SOUTH AFRICA IS RICH IN ITS RURAL TREASURES How this 9-hole ranking evolved in its criteria.
African Jackass penguins live close by. Yet golfers are not queuing up to play there, even though it’s a course which gives more of us the opportunity to shoot in the 60s. Its sloping windswept terrain means that this confined par- 66 layout (4 148 metres) can be a terror in windy weather with its small greens and firm linksy bounce. Simon’s Town epitomises the quirky challenges that 9-holers present. If you suggested to golfing friends that your next tour together should incorporate a variety of 9-holers rather than the same 18-holers you frequent every year, you would receive strange looks and your sanity questioned. Yet doing so might prove a refreshing change to your golfing routine and a better appreciation of these smaller layouts. Before even contemplating such a tour though and converting other golfers to the joys of the 9-hole environment, it’s important to know which courses are
their members. However, 9-holers still have an important role to play in the growth and health of our golf. With their simple designs and reasonably wide playing areas they are fun and forgiving to play for new golfers, and most of them astonishingly good value when it comes to green fees. City golfers are largely unaware of 9-hole courses because there appears to be a stigma about playing them. This could be attributed to the rudimentary nature of many 9-holers, but I realise it’s also because some are too unconventional for our refined tastes in course design. A course fitting that description is the 9-holer at Simon’s Town on the Cape Peninsula. For more than a century it has occupied a small but scenic False Bay site overlooking Boulder’s Beach. In season, Southern Right whales can be seen from the clubhouse, and a colony of
Nine-hole courses occupy an interesting space in South African golf. They form the ma-
jority of our 414 affiliated courses yet are underplayed and undervalued com- pared to 18-holers. A reason for that is their lack of presence in the main cen- tres. Nearly all are to be found in rural towns and villages, where traditionally small memberships have hindered their development and improvement. Many today are struggling to survive, kept go- ing only by the loyalty and passion of
58 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2024
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