23 SANDY LANE Hartbeespoort Dam, North West Province SCORE 37/60 Clubhouse 7.5 • Aesthetics 6 Conditioning 8 • Design Variety 6 Innovation 4.5 • Challenge 5
24 FYNBOS Eerste Rivier, Eastern Cape SCORE 36.5/60 Clubhouse 8 • Aesthetics 6.5 Conditioning 4.5 • Design Variety 5.5 Innovation 6 • Challenge 6 Built on high ground on the Tsitsikamma coastline overlooking the Indian Ocean and Eerste Rivier resort, this is a stunning setting for golf. The holes don’t quite live up to the Aesthetics, yet there are a few good ones closest to the sea, notably Nos 6, 7 and 8, which is a fine par 3 with two pins on the green. Very few trees so it has a links- like appearance, particularly the dogleg left sixth. An attractive clubhouse has accommodation and a restaurant.
25 PILGRIMS REST Near Pilgrims Rest, Mpumalanga Lowveld SCORE 36/60 Clubhouse 5.5 • Aesthetics 7.5 Conditioning 5 • Design Variety 6 Innovation 6 • Challenge 6 The course is one of the oldest in the Lowveld, close to Robbers Pass, its 9 holes attractively laid out in a narrow tree- lined valley alongside a stream and rocky hillside. The immediate area is where SA’s first gold rush took place in 1873, prospectors recovering alluvial gold from the gravel of riverbeds. The original name of the club was TGME (Transvaal Gold Mining Estates). The small stone-walled clubhouse is thought to be 100 years old.
Short (5 469 metres) and friendly Par-70 layout (three par 3s) designed by Douw van der Merwe in the 1990s, with exceptionally good greens and an enjoyable mix of holes, including a superb short 4 (7 & 16). The opening and closing holes (both par 5s) are on the shores of Hartbeespoort Dam, with five holes inland among a residential estate. Good opening tee shot over water from the edge of a small boat marina.
Sandy Lane.
Mooi River.
Hex River Valley.
KLEINZEE’S 9 RUINED BY FLOOD Remote Diamond Coast course is no longer playable.
only four golfers staying in the town, so we can do nothing. I now drive to Springbok to play. A golfer from George arrived and teed off, but he wasn’t too happy when he came back in, telling me he had lost 15 balls.” The Buffels River is normally a dry bed or a small stream, but heavy rains in July and August created huge volumes of water inland. A bridge seven kilometres away acted like a dam wall, and when the bridge collapsed the water cascaded towards Kleinzee. “I managed to salvage all the course equipment in the middle of the night. The course was submerged. Our highest tee is three metres above the fairway, and that too was under water.” The course occupies 50 hectares of private land, and Dreyer is hoping it might be developed and the course rebuilt. Or a knight in shining armour might come to Kleinzee’s rescue. Anyone wishing to assist can contact him at 061 064 2068.
died, and the irrigation is destroyed. Bridges were washed into the sea.” Kleinzee is a small community on the Namaqualand Diamond Coast, 100 kilometres from Springbok. The club, affiliated to the Northern Cape Golf Union, has a tiny membership, yet was popular with holidaymakers during the season and long weekends. It was established as a company town by De Beers after the 1925 discovery of diamonds. De Beers owned everything and served as administrators. It grew to have a population of about 2 000. The course was built by De Beers and, following a similar 1994 flood which damaged many holes, they paid for its rehabilitation and upgrade. But with the demise of the diamond industry in the area, De Beers is no longer there, and the club was privatised in 2014. “We had a greenkeeper visiting from Kroonstad, and he estimated it would cost R5-million to get the course back to where it was,” said Dreyer. “We are
An attractive 9-holer on the remote North-West Coast, Kleinzee Golf Club, has
been devastated by a flood which left the course in what club chairman Jo- han Dreyer calls “a horrible state.” “The fairways are covered in sand and sludge and rocks brought down by the Buffels River in August,” said Dreyer. “Some holes resemble a desert. What was so sad for our club was that this happened just two weeks before Kleinzee was due to host the West Coast Open. Our course and greens were in mint condition. Now it’s unplayable, the grass on the greens and fairways has
64 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2024
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