EASTERN CAPE OLIVEWOOD PRIVATE ESTATE & HOTEL
Outstandingly comfortable and convenient villa accommodation is a feature of one of our newest resort-cum-lifestyle-estates, essen- tially the only one of its kind in the Eastern Cape in 1000 hectares of bushveld. Heading east along the Sunshine Coast it’s 30 kilome- tres from East London Golf Club, inland from the ocean. There’s a magnificent bathing beach at nearby Cintsa. Olivewood is a high-end residential estate with 24 one-bedroom villas for guests adjoining the 18th hole and close to the clubhouse. What I like about them is that you can drive up to your front door and unpack in seconds. Each villa has its own private garden – buck stroll through them during the day – screened off from the 18th green. The single-storey clubhouse is set in an attractive environment, with a long stoep, and there’s a separate new leisure centre. Governor’s House restaurant has an excellent chef. The golf course is different, traversing extremely hilly terrain framed by an indigenous forest, which makes a cart imperative. It has some thrilling downhill tee shots, and the bent grass greens are among the best I’ve played. There’s also a practice range.
GARDEN ROUTE SIMOLA HOTEL
A proper hotel facility, different from my other choices, but I’ve included it because the 5-star self-catering apartments are ideal for golfers and groups. Plus, it has the best breakfast room in the country! Upstairs in the reception area, looking down on the practice putting green, with those heavenly views of the Knysna Lagoon and Heads, this is where you want to linger in the morning while enjoying a sumptuous buffet breakfast. It’s a restaurant in the evening. Simola is situated high in the hills above Knysna, the twisting road up to the hotel features in the famous Simola hill climb, one of SA’s premier motorsport events held in May; and you can park immediately outside your accommodation. Not all rooms have course views, so ask for one that does. The Jack Nicklaus Signature course is famed for its spectacu- lar scenery and fabulous holes which flow up and down through rolling hills and valleys.
Sishen is the most remote Top 100 course, at Kathu in the Northern Cape. The closest Top 100 course to it is Orkney, 408 kilometres away. I’ve visited a few times in recent years, and driving there from most places is a test of endurance in the heat of summer. I normally arrive close to sunset, and always head for the same accommo- dation, the Mongoose Guesthouse within the Kalahari residential estate. It’s on the fairway of the first hole and has 12 double en-suite rooms so is ideal for groups. There’s a plunge pool which is my first port of call. The clubhouse is close, yet access to the estate and the Mon- goose takes you on a lengthy drive around the boundaries of the course and then into the magnificent kameeldoring forest which is a feature of this unique layout. I usually stop at a junction where four holes meet, Nos 6 and 7, 14 and 15, to drink in the tranquil surround- ings. It’s a manicured bushveld park. The Mongoose does an excel- lent breakfast, but my evening meal is normally a braai outside the clubhouse where you can build your own fire. NORTHERN CAPE MONGOOSE GUESTHOUSE AT KALAHARI COUNTRY CLUB
80 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2024
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