KNYSNA OFFERS AN ATTRACTIVE TRIO OF COURSES If you were a golfer in the Garden Route in the 1980s there were only four courses at which to play, and fairly far apart from each other too – Mossel Bay GC in the west, Plettenberg Bay CC in the east, and in between George GC and Knysna GC. Today there are seven courses in the immediate area around George, three in Knysna, and two each in Plettenberg Bay and Mossel Bay. Knysna is fortunate to have two of the most spectacularly scenic courses in South Africa, Pezula and Simola, which attract numerous local and for- eign tourists during the summer sea- son. The views are breathtaking as they are both located high above the Knysna Lagoon. Designed by Americans, Jack
Golf Final in recent years, and Simola is much the easier layout going by the course statistics for those tournaments. Simola averaged 71.06 in 2019 while Pe- zula was 72.77 in 2023. However, the busiest course in the town is Knysna GC, alongside the La- goon. The visitor green fee is around R500. It has improved in leaps and bounds in recent years and is now No 75 in the Golf Digest Top100. The ninth hole is back to being played as a par 5, after the fairway was raised this year to avoid flooding from the tidal waterways that are a feature of the course.
Nicklaus at Simola and Ronald Fream & David Dale at Pezula, both take pride in their splendid conditioning, and typify the general high quality of the main- tenance work at all the Garden Route venues. Pezula has an exciting mix of unusual holes which golfers either come to love or hate. But whatever you think of them they do present a unique challenge and force golfers to think outside their normal routine. Both Simola, inland in the hills, and Pezula, on the rugged cliffside overlooking the Indian Ocean, have hosted the Vodacom Origins of
The 18th at De Zalze showing the river and distinctive oak tree.
The par-4 fourth hole at Pezula is in a beautiful inland setting.
THIS SHORT 4 IS A THRILLER ON WHICH TO FINISH
Only a handful of Top100 courses end with a short par 4 where golfers can drive the green, or get close to it, and one of the best is the 18th at De Zalze in Stellenbosch. It measures 308 metres from the high back tee, but the white and blue tees are 275, or 257 from red. Importantly, you must have the courage and power to carry the Blaauwklippen river which splits the fairway, just over 200 metres. If you make the carry, you only have a short pitch to the putting surface. However, a distraction is the giant oak tree which stands in the middle of the fairway, short of the river from the tee. Those laying up often end find their approach shot blocked by the tree’s trunk and limbs. Then you have to be creative by playing under the limbs. Another twist is the green. It slopes from back to front, and anything past the flag leaves a treacherously quick putt.
GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA 107
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2024
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