DESTINATIONS
Autumn-coloured trees reflect in the pond at the par-3 16th at Champagne Sports.
Champagne’s Autumn Classic in the Berg
C hampagne Sports put on a colourful display for 140 golf- ers, men and women, who participated in the Central Drakensberg resort’s annual Autumn Classic in the middle of May. A feature of the course, ranked No 20 in South Africa, is its hundreds of mature trees lining the fairways, many of which were ablaze with autumnal colours of red, or- ange and yellow for the occasion. This year saw the biggest entry since
the men playing from the white tees at 6 200 metres, and women from the red tees at 4 757. The fairways are firm- ing up, and the greens were speedy for the two-day Individual Stableford. These attractively designed greens are testing throughout the year with their subtle slopes, and putting on them at their quickest was a similar experience to what a golfer might expect if playing at the SA Open. Falling leaves from the trees are also
the tournament launched in 2018 with a field of 44 – everyone staying at the resort – and golfers were on the course from first light to dusk on both Friday and Saturday. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect during the day, with warm sunshine, although it was instantly chilly without the sun. Even with golf carts, Champagne Sports is a relatively slow round for fourballs, and autumn is when the course is possibly at its trickiest with
80 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA
JUNE 2025
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