THE TOP 10
1 LEOPARD CREEK 82.8 POINTS Malelane, Mpumalanga 6501 metres Gary Player Design No 1 for second consecutive year 2 THE LINKS AT FANCOURT 82.3 POINTS George, Southern Cape 6930 metres Gary Player Design Former No 1 remains in second place 3 ST FRANCIS LINKS 81.7 POINTS St Francis Bay, Eastern Cape 6553 metres Jack Nicklaus Signature Up one place from No 4 4 BLAIR ATHOLL 81.4 POINTS Lanseria, Gauteng North 7527 metres Gary Player Design Up two places from No 6 5 ARABELLA 81.0 POINTS Near Kleinmond, Western Cape 6222 metres Peter Matkovich Up two places from No 7 6 PEARL VALLEY 80.8 POINTS Near Franschhoek, Western Cape 6577 metres Jack Nicklaus Signature Down 3 places from No 3 7 FANCOURT MONTAGU 80.5 POINTS George, Southern Cape 6714 metres Gary Player Design / David McLay Kidd Down 2 places from No 5 8 GLENDOWER 80.2 POINTS Johannesburg, Central Gauteng 6962 metres Charles Alison / Golf Data No change from 2023 9 SISHEN 79.8 POINTS Kathu, Northern Cape 6657 metres Bob Grimsdell
ARABELLA The par-4 ninth hole at sunrise, flanking the shoreline of the Bot River Lagoon.
is no longer in the Top 10, while Wild Coast Sun, another former Top 10 occu- pant (as recently as 2012), and the Lost City Course (No 20 in 2012) have fallen away dramatically without apparently the same investment in their upkeep they had enjoyed earlier. Another casualty was Vaal de Grace, the Nick Price design on the Vaal River at Parys, which closed during Covid, as did everyone else, but without being fully maintained. It did re-open later in 2020, yet has failed to return to the Top 100 with limited resources.
Oubaai, the Ernie Els design with ocean views in the Garden Route, was in financial trouble and struggling to stay open before being rescued at the end of last year by a new owner from Abu Dhabi. However, it now languishes 50 places below where it used to be. There have been considerably more winners though than losers. A conse- quential change in the ranking criteria was the re-allocation of points from what had religiously been followed for 20 years as part of the universal Golf Digest franchise.
Up 5 places from No 14 10 EAST LONDON 79.5 POINTS East London, Eastern Cape 6070 metres George Peck, Col SV Hotchkin Up 3 places from No 13
GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA 53
MAY 2024
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