South Africa brings championship courses, vineyards and safari together in a single trip, on layouts by Gary Player, Ernie Els and Jack Nicklaus. In the Western Cape, Cape Town and Stellenbosch play between ocean, mountains and wine estates; the Garden Route strings together George, where The Links at Fancourt hosted the 2003 Presidents Cup, and Knysna, with Pezula on the clifftops and Simola above the river. Further north, Sun City and the Gary Player Country Club, home of the Nedbank Golf Challenge, border the Pilanesberg reserve, Johannesburg gathers fine parkland courses on the Highveld, Kimberley keeps the club that hosted the first South African championship in 1892, and Durban plays in a subtropical climate on the Indian Ocean.
The seasons are reversed: Cape Town and Stellenbosch are at their best from October to April, in the dry, bright southern summer, and the Garden Route, mild all year, from February to May and in September. Inland and in Durban, the dry, sunny southern winter suits best: April to October at Sun City and Kimberley, April to September in Durban; in Johannesburg, March to May and September to November are preferred. We arrange tailor-made trips there: reserved tee times, transfers and domestic flights, characterful lodges and hotels, wine tastings and safaris.
Cape Town, at the south-western tip of South Africa, offers four very different courses within forty minutes' drive: Royal Cape, founded in 1885, Steenberg among the vines of Constantia, the Metropolitan beside the Atlantic and the Atlantic Beach links facing Table Mountain. Golfers come to combine golf, vineyards, spectacular scenery and great restaurants. The best period runs from October to April, the dry southern summer, provided you accept the south-east wind.
Durban, the great KwaZulu-Natal port on the Indian Ocean, offers within three quarters of an hour's drive Durban Country Club, host of eighteen South African Opens, Tom Weiskopf's course at Zimbali, the two layouts at Mount Edgecombe and Bluff National Park to the south. Golfers come for subtropical golf between dunes and coastal forest, and for the city's Indian cooking. The best period runs from April to September, the dry, mild southern winter.
George, capital of South Africa's Garden Route, is the region's most complete golf base: the Fancourt estate and its three 18-hole Gary Player courses, including The Links, host of the 2003 Presidents Cup, George Golf Club, founded in 1906, and Oubaai, designed by Ernie Els above the Indian Ocean. The Fancourt courses are reserved for members and hotel guests. The best months run from February to May, then September.
Johannesburg, set at 1,750 metres on the South African Highveld, has four championship courses open to visitors within forty minutes of Sandton: the East Course at Royal Johannesburg & Kensington, host of the Joburg Open, Glendower, designed by Charles Alison, Houghton, a Jack Nicklaus design, and Steyn City. Golfers come for tree-lined parkland courses where the ball flies further than at sea level, and for Soweto and the Apartheid Museum between rounds. The best periods run from March to May and from September to November.
Kimberley, capital of South Africa's Northern Cape, offers a short golf stopover steeped in history: Kimberley Golf Club, founded in 1890 and host of the first South African championship in 1892, and the Magersfontein Memorial Golf Estate, some forty minutes to the south, near the 1899 battlefield. Just two courses, to combine with the Big Hole and the town's museums, ideally from April to October.
Knysna, a small town on South Africa's Garden Route set beside a lagoon, has three courses within a quarter of an hour of the centre: Pezula, a Ronald Fream and David Dale layout on top of the East Head cliffs, Simola, a Jack Nicklaus design on a ridge above the river, and Knysna Golf Club, founded in 1909 at the water's edge; Gary Player's Goose Valley is some forty minutes away at Plettenberg Bay. Golfers come for golf with sweeping views, oysters and indigenous forest, ideally from February to May and in September.
Stellenbosch, a university town in the Winelands some fifty kilometres east of Cape Town, lies within forty minutes of four championship courses: De Zalze and Stellenbosch Golf Club on the edge of town, Erinvale at Somerset West and Pearl Valley, a Jack Nicklaus design, near Paarl. Golfers come for golf among mountains and vines, for the wine estates and the restaurants that go with them. The best period runs from October to April, the dry southern summer.
Sun City, a resort in South Africa's North West province, brings together two 18-hole courses designed by Gary Player: the Gary Player Country Club, which hosts the Nedbank Golf Challenge every year, and the Lost City Golf Course, famous for the crocodile pit on its 13th. Golfers come to combine championship golf with a safari in Pilanesberg National Park, which borders the resort, ideally from April to October, during the dry season.
