A South African Visit - 10 days of fabulous golf, food, superb scenery and outstanding accommodations..

by Barry Lotz of www.pgtaa.com

The land of Nelson Mandela, the heartache and the joy, the diversity, the unparalleled beauty, this all makes South Africa a truly fascinating and enchanting destination. The fairest of them all, the Cape Province, is one of the world’s most beautiful destinations. This is where Mandela spent 23 years of his life - on Robben Island just a short ferry ride from Cape Town.

As for golfers; Bobby Locke, Gary Player, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Trevor Immelman, Tim Clark and Rory Sabbatini are the golfing icons of this beautiful part of the world.

South Africa is a favorite destination for U.S. and European golfers and travelers because of its remarkable fusion of cultures, cosmopolitan cities, scenery, unforgettable wildlife-viewing opportunities at game parks and private game reserves, its popular wine regions, fabulous and inexpensive golfing and the high-quality of accommodations and outstanding cuisine (Read the article in full)

South Africa is the land of Mandela and the apartheid movement, the land of wild safari’s and modern urban centres, the land of Player, Els & Goosen, the land of beautiful golf courses and challenging golf holes and so to the challenge of picking a signature 18 in South Africa.

Pezula Championship Golf Club
Hole No 1 PAR 5 Yards 540
Pezula Championship Golf Course was awarded South Africa’s best new course shortly after opening and is certainly a sweeping spectacle of fairways and greens rolling through the pristine Southern Cape landscape. The first offers amazing vistas.

Durban Country Club, Durban South Africa
Hole No 2 PAR 3 Yards 176
Apocalyptic dunes, the Indian Ocean and the Durban Skyline are all in view from the tee on Durban’s signature second hole. From an elevated tee you will carry a small valley to the green which is surrounded by 4 well placed bunkers.

Durban Country Club, Durban South Africa
Hole No 3 PAR 5 Yards 513
Durban Country Club was largely reclaimed from old swampland yet the 3rd hole gives mixed messages as to the courses genesis. Beginning as it does from over 60ft in elevation, you quickly descend into a dune safari; giving this hole the aura of South Africa’s finest. Having negotiated the fairway you return to an elevated and sloping green defended by a signatory bunker at the rear. (Read the article in full)

Theodore Ernest “Ernie” Els (born October 17, 1969) is a South African golfer who has been one of the top professional players in the world since the mid-1990s. A former World No. 1, he is known as “The Big Easy”, for his imposing physical stature (he stands 1.90 metres) along with his fluid, seemingly effortless golf swing.

Early life
Growing up in South Africa, he played rugby union, cricket, tennis, and, starting at age 8, golf. He was a skilled junior tennis player and won the Eastern Transvaal Junior Championships at age 13. But by age 14 Els was a scratch handicap, and from then on decided to focus exclusively on golf.

Els first achieved prominence in 1984, when he won the Junior World Golf Championship in the Boys 13-14 category. Phil Mickelson was second to Ernie that year. (The Boys 9-10 category was won by Tiger Woods.) (Read the article in full)

Situated in Lower Houghton and surrounded by the leafy suburb of Norwood, Houghton Golf Club has hosted the South African Open eight times since 1951. The European Tour used the venue for the Alfred Dunhill Championship, and this is one of Johannesburg’s outstanding golf courses.

In 1926, Mr. A. M. Copland, the club’s first professional, did a fantastic job of designing and laying out the course on a densely treed, undulating piece of land. Ponds and dams are features of the course and an abundance of flowering shrubs, exotic plantlife, indigenous trees and all kinds of birdlife provide great variety and colour that make your round an extremely pleasing visual experience.

At lengths of 6542 metres from the championship tees and a more friendly 6135 metres from the club tees, Houghton offers a tough but fair challenge to players of all levels. AÂ mouthwatering selection of four par fives, ten par fours and four picturesque par threes await the discerning golfer who is fortunate enough to play this stunning championship layout. Perfectly manicured fairways, shaped by bands of kikuyu semi and fescue rough are framed by tall and majestic trees which make accuracy from the tee an absolute must if golfers are to safely navigate their way around this fine parkland golf course. Straight hitting will be rewarded with the chance to hit everything from metal wood, long, medium and short irons into well guarded targets with water being a major factor on quite a few of these already challenging holes. Once there, the large, fast and undulating USGA Spec Bentgrass greens require good reading skills and an extremely smooth putting stroke.

Always rated in the top ten courses of South Africa, Houghton is a great test of golf, and its comfortable clubhouse with excellent bar, restaurant and conference facilities is serviced by a highly efficient and friendly staff who like to see their guests enjoying long cold sundowners in the clubhouse or on the outdoor patio which offers stunning views of the golf course in idyllic, tranquil settings and creates the perfect ambience for a tough, challenging but ultimately satisfying nineteenth hole!

Review by William Wilson of Egoli Golf