11 PINNACLE POINT 79.2 POINTS Mossel Bay, Southern Cape 6460 metres Peter Matkovich Up 4 places from No 15 12 ROYAL JOHANNESBURG EAST 79.0 POINTS Johannesburg, Central Gauteng 7001 metres Bob Grimsdell Down 3 places from No 11 13 ELEMENTS 78.7 POINTS Near Bela Bela, Limpopo 6792 metres Peter Matkovich Down 3 places from No 10 14 THE CLUB AT STEYN CITY 78.5 POINTS Fourways, Central Gauteng 7054 metres Nicklaus Design Up 5 places from No 17 15 HUMEWOOD 78.3 POINTS Gqeberha, Eastern Cape 6342 metres Colonel SV Hotchkin Down 6 places from No 9 16 ZIMBALI 77.9 POINTS Ballito, KZN North Coast 6467 metres Tom Weiskopf Up 2 places from No 18 17 GARY PLAYER CC 77.8 POINTS Sun City, North West Province 7162 metres Gary Player & Ron Kirby Down 5 places from No 12 18 PEZULA 77.5 POINTS Knysna, Southern Cape 6308 metres Ronald Fream & David Dale Up 2 places from No 20 19 HIGHLAND GATE 77.2 POINTS Dullstroom, Mpumalanga 6710 metres Ernie Els Signature Up 2 places from No 21 20 CHAMPAGNE SPORTS RESORT 77.0 POINTS KZN Central Drakensberg 6694 metres Hugh Baiocchi Up 7 places from No 27 THE SECOND 10
FANCOURT MONTAGU The grandeur of the Garden Route is captured in this view of the par-3 eighth.
not comparing like with like, compared to, say, a ranking of the 100 best in the United States. The back tees at Southbroom or Um- doni Park on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast are 1800 metres shorter than those at The Els Club Copperleaf in Gauteng. The back nine at Blair Atholl in Gauteng measures 4035 metres from its black tees. That’s only 960 metres shorter than playing a full 18 from the blue tees at the Wild Coast Sun. The rankings have rather evolved to- wards rewarding “kinder” experiences for the average golfer, moving away from courses that were admired for their ability to punish golfers. Playabil- ity is a catch-all phrase today in golf, the new mantra, particularly following the introduction in South Africa of the United States Golf Association’s Slope and Course Rating systems which have seen a migration of golfers to a vari- ety of different tees which suit their capabilities. This is not to say that the most chal- PLAYABILITY IS THE NEW MANTRA
lenging courses are today at a disad- vantage to those with a more forgiving nature. The courses which provide the best tests of golf from tee to green are still at the top of the tree. But providing Playability at the same time by widen- ing fairways, making it easier to find stray balls, and having forward tees that have been thoughtfully considered for every hole, is a maxim which distin- guishes our leading courses. This philosophy epitomises the mod- ern design thought process. Currently under construction on the KwaZulu- Natal North Coast is the first high-end course to be built in South Africa since The Club at Steyn City a decade ago. This is Zimbali Lakes, a Ernie Els Sig- nature Course, opening in April 2025. Not only is the course on an extremely undulating coastal property, which means significant carries over ravines and wetlands, windy conditions will be prevalent for most months of the year. Els and the Golf Data team have pri- oritised Playability everywhere they can. Wide fairways which camber balls into the middle rather than repel them to the sides; open areas around greens
GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA 55
MAY 2024
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