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Golf guide • South Africa • Western Cape (Garden Route)

Golf in George: the dunes of Fancourt below the Outeniqua Mountains

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.

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Founded in 1811 and named after King George III, the town sits on a plateau between the Outeniqua Mountains to the north and the Indian Ocean to the south, halfway between Cape Town and Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth). It is the practical hub of the Garden Route: an airport a few minutes away, the N2 running along the coast, forests and lakes all around. The oceanic climate stays mild all year, and the mountains often wear a cap of cloud above the fairways.

Golf here revolves around Fancourt, a 613-hectare estate at the foot of the mountains, 7 km from the airport. Gary Player designed the Montagu, the Outeniqua and above all The Links, a dunes course shaped entirely on a former airfield. These three layouts are open only to members and hotel guests: you stay at Fancourt to play there. In town, the century-old George Golf Club welcomes visitors, and Oubaai overlooks the sea at Herolds Bay.

Four to six nights let you work through the courses without rushing, keeping half a day for the Montagu Pass or the beaches of Wilderness. Knysna, further east along the N2, has its own clifftop courses and a guide of its own; George remains the simplest base for anyone arriving by air who wants to play on the first afternoon.

The courses

Green and deep bunkers among dunes of golden grass, a dark mountain at dusk

Fancourt, The Links

  • Architect: Gary Player
  • Opened 2000
  • 18 holes
  • Par 73

Opened at the end of 2000 after twenty months of work, The Links was born on flat, clay ground, a former airfield. Some 750,000 m³ of earth were moved to create artificial dunes, covered in fescue, ryegrass and bentgrass. The result, a par 73 of 6,930 metres from the back tees, recalls the Scottish links: turf-walled bunkers, large greens, deep rough, and the Outeniqua Mountains as a backdrop. It hosted the 2003 Presidents Cup, which ended in a tie, then the 2005 South African Open. A private club, it reserves only a few tee times for guests of the Fancourt hotel.

Signature hole. The 18th, "Near the Dram", was a par 4 until Jack Nicklaus, the American captain, suggested turning it into the 563-metre par 5 you play before heading for the bar.

Official website

Fancourt, Montagu

  • Architect: Gary Player; David McLay Kidd (2005)
  • 18 holes
  • Par 72

The Montagu is Fancourt's great parkland course: a par 72 of 6,639 metres from the back tees, rolling, dotted with trees and water, between the mountains and the ocean. David McLay Kidd designed new 1st and 9th holes in 2005, and the greens were relaid in bentgrass in 2018, with fewer bunkers on the front nine and wider landing areas. It is known for its conditioning and its firm, fast greens. Its neighbour the Outeniqua, a shorter and more relaxed par 72 lined with white thatched villas, completes the estate's offer for a lighter day.

Official website

George Golf Club

  • Architect: Charles Murray
  • 18 holes

Founded in 1906, George Golf Club plays a Charles Murray layout from the 1930s that has remained almost intact, apart from a reworking of the bunkers in the 1990s. It is an old-style parkland course at the foot of the Outeniquas: rolling fairways lined with tall trees, sloping greens with subtle borrows, a dam between the 1st and the 18th. Fancourt golfers like to call it "the Old Course". Open to visitors, bookable online, it offers caddies and is among the most played courses on the Garden Route: an excellent first round, right in town.

Signature hole. The 17th, the club's signature par 3, plays from an elevated tee over a valley, with water in play, to a raised, offset green.

Official website

Oubaai Golf Club

  • Architect: Ernie Els
  • Opened 2005
  • 18 holes
  • Par 72

Ernie Els's first course in South Africa, Oubaai opened in 2005 on the heights of Herolds Bay, some twenty minutes from Fancourt, between the Outeniqua Mountains and the Indian Ocean. A par 72, it offers wide fairways and bunker complexes placed to make you choose your line, with water and doglegs that reward risk. Four sets of tees make it playable for everyone. It welcomes visitors and complements Fancourt perfectly, with a sea view the estate's courses lack.

Signature hole. The 17th, a downhill par 3, aims at a green that seems to melt into the Indian Ocean behind it.

Official website

Where to stay

Fancourt

The estate's main hotel, 115 rooms and suites at the foot of the Outeniqua Mountains, 7 km from the airport: the gateway to the Gary Player courses. A spa with Roman baths, several pools and five restaurants, from the Monet's bistro to the Italian La Cantina. A practical base for a group in which not everyone plays. The after-round drink is taken at the Club Lounge, facing the 18th green of the Montagu.

The Manor House at Fancourt

At the heart of Fancourt, the house the engineer Henry Fancourt White built in 1859 in the style of a Cotswolds manor, now a protected monument. Its 18 suites, reserved for guests over 16, share a lounge, a bar and a pool, with the same access to the courses as the main hotel. The choice of couples in search of peace. Look at the woodwork: all the carpentry is the work of a Norwegian craftsman who came from Knysna in 1914.

Oubaai Hotel & Spa

On the Oubaai estate, above Herolds Bay, this hotel of 100 rooms and suites overlooks Ernie Els's course and the bay. The Freesia spa, the pool and 8 km of trails complement the golf, some twenty minutes from Fancourt. The alternative for those who prefer the sea to the mountains: ask for a room facing the bay, with the Herolds Bay tidal pool just below.

Whitewashed manor house with a columned veranda, oak trees and green hills at nightfall

Where to dine

101 Meade Street

In the centre of George, contemporary South African cooking from founders raised on the country's farms and trained in European kitchens: European classics, local recipes, produce from the Garden Route and the Klein Karoo, and a cellar focused on South African vineyards. Open daily from breakfast to dinner, Sunday evening included. Order from the dry-aged grill.

Serendipity

On the banks of the Touw lagoon in Wilderness, some twenty minutes from Fancourt, Lizelle Stolze cooks and her husband Rudolf hosts, as they have for more than twenty years, in their guest house. A single five-course menu, served Monday to Saturday evenings, built on South African produce. Arrive at 6 pm for the aperitif on the water's-edge terrace: Rudolf, a hunter and fisherman, talks you through the menu.

Henry White's

In Fancourt's Manor House, the estate's most formal table, served in a dining room that recalls the early days of the house in the 19th century. Creative cooking, attentive service, smart dress. Worth knowing: it opens only to groups and private dinners, so a golfing group books it together with the rooms, for the last night's dinner.

Beyond golf

The Montagu Pass

Begun in 1844 by some 250 convicts and opened to traffic in December 1847, the Montagu Pass crosses the Outeniqua Mountains north of George. Its engineer was Henry Fancourt White, the same man who settled on the Fancourt land around 1860. The road, still gravel and a provincial heritage site, takes about an hour, with the old toll house along the way. The Outeniqua Pass, the modern road running parallel, serves for the return.

Wilderness and the coast

East of George, on the N2, Wilderness lines up its beaches, lagoons and coastal lakes, with hiking trails and access to the neighbouring national park. To the west, the little bay of Herolds Bay, just below Oubaai, has a tidal pool built in 1935. Beware of the currents, dangerous on either side of the bay: the pool is the better place to swim.

The Outeniqua forests

Just behind the town, the slopes of the Outeniquas mix indigenous forest and fynbos, the low, flowering vegetation of the Cape. Hiking or mountain biking: enough to fill a morning without clubs or a late afternoon, as the light falls across the plateau.

Rocky cove pounded by the swell, a small pale sandy beach and a fynbos-covered cliff

When to go

The climate is oceanic and mild all year. In January, highs are around 25°C, in July around 19°C, with cool nights near 8°C: the southern winter remains playable. Rain is spread across the year, peaking in the southern spring, in October and November. February to May and September offer the best compromise; December and January coincide with the South African holidays and are busier.

Getting there

George airport (GRJ), 7 km from Fancourt, is linked by domestic flights to Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban; from Europe, you connect in one of those cities. Allow a quarter of an hour to the hotels. By road, Cape Town is 420 km to the west along the N2, a fine day's journey along the coast. A hire car is useful to reach Oubaai and the coast.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best golf course in George?

The Links at Fancourt, designed by Gary Player and opened in 2000, host of the 2003 Presidents Cup. It is a private club: only a few tee times are reserved for guests of the Fancourt hotel.

Can you play Fancourt without staying there?

No: the Fancourt courses are reserved for members, their guests and hotel guests. Without a stay on the estate, George Golf Club and Oubaai welcome visitors.

How many golf courses are there in George?

Five quality 18-hole courses: The Links, the Montagu and the Outeniqua at Fancourt, George Golf Club in town and Oubaai at Herolds Bay, some twenty minutes away. Fancourt adds a nine-hole course, The Links Experience.

When is the best time to play golf in George?

From February to May and in September. The climate is mild all year, the southern winter remains playable, and October and November are the wettest months.

Which airport is best for a golf trip to George?

George airport (GRJ), 7 km from Fancourt and a quarter of an hour from the hotels, served from Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban.

Tailor-made

Your golf trip: George

Tee times, suites, transfers and tables: your concierge replies within 24 hours with a proposal shaped around you.

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