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1 LEOPARD CREEK, MPUMALANGA Par 5: 497 Gold, 474 White, 440 Blue Ranked No 3 in SA Top 100 Only par 5 to make this list, a hole which has become an iconic feature of Leopard Creek thanks to the challenge it poses the world’s best in the Alfred Dunhill Championship hosted by the club since 2004. The Aesthetics are magnificent, the sloping fairway mov- ing downhill from elevated tee boxes through an avenue of trees, with the clubhouse a splendid backdrop to the green. It’s relatively rare in SA to find a
short of the green with a 3-wood, and chip and putt for birdie to triumph. Only a handful of SA Top 100 courses finish with a short 4, and this is the best of them. The new green has been repo- sitioned at an angle, and missing the fairway left or right can leave awkward approaches. Out-of-bounds is immedi-
clubhouse where the front of the build- ing overlooks the 18th green. Many have a side-on aspect. The rumpled contours of the island green presents a daunting risk-reward shot for the professional from 200 metres out, or the club golfer from 100 metres. It cre- ates a terrific climax to any round, the main purpose of any 18th. There were 5 eagles here at the 2024 Alfred Dunhill, and four triple-bogeys, a neat balance between triumph and disaster. 2 ST FRANCIS LINKS, EASTERN CAPE Par 4: 400 Gold, 378 White, 354 Blue Ranked No 5 in SA Top 100 This Jack Nicklaus links is distin- guished in having its two strongest holes as the finishing holes on each nine. The 18th is as difficult a proposi- tion for the professionals at the PGA Championship hosted by the club, as it is for club members. Elevated back tees on a hillside enhance Aesthetics and provide a perfect outline of the hole from tee to green. A large water hazard lurks left of the fairway, and the perfect line to the green is to skirt the edge of the hazard as closely as possible, which brings jeopardy into the tee shot. The narrow raised green slopes from left to right and is guarded by deep bunkers. A brave golfer can birdie the hole; one mistake can result in a card-wrecker. 3 DURBAN CC, KWA-ZULU NATAL Par 4: 292 Yellow, 249 White, 235 Blue Ranked No 8 in SA Top 100 One of our most famous 18th holes at an iconic club, framed magnificently by the classic double-storey club- house. Most golfers will see it as a short 4, others as an ultra-long par 3. It has witnessed 18 SA Opens since 1924, yet the 2025 Open was the first where it was used in a playoff. The back tee was lengthened to 292 metres in the recent upgrade of DCC, yet new cham- pion Dylan Naidoo was able to play just
ately behind the green. 4 EAST LONDON, EASTERN CAPE
Par 4: 370 White, 352 Blue Ranked No 9 in SA Top 100
An old-fashioned linksy hole that suits the rolling terrain theme of this classic seaside layout. It’s a tiger into a south- easterly wind, yet the green can be driv- en with the wind at your back. A dogleg left around a dune with the clubhouse on a high point above the fairway. Go- ing for the green off the tee requires a high-tariff power draw skirting the out- of-bounds. A normal tee shot must be exact, on the left side of the fairway, to catch the “slot,” a steep slope which ac- celerates the ball down from an upper plateau towards the flatter lower part of the fairway. Golfers are often left with an awkward downhill lie to a big green which sits above the fairway. There’s a steep drop behind the green. 5 PEARL VALLEY, CAPE WINELANDS Par 4: 427 Black, 398 Yellow, 376 Blue Ranked No 4 in SA Top 100 This hole was played as the ninth when Pearl Valley hosted three SA Opens from 2007 to 2009, because there wasn’t space for grandstands around the green. It’s easily the longest 4 at this estate layout, and the tee shot needs to carry a series of deep bunkers to find the fairway. An attractive pond borders the left edge of the green, and the fairway from 150 metres out. A small, narrow green for such a long hole, gently slop- ing towards the water, with a bunker front right. Disappointingly, the hole cannot be seen from the clubhouse.
GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA 83
JULY/AUGUST 2025
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