EDITOR’S LETTER E Deserved honour for Peter Matkovich
T he 2024 World Golf Awards have been announced, and our own Peter Matkovich honoured as the Golf Course Designer of the Year, an award he richly deserves for his body of work over the past 40 years. Matko receives it principally because of his new Mauritian masterpiece, the La Réserve Golf Links at Heritage resort, but this is mainly international recognition for decades of creative and artistic design accomplishments. Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Gary Player and Bill Coore were among the losing nominees in this highly competitive category. While it may have taken an international assignment to gain Matko the award, South African golfers have long been enraptured by the likes of Arabella, Pinnacle Point, Elements Private Reserve, De Zalze, Prince’s Grant and Hermanus, just to name some of his best courses. Nine of them were in the Top 50 of the Golf Digest SA rankings. It all began at San Lameer in the early 1990s with his first original 18-hole design – he had worked prior to that for Gary Player Design – and the KZN South Coast estate layout epitomises his bold and daring style which generally tends to raise the anxiety level of golfers. On top of his own personal award, La Réserve Golf Links itself received an accolade for the Best New Course of 2024. It was opened a year ago and within a few weeks was hosting the AfrAsia Mauritius Open to great
acclaim. I haven’t yet played it myself but was on site with Matkovich five years ago when he was breaking ground on the southern slopes of the island, embarking on his grand vision to produce one of the most unusual designs in planet golf. “Listen to the Land” is his catchphrase, and the first tee at La Réserve contradicts every law of course design, being remotely separated from the clubhouse at a distant location in the hills. From there the holes cascade downhill back to the 18th green with glorious ocean views to admire. It’s an exhilarating roller-coaster ride. Matkovich shares the design credit with Louis Oosthuizen, who won the Mauritius Open on his own course, yet the main input and hard graft came from a man who has stamped his architectural credentials firmly on our golfing heritage. His legacy as Southern Africa’s greatest course designer – he has also built courses in Namibia, Zimbabwe and Zanzibar – will live on forever. The World Golf Awards are in their 11th year and play an important role in promoting golf globally, although some award choices are questionable. Hanoi in Vietnam has won Best Golf City Destination for two consecutive years. I’d be surprised if Johannesburg was even considered. Ditto, Costa Navarino in Greece as the World’s Best Golf Venue. It also has the Best Clubhouse. The Club at Steyn City was a past Clubhouse winner in 2015 and 2016. More deservedly, Ascot Golf Tours,
a luxury SA travel company which sells golf here to a worldwide clientele, was named Africa’s Best Golf Tour Operator for a fourth time. Giltedge, another SA-based company (Africa’s winner in 2023), was one of eight nominees for World’s Best Golf Tour Operator. Giltedge is concentrating on the American market to boost our golf tourism. Fancourt was honoured as SA’s Best Golf Hotel for a sixth consecutive year, and Pinnacle Point as Best Golf Course (for a record fifth time). Stuart McLean stuartm@morecorp.co.za
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EDITOR STUART MCLEAN DESIGN ELINORE DE LISLE MEDIA SALES DANIEL EGDES (daniele@morecorp.co.za) GOLF DIGEST USA
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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2024
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