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than 100 contractors cleaning up im- mediately after the storm on the Mon- day, and we were playing the Fancourt Amateur, one of our biggest events, on the Outeniqua course on the Friday,” he said. “We lost 100-year-old gums and an- cient oaks. No specific species of tree survived. New fever trees were uproot- ed. However, we are fortunate in that we have no playability issues with lost strategic trees. You only need one tree to be strategic. “We did lose trees right of the par-4 sixth hole on the Montagu which could help us improve the playability of this challenging hole. We can widen the fair- way, which would help the higher hand- icaps on a difficult stroke 1 hole and get more sun on to that fairway. “Fancourt has planted 500 new trees in the last 10 years, and we had a team in place after the storm putting those young trees that had fallen back in the ground, saving them for the future. We anticipate the clean-up process to last another couple of months.” The Links at Fancourt was undis- turbed by the storm, having few trees on its open links terrain, but hundreds of blue gums fell in the forest between the Links and the rest of the resort, along- side the Malgas River.
avenue of trees between the first and ninth holes was unaffected. “Our biggest expense will be the re- moval of the trees, because the club was not insured against that eventuality. Insurance will only pay for perimeter fences that were damaged by falling trees, as on the eighth hole.” Austin did mention one positive. “We had so many trees that their shade was an issue, preventing the sun from reach- ing some fairways and greens. The turf will benefit from their absence.” George GC was founded 120 years ago on another site – the club will be celebrating that anniversary later in the year – and the current course designed by Charles Molteno Murray opened for play in 1931. Old photographs in the clubhouse show a barren landscape in those early years, with hardly any vegetation visi- ble to the eye. The Outeniqua mountain range was a prominent backdrop from every hole, not concealed by gigantic trees. Fancourt playable within days Fancourt lost about 270 trees across their two resort courses, the Montagu and Outeniqua, according to Ryan Reid, Director of Sports & Recreation at the resort. “We were lucky to have more
rather in the adjoining bush. And would you believe it, the dead gums in our main dam alongside the 18th are still standing!” The course was closed for two weeks, and then only the back nine was opened for play, as most of the damage had oc- curred on the front nine. It was due to reopen in the middle of June. “It was not an option for us to close the course until the clearing up had been completed. Closing for a month would cost us R2-million in revenue. Staff must be paid, just as they were during Covid, and without rounds being played there is no work for the caddies.” The tall trees have long been a fea- ture of the attractive George layout, ranked No 29 in South Africa, lining the fairways and creating defined corridors of play. There is concern that it won’t be the same without them, that the course will somehow lose its character. But golf courses evolve and success- fully carry on, as at Stellenbosch Golf Club, in the Cape Winelands, where hundreds of trees came down in similar circumstances decades ago. The picture at George GC is not as bleak as it would appear. It is not a wasteland. Many trees have survived, and still pose strategic hazards. The
Tree limbs scattered across a fairway at George, and the damage to a green.
16 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRIC A
JUNE 2026
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