Golf guide • South Africa • North West

Golf in Sun City: two Gary Player courses on the edge of the Pilanesberg

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.

Plan this tripUpdated 11 October 2026

Sun City opened its doors in December 1979, the creation of hotelier Sol Kerzner between the Elands River and the Pilanesberg hills, some 200 km by road from Johannesburg airport. What first looks like a leisure town, with a casino, entertainment venues and a water park, is also one of the most serious golf addresses in the country. Both courses lie within the resort, a few minutes from the rooms: no early-morning transfer, no drive before your tee time.

The Gary Player Country Club is the championship course, long, demanding and walking only; the Lost City, opened in 1993, wider and more spectacular, is played by buggy among rocks, lakes and bush. All around, the Pilanesberg fills the crater of an ancient volcanic complex some 1.2 billion years old, whose concentric ridges close the horizon from almost every hole.

Three to five nights let you play each course once or twice and keep a morning for a safari. Pilanesberg National Park is home to the Big Five and lies outside the malaria zone, making it an easy complement to the golf. Rustenburg, the platinum-mining town, is some fifty kilometres to the south, at the foot of the Magaliesberg mountains.

The courses

Green guarded by a rock-edged pond and two bunkers, acacias and a rocky hill in the evening light

Gary Player Country Club

Architect: Gary Player
18 holes
Par 72

The only course in the world officially bearing Gary Player's name is also one of the longest: 7,981 yards from the championship tees, par 72. Since 1981 it has hosted the Nedbank Golf Challenge, first a twelve-player invitational, now a European Tour event played at the end of the year. Fairways lined with bush and considerable length: it rewards long, accurate hitters. Lee Westwood holds the course record, 62, set in 2011. Buggies are not allowed and the course closes on Mondays for maintenance. Best kept for good players.

Official website

Lost City Golf Course

Architect: Gary Player
Opened 1993
18 holes
Par 72

Opened in 1993 and designed by Gary Player, the Lost City was carved out of the rocky hills at the foot of the Pilanesberg, in a style the resort describes as desert: rocky outcrops, undulating ground and elevated tees. Its wider fairways and more receptive greens make it more playable than its neighbour, and many golfers prefer it. A buggy is included in the green fee. The closing holes run alongside a series of cascading lakes that separates the 9th from the 18th, with the clubhouse as a backdrop.

Signature hole. The 13th is a par 3 played over a pit home to Nile crocodiles, to a green shaped like the African continent: an iron shot to be played without hesitation.

Official website

Where to stay

The Palace of the Lost City

Opened in 1992 on the site of an ancient volcano, the Palace of the Lost City is the resort's emblematic address: 326 rooms and suites, domes, columns carved with elephant tusks and bronze animal sculptures by the artist Danie de Jager, in a man-made jungle. The Lost City Golf Course is close by. Ask for a pool-facing Superior Luxury room, the category that looks out over the Pilanesberg hills.

Tshukudu Bush Lodge

For the safari nights, Tshukudu Bush Lodge has twelve suites on a rocky outcrop in a private concession of Pilanesberg National Park, above a natural waterhole. Dinner is served at a long solid-wood table or around a fire in the bush. Check-in is at Bakubung, where the car stays behind; a short game-drive transfer and more than a hundred steps then lead up to the lodge, so travel light. Children under 12 are not accepted. Allow about half an hour to the courses.

Large resort pool surrounded by palms and waterfalls, an ochre domed building against a backdrop of hills

Where to dine

The Grill Room

The steakhouse of the Palace of the Lost City, open in the evening only, from 6.30 to 10 pm, by reservation and with a smart casual dress code. Grilled meats and, by the house's own account, one of the most acclaimed wine lists in the country: the dinner to book to celebrate a good scorecard on the neighbouring Lost City. The room is intimate, so book on arrival.

Bush Boma at Bakubung Bush Lodge

On Wednesdays and Saturdays, the rangers of Bakubung Bush Lodge, at the park gate a few kilometres from the resort, drive diners into the reserve for the Bush Boma: a buffet dinner around the fire, under the open sky, far from the casino lights. Non-residents are welcome if they book ahead; the boma depends on the weather, so pack a jumper for the southern winter. On other evenings, the lodge whose name means 'people of the hippo' serves dinner at its Marula Grill, which overlooks the hippo hide.

Beyond golf

Safari in the Pilanesberg

Opened in 1984 across 572 km², Pilanesberg National Park borders Sun City; the Kwa Maritane gate is the closest to the resort. Operation Genesis reintroduced some 6,000 animals here in the 1980s, and you can see the Big Five as well as more than 360 bird species. Guided game drives, a hot-air balloon safari at dawn or a self-drive circuit around the Mankwe dam.

The Valley of Waves

Below the Palace, Sun City's water park recreates a tropical beach, with a wave pool where the swell rises to two metres every ninety seconds and a near-vertical slide, the Temple of Courage. A welcome break on a hot afternoon, especially with family.

The Magaliesberg and Rustenburg

South-west of Rustenburg, about an hour from Sun City, the Kgaswane reserve covers 53 km² of the Magaliesberg mountains on former lands of Paul Kruger. Antelope, more than 320 bird species and a colony of Cape vultures; its trails range from a two-kilometre loop to two-day hikes.

Herd of elephants crossing golden savannah at dawn, a dirt track and a hill dotted with acacias

When to go

The dry season, from April to October, is the best for golf: in nearby Rustenburg, afternoons reach 20 to 28°C, with little or no rain, and mornings are cold in June and July, when the thermometer drops towards 3°C. It is also the best season for safari, when the short grass makes the animals easier to spot. From November to March, temperatures hover around 30°C and summer thunderstorms bring most of the year's rain.

Getting there

Johannesburg's O. R. Tambo International Airport (JNB) is about 200 km from Sun City, two and a half to three hours by road; Lanseria, north-west of Johannesburg, is about 130 km away, a little over two hours. Pilanesberg airport, next to the resort, has had no commercial flights since its terminal burned down in 2023. Plan on a private transfer or a hire car.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best golf course at Sun City?

The Gary Player Country Club, a par 72 of 7,981 yards, which has hosted the Nedbank Golf Challenge since 1981. The Lost City, wider and more playable, is often preferred by mid-handicap golfers.

Are there really crocodiles at the Lost City Golf Course?

Yes. The 13th at the Lost City is a par 3 played over a pit home to Nile crocodiles, to a green shaped like the African continent.

Can you use a buggy at the Gary Player Country Club?

No, the Gary Player Country Club is walking only, with a caddie if you wish, and it is closed on Mondays. At the Lost City, a buggy is included in the green fee.

When is the best time to visit Sun City for golf?

From April to October, during the dry season: afternoons between 20 and 28°C, almost no rain, and the best period for safari. From November to March, it is hotter and stormier.

How do you get from Johannesburg to Sun City?

By road: about 200 km and two and a half to three hours from O. R. Tambo airport, a little over two hours from Lanseria. Pilanesberg airport no longer has commercial flights.

Tailor-made

Your golf trip: Sun City

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

Fairway lined with umbrella pines and eucalyptus at the foot of a flat-topped mountain with sandstone cliffs, late in the day

Western Cape