NEW GM Desiree Stone took office as Durban Country Club’s new general man- ager at the beginning of April. She was previously GM at Mount Edge- combe Country Club, where her husband Kevin, a former Sunshine Tour player, was the golf director. He has since moved on to working in the maintenance industry for Matko Turf. DCC is now a private club with just over 400 members, and an entrance fee of R50 000. It also has a strict policy concerning visitors. It is a one-tee start course, as at The Links at Fancourt and Blair Atholl. Everyone begins at No 1. DCC is an out-and-back layout, which was more commonplace when it opened in 1922, but is rare today. There used to be a two-tee start arrangement, with parking at No 10, but that has been removed. And the old halfway house has been demolished, to be replaced by a structure more in keeping with the new look.
A new wooden flagstick on the green of the short par-4 sixth
DRAINAGE AND SAFETY ISSUES Listening to Rob McLean, who was in- volved for Golf Data from the design side, the chief problem to overcome in the renovation was drainage is- sues. Country Club, being close to the Umgeni River mouth, has suffered regular flooding in its 101-year history, exacerbated in modern times by storm water gushing on to the property. “Solv- ing the drainage issue was the primary reason for the renovation, and the solution to that allowed Golf Data to additionally address safety and strat- egy,” said McLean. The solution was to build a wide “burn” that snakes through many of the holes at the far end of the course
assignment, yet the Golf Data team’s work and artistry in restoring the old lady has been an unqualified success, especially according to those who were always going to be the fiercest critics, the DCC members. They were given the first opportunity to play the course, beginning on March 1, and have been effusive in their praise. Soon afterwards I had my own first glimpse of the promised land, not play- ing the 18 holes, but taking in as much as I could of the changes. In many plac- es the course is unrecognisable from what was there before, and it is strik- ingly beautiful. In the golden light of late afternoon, I was enraptured by new vistas I hadn’t seen before. Durban CC was mostly famous for its five opening holes, and a few others that uniquely stood out, like the par-5 eighth, Prince of Wales par-3 12th, 17th and 18th. The remaining nine holes weren’t weak, but neither were they much discussed by the golfing com- munity. Even so, this was a course that featured among the Top 100 Courses in the World outside the United States. Golf Data’s vision proposal was to refine and enhance the course to a standard that would enable the club to maintain its status as one of the world’s best, respecting and accentuating icon- ic features. To my mind they have suc- ceeded beyond everyone’s aspirations. The project overran, yet to achieve such a stunning transformation of DCC in 10 months is extraordinary.
View from the 11th green looking back at the Prince of Wales par 3.
86 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA
MARCH/APRIL 2024
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