. I've played at most of the Open courses, Pebble Beach and Valderrama, but Arabella is definitely in my top 5 courses for sheer fun.” Another reviewer concurred: “One of the most visually appealing courses I have ever played. Every hole has its own individual character and both nines conclude with truly spectacular stretches alongside the lagoon.” This unique South African ranking list involved gathering, analysing and processing data from a multitude of sources. If you have an opinion and would like to help shape our future rankings please get in touch. If you’ve played any of our featured South African courses, we’ll be delighted to know what you think, so why not contribute now and post a course review or two? Keith Baxter Editor-in-Chief www.top100golfcourses.com Click the link to see the latest South African Top 100 in detail.
