Best in Every Country
The best golf courses in South Africa
Grant Leversha
South Africa is the home of golf on the African continent by a long shot, with the number of courses topping 450. While the Western Cape province possesses the most courses in this year’s ranking, the golf is spread across the country’s diverse landscape, from Eastern Cape to Gauteng (site of South Africa's largest city, Johannesburg) to North Cape, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal and beyond.
As the naturalistic style of architecture has become dominant in contemporary architecture (exemplified by places like Bandon Dunes in the U.S. and Barnbougle Dunes in Tasmania), the prevailing tastes in South Africa tend toward modern chic, with clean lines, formal water features and emerald presentations of turf off set by the gorgeous natural backdrops of the various regions. Architects like Jack Nicklaus, Ernie Els, Zimbabwe native Peter Matkovich and Gary Player, who has the country’s top two courses in Leopard Creek and The Links Course at Fancourt, feature prominently, but South Africa’s older golf heritage is also represented, including British architect S.V. Hotchkin’s Humewood, a links course in Port Elizabeth that opened in 1931, and several courses by Charles Alison like Glendower in Johannesburg and both the East and West courses at Royal Johannesburg.
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Editor's Note: Our Best Courses in South Africa ranking is part of the rollout of the Best Courses in Every Country. Check back over the next few weeks for more of our rankings of the best golf around the world.
Houghton is a famous name in the annals of South African golf, a strong and proud club founded in 1923 and strongly associated with championship moments. Today the club has reinvented itself with a new Jack Nicklaus signature course built on the same property in 2009-'10 to replace the old parkland layout, and luxury high-rise apartments and a hotel have emerged alongside one corner of the course. A modern state-of-the-art clubhouse with basement parking stands attractively in the middle of the course overlooking the first hole and 18th.
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Warren Little
De Zalze is one of South Africa’s most scenic golf estates, enjoying a beautiful setting outside Stellenbosch in the Cape Winelands, with mountains as a backdrop. The Blaauwklippen River runs through the property, and two large lakes, one on each nine, add to the aesthetics of the course. De Zalze was the venue for the 2006 World Amateur Team Championships (Rory McIlroy represented Ireland), the only time South Africa has been the host country. The SA women’s team won the Espirito Santo Trophy. The Peter Matkovich design is striking in its varying range of holes. The fairways are generously wide, yet the approaches to greens require precise shot-making.
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Royal Johannesburg’s West Course, considerably shorter than the adjoining championship East Course, is a favorite among club members. Length is the biggest distinction between the two attractive parkland layouts because the West covers the same undulating tree-lined terrain, with a similar quota of water hazards. A natural stream runs through the two courses, entering near the sixth tee on the West and departing at the sixth green of the East. Golf was first played on this site in 1910 when it was Johannesburg Golf Club with just 18 holes. The original designer was Scottish club pro Laurie Waters, who won the 1920 SA Open (his fourth title) on the course he had designed and built.
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This 1993 Martin Hawtree layout is situated in a contrasting setting to its older Country Club of Johannesburg sibling, the parkland Woodmead, being a rare bushveld-style course in the heart of Gauteng, with rock formations and rough edges. On its undulating terrain, it has indigenous trees and natural grasslands, and the holes offer spectacular views of nearby Sandton skyscrapers and the more distant Magaliesberg mountain range. It began as a nine-holer in the mid-1970s and CCJ was a 27-hole facility for 15 years. Rocklands was very much the secondary course at CCJ, before being transformed in 2008 by Golf Data designer Sean Quinn. The Rocklands is slightly longer off the championship tees and hosted the 2013 men’s SA Amateur Championship won by Thriston Lawrence.
Erinvale Golf Club is a Gary Player design, in Somerset West near Cape Town, which has two very different nines. The front nine is flat, with plenty of water hazards in play, while the back nine traverses the slopes of the Helderberg mountain overlooking Somerset West and the False Bay coastline. Erinvale was the first residential golf estate in the Cape Peninsula and Winelands, and within a year of opening, it hosted the 1996 World Cup of Golf, won by the South African duo of Ernie Els and Wayne Westner. It also hosted the 2003 and 2004 SA Opens, both won by 2008 Masters champion Trevor Immelman, who grew up in the town.
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Fancourt is South Africa’s premier resort experience with three 18-hole courses and a nine-holer, exclusively reserved for members, homeowners and hotel guests. Outeniqua, a Gary Player design, starts outside the Fancourt clubhouse and meanders around the large estate, only returning to the clubhouse at the finish. Though it is regarded as the easiest of the Fancourt layouts—the Montagu and the Links are longer championship layouts—Outeniqua is subtly challenging on gently undulating terrain with tricky, fast-running greens complexes. There are water hazards on 11 holes, and the course is well-bunkered from tee to green.
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Courtesy of the club
The parkland Pretoria Country Club sits in a magnificent setting in the upmarket Waterkloof suburb east of the city. The club still occupies its original site from when the club was founded in 1910. The original course was by Laurie Waters, while Bob Grimsdell and Gary Player subsequently put their imprint on the design. It is a tricky and testing layout with several creatively designed green complexes. The clubhouse stands on a ridge above the mostly flat course, but there is undulation on the back nine. The club has hosted professional events for the DP World Tour.
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Woodmead is the premier course at Country Club’s 36-hole facility, a championship parkland layout with tall, mature trees defining the holes with undulating terrain, which provides interesting variety in terms of design and challenge. A large clubhouse (opened in 2000) stands on a ridge above the course, and each nine starts with a par 4 that sweeps downhill to start each round. The CCJ property covers nearly 1,500 acres and is home to over 100 different bird species. Woodmead, originally designed by Fred Hawtree in 1970, has been upgraded and improved by Golf Data. Louis Oosthuizen had a record 28-under total of 260 (66-63-66-65) in winning the 2008 SA PGA Championship here.
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George was for many years the only golf course in this major center of the Garden Route region (today there are six). Visitors to the nearby Fancourt resort soon discover one of South Africa's great parkland gems, which some refer to as “The Old Course.” Its reputation comes from being an attractive walk along leafy fairways; having an interesting variety of holes on gently undulating terrain; and a majestic backdrop in the Outeniqua mountain range. Designed by Charles Molteno Murray and opened in 1931, it is one of the busiest courses in the Garden Route. A feature is the lake around the first, 17th and 18th holes, while the back nine is unusual in having three par 5s, three par 4s and three par 3s. The front nine has seven 4s.
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This 2005 Jack Nicklaus signature design sits high in the hills above the Garden Route coastal town of Knysna. The hotel buildings are on a ridge overlooking the course, with views of the Knysna Lagoon. Simola is on such undulating terrain that golf carts are essential and included in the green fee. Walking is not easy because of the distances between green and tee. There’s a steep cart path with hairpin bends leading down from the pro shop to the first and 10th tees, and another long climb from the first green to the second tee. A high ridge framing the property splits the course into two distinct parts. There are 12 holes in the area below the hotel, and another six in a separate valley. Nicklaus designed five par 5s and five par 3s.
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One of the great vistas in South African golf is from the clubhouse at the Champagne Sports Resort. Perched on a hillside above the course it offers breathtaking panoramic views of the Drakensberg mountain range and surrounding countryside. The parkland layout, designed by Hugh Baiocchi (1997) is one of South Africa's most scenic, and the only 18-holer this close to the Central Drakensberg peaks. For a holiday resort layout, it’s a strong test with one challenging hole after another, full of elevation changes and challenging bunkers. The opening holes run alongside the deep Sterkspruit River gorge that cuts through the property. In winter the fairways become brown and firm, making for longer drives and shorter approaches. Champagne Castle is a nearby peak and the second highest in South Africa at 3,377 meters. It was named by two 19th-century mountaineers who were about to toast their feat of ascending the mountain with a glass of champagne when a guide dropped and broke the bottle.
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This newish course (2011) is one of the most remote settings on this ranking, sitting in a mountain valley in the Drakensberg escarpment of Mpumalanga about a two-and-a-half hour drive from Johannesburg and Pretoria. The Ernie Els signature design opened embodies high-altitude golf, sitting around 2,000 meters above sea level, perhaps the highest-up of any of the courses on this list. Els compared the location to Scotland. “It reminds me of Gleneagles in the Highlands. The expansive views seem to go on forever.” There are three flyfishing dams on the estate, in an area known as South Africa’s premier flyfishing destination.
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Pezula, built on rugged cliffside land overlooking the Indian Ocean, boasts some of South Africa’s most photographed holes. The front nine of this estate course has views over Knysna Lagoon, while the back nine holes tumble downhill to the brink of the high cliffs. The course’s attraction lies in the originality of many of its holes, and exhilarating elevation changes. The routing by American designers Ronald Fream and David Dale (2000) was inspirational. Given such undulating and inaccessible terrain on an environmentally sensitive property, there are only three holes where you play uphill. Five tee options means Pezula caters to a broad range of golfers. Even for fit and strong walkers, the course is best enjoyed in the comfort of a cart, particularly in terms of pace of play. There’s also a luxury hotel adjoining the clubhouse, making this an idyllic destination.
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GRANT LEVERSHA
South Africa’s best-known global course, due to its high-profile television exposure as host of the Million Dollar Challenge and then the Nedbank Golf Challenge. The Gary Player Country Club is an iconic layout in a bushveld and wildlife setting in a valley of the Pilanesberg north of Gauteng. Until Sun City was built in the late 1970s, South Africa did not have a resort where golfers could stay and play. Gary Player worked with a variety of designers throughout his career in architecture, and his partner was Ron Kirby for this important design in his home country. Gary Player Country Club has hosted nearly 100 pro tour events since opening in 1979, including two SA Opens in 2020 and 2021. The course has stood the test of time with changes and improvements in the new millennium ensuring it retains its reputation as one of the toughest examinations on the DP World Tour. Playing over 7,800 yards from the back tees, it was South Africa’s longest course for many years until overtaken by more modern designs in Gauteng.
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American course designer Tom Weiskopf was presented with a considerable challenge when he first saw the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast terrain on which he was asked to build Zimbali in the mid-1990s: “I had never before worked with land where so much elevation had to be taken into account." His solution was to integrate a cart-only layout, at the time a first in South Africa. Zimbali (1998) rolls and tumbles among hills on the Indian Ocean shoreline with only two flat holes in the layout. Three par 3s are played from elevated tees. The Zimbali Coastal Resort development has a large residential component plus two hotels. The course became an exclusive members facility in 2020. Visitors can only play if staying on the estate. Another course, Zimbali Lakes, designed by Ernie Els, is due to open in 2025.
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Mark Sampson
Humewood Golf Club was designed by S.V. Hotchkin in 1931 with some tweaks by Donald Steel in the mid-1980s. The course is nestled into the sandy shores of Algoa Bay overlooking the Indian Ocean. The club features low sand dunes sprouted with native grass, wide fairways straddled by thick seaside brush and brutally challenging windswept greens. The two nines are set up as out-and-back loops with the front side featuring the long par-3 third, often playing over 200 yards to a green protected by the prevailing breeze, two deep bunkers, and a large mound often protecting the pin location. The back nine at Humewood is known to be more scenic than the front and is highlighted by the par-4 13th playing straight uphill into the wind to a green shielded by high dunes and thick brush. A significant renovation by Golf Data and designer Sean Quinn was completed in 2008 with all 18 greens rebuilt and resurfaced with bentgrass.
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Warren Little
The Club at Steyn City was designed by Jack Nicklaus with construction by Golf Data and opened in 2014 with great anticipation. Located just outside of Johannesburg, the club exudes luxury from its course condition to its facilities and clubhouse. The course is built into an old rock quarry next to the meandering Jukskei River. Playing conditions feature perfectly manicured fairways and greens, 75 bunkers, and a unique set of water hazards. The more difficult front nine is highlighted by an elevated tee on the par-4 seventh, playing down to a fairway protected by bunkers and a creek. The second nine is slightly shorter than the first but is highlighted by the lengthy par-4 18th with a split fairway well guarded by bunkers and a lake short of the green. The expanse of the property contributes to a relaxing and luxurious round at the Club at Steyn City.
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The Peter Matkovich-designed course at Elements Private Golf Reserve opened in 2005 to worldwide acclaim. Elements Reserve is located to the North of Johannesburg in the country’s Bushveld region, situated among red cliffs, sweeping grass plains, towering mountains, and dense native trees. The parkland-style layout was designed to coexist with the natural environment and features pristine and vibrant green fairways with subtle undulations and greens protected by dense thickets of vegetation. The front nine is highlighted by the downhill par-3 ninth, played from an elevated tee box to a double green protected by water short and bunkers long. The back nine features multiple long par-5s, the most famous being the reachable 18th protected by water down the left and a series of bunkers on the right. The course also features a modern two-story elevated clubhouse with panoramic views embodying the privacy and tranquility of the reserve.
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Richard Heathcote
The golf course at Royal Johannesburg was designed by Robert Grimsdell in 1933, with the routing changed in 1939 to accommodate the clubhouse, and would undergo reconstruction in 1999 after merging with Kennsington Golf Club and again in 2017. The club exhibits a feeling of luxury from the moment you enter, highlighted by the stunning clubhouse and facilities. The club features pristine conditions, subtle undulations on fairways and greens, and challenging bunker placements off the tee. The front side is the easiest of the two nines with three scoreable par 5s, Nos. 1, 6 and 8. The back nine is a beautiful contrast to the front and begins with two par 4s over 500 yards including the famed dogleg right 11th, known to be one of the most challenging holes in the country. The course is located just 20 minutes outside of Johannesburg and is a premier golfing destination in South Africa.
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Pinnacle Point Estate opened in 2006 and commissioned Peter Matkovich and Darren Clarke to design a championship golf course on the rocky cliffs of Mossel Bay on the Western Cape of South Africa. The result is a unique routing that follows the natural contours of the land and features undulating and snaking fairways cut around steep cliffs and desert canyons. The front nine climbs in elevation before turning towards the water for the first of seven seaside holes, and is highlighted by the daunting par-3 seventh played over a steep canyon to a cliffside green overlooking the ocean. The second nine is routed along the water with each hole's view more impressive than the previous. The highlight of the back nine is the par-5 18th played over a deep canyon to a steep sloping fairway and then down to a green protected by snaking waste areas, bunkers, and cliffs behind. Ranked as one of the best courses in the world since it opened, Pinnacle Point Estate also includes a world-class Louis Oosthuizen junior academy as well as an elevated clubhouse with panoramic views of the sea.
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Cut into the dense seaside brush of the Eastern Cape and set above the Indian Ocean is East London Golf Club. The club opened in 1923 and was originally laid out by George Peck before S.V. Hotchkin remodeled and completed it. The club is set above the Indian Ocean on a prime piece of real estate in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. The courses, a mixture of parklands and links, feature undulating greens, steep dunes, native plants and wildlife, and a stifling breeze blowing off the ocean. Tumbling and hilly fairways make for unexpected lies and approach angles into the difficult elevated putting surfaces. The highlight of “East Bank” as the course is locally referred to, is the winding downhill par-4 ninth with an approach flanked by thick coastal bushes. The back nine features the seaside green on the par-4 12th appearing to slope off into the sea behind it. The elevated clubhouse offers stunning views of the sea and beaches in the town below, however, very little of this hidden course is visible from the outside, adding to the excitement.
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Sishen Golf Club was designed by Robert Grimsdell in 1980 and quickly became one of the most unique and remote golf courses in the country. Set on the edge of the Kalahari desert in an ancient forest of Kameeldoring trees, Sishen Golf Club features special off-the-beaten path luxury. The course is known for unique undulating greens as well as vibrant fairways straddled by dense thickets of thorn trees providing beautiful contrast to the high red sand dunes surrounding the property. Each hole at Sishen could be considered its signature, however, the ones that stand out the most are the risk-reward par-5 sixth with a thorn tree in the center of the fairway and hazard short of the green, and the driveable dog-leg 14th with a green shielded by mounds and deep bunkers. Located five hours from Johannesburg in the mining town of Kathu, Sishen Golf Club promises one of the most special and least crowded rounds on the planet. The course now includes a modern clubhouse and houses that can be rented.
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Located only 20 minutes from the Johannesburg International Airport is the Charles Hugh Allison-designed Glendower Golf Club. Originally opened in 1935, the club underwent major renovations in 1985 and 2007 adding yardage, bunkering, and adapting each putting surface for USGA specifications. The parkland-style course is famous for sprawling red bunkers, wide hazards, and immaculate putting surfaces. Large meandering water hazards help create the signature holes at Glendower Golf Club and are on full display on the par-5 second with a tee shot over a shimmering hazard to a tight tree-lined fairway, as well as on the par-4 10th featuring a lengthy approach over a lake to a tightly protected green. The course is home to kikuyu grass fairways protected by 64 penal bunkers and is challenging and well worth its ranking as a premier destination in South Africa.
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The Montagu Course was the first of three courses to open at the Fancourt Resort in 1992 comprising 27 holes with an additional nine holes added in 1997. The course has more recently undergone renovations in 2005 by David McLay Kidd and in 2018 by Gary Player to improve playability and emphasize its traditional parkland look and feel. Each renovation focused its attention on resurfacing greens as well as making sightlines more intimidating while removing dense native bushes on the fairways to make landing areas larger and more forgiving. The course features fast greens and undulating fairways flanked by native trees and dense vegetation. The more challenging front nine features three par-4s over 400 yards as well as the challenging par-5 ninth with a small green seemingly shrunk by the lake behind. The second nine is highlighted by the challenging 200-yard par-3 17th over a lake to a green guarded by bunkers. While The Links course garners much of the attention at Fancourt Resort, the Montagu easily lives up to its Top-10 ranking in the country.
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Pearl Valley Golf and Country Club was the second course in South Africa designed by Jack Nicklaus and opened in 2003 featuring a match between Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus. The course is located on a 500-acre estate in one of the premier residential communities in South Africa. Located in the Cape Winelands region the course sits in the Paarl-Franschhoek Valley surrounded by the Simonsberg Mountains and displays an aura of luxury and tranquility. Pearly Valley is known for large hazards, deep white river sand bunkers, and waste areas covered in native brush grass. The front side at Pearl Valley is highlighted by the 161-yard par-3 third with a forced carry-over water and penal bunker protecting the green. The standout hole on the back nine is the challenging 211-yard par-3 17th with a sloping and elevating putting surface ready to repel even the best well-struck tee shots.
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Located 60 miles East of Cape Town on the edge of Bot River Lagoon and framed by the Kogelberg Mountains is Arabella Golf Club. The course is situated on rocky farmland and was designed by Peter Matkovich and opened in 1999 with an emphasis on coexisting with the natural environment, evident in the long winding waste areas bordering and protecting the lagoon as well the presence of abundant wildlife including the Blue Crane where the club gets its emblem. The highlight of the front nine is the intimidating downhill par-5 eighth with a massive waste area lining the fairway and a green that appears to jut out into the lagoon behind it. The second nine is known for the dramatic par-5 finishing hole featuring a massive waste bunker and forcing players into an intimidating risk-reward decision.
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Blair Atholl Golf and Equestrian Estate, formerly Gary Player's home, first gained a reputation for polo in 1968 before they commissioned Player himself to design an 18-hole championship course in 2007. Located in the heart of the estate, each nine follows an anti-clockwise loop adding to the luxury and privacy of the estate. The course is known for its incredible length at nearly 8300 yards, as well as its undulating greens, snaking hazards, and wide sprawling meadows. The two signature holes are the 200-yard par-3 third playing over a ravine filled with water, as well as the uphill par-5 16th flanked by a natural area and creek that visually shrink the fairway and force an intimidating risk-reward decision on the approach. The course is located on the edge of Rhenosterspruit Nature Conservancy in Johannesburg and features incredible wildlife and the meandering Crocodile River.
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St. Francis Links is a Jack Nicklaus signature design from 2007 and has since gained recognition as one of the premier golf destinations in South Africa. The challenging links-style course is built into the towering sand dunes of the St. Francis Bay featuring gently tumbling fairways with large sloping greens perched above the Indian Ocean. The front nine is highlighted by the downhill par-4 eighth with a tight fairway split down the middle by a ridge and a small green guarded by deep bunkers. The back nine at St. Francis Links is more challenging than the front and is capped off with a closing par-4 featuring an elevated tee and fairway seemingly shrunk by the water down the left side. Located an hour from Port Elizabeth, St. Francis Links promises a quality golf experience.
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The Fancourt Resort unveiled its first two golf courses in 1990 and 1997 before adding the Gary Player-designed links course in 2000 as a championship-level complement to the existing courses. The links-style course, which Player has described as one of his greatest design achievements, features towering man-made sand dunes dotted with tufts of native grass and framed by the Outeniqua Mountains in the backdrop. The luxurious experience of the links course, without the requisite windy conditions, is highlighted by gently rolling fairways and subtle breaking greens. The front nine features the 200-yard downhill par-3 second, framed by mountains and three small bunkers short of the green. The back nine is known for the short-but-difficult par-3 17th playing over a sprawling burn and deep bunker. The course, located on a former airstrip is five hours West of Cape Town and quickly gained world recognition after hosting the Presidents Cup in 2003 which included the famous tie between Tiger Woods and Ernie Els.
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Courtesy of the club
Intended to merge with its Bushveld environs, what with Kruger National Park and the Crocodile River on the north and west, the Gary Player-designed Leopard Creek is really more akin to a polished, immaculate American layout, with a manmade stream diagonally slashing in front of the 14th green, the fifth, 15th, 16th and 18th greens guarded by stone-bulkheaded ponds and the par-5 18th green on an island. But no course in America has views of elephants, hippos and crocodiles in the wild.
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The above ranking is courtesy of our partners, SA Top 100 Golf Courses. Durban Country Club, which made Golf Digest's most recent World's 100 Greatest Courses, was not included on our partner's ranking, as work was being done last year.
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