EDITOR’S LETTER E Let’s play more 9-hole courses
W e publish our annual ranking of the Best Nine-Hole Courses on Page 58, and exploring our beautiful country to discover them has been enriching. There are some 220 in this category, remote from major centres, mostly on the R roads. Uncovering the gems has been a fulfilling project. The 2025 ranking expands to 40 courses, and three new entries were good enough to jump straight into the top 10. This remains a work in progress because there are others still awaiting discovery. I’ve relied on tip-offs and leads to find the latest batch of newcomers. The reasoning behind having these rankings, other than rewarding excellence, is to encourage more golfers to play and support 9-holers. They are more than worthy of that support and represent an affordable alternative to the escalating green fees at Top 100 courses. Plus, they are fun to play, as good a reason as any. Many clubs are in financial straits and rely on the generosity of members to keep going. I’ve been bowled over by the love shown to courses in the middle of the “outback” by golfers needing a place to play every week. Their local course is a lifeline. A common factor uniting these 40 is that they are generally situated in areas of natural beauty and tranquil surroundings. Only three are in cities. Metropolitan, Zwartkop and Walmer. Seven are part of residential estates. The remainder are splendidly rural,
which means no bothersome traffic, and superb views. Aesthetics plays a significant role as one of the six criteria in these rankings. Magnificent scenery can transform an average design into something special. Some walks are comparable to nature trails, such as at Cathedral Peak, Thabazimbi or Springbok. Often visiting the remoter 9-hole clubs I had the course to myself. But the clubhouse was usually open, with someone behind the bar. The best clubhouses were those which attracted people from the local community, to meet up with friends for a coffee or snack, if not for golf. It was surprising how many of the smaller clubs had an operational clubhouse. Two which have become popular destinations for non-golfers seeking lunch or sundowner in a pleasant environment are those at Kambaku and Skukuza in Mpumalanga. I realised early on that the clubhouse forms a key element of the experience at 9-holers, and thus had to be part of the criteria, unlike the 18-hole rankings where a vibrant clubhouse is taken for granted. Those that were closed, likely only used on weekends, cast a shadow over any midweek visit. Conditioning varies at 9-holers, because many are certainly not mown regularly, and have limited maintenance equipment. They are best on competition days when the greens have been freshly cut. The top 10 courses are in the best shape, scoring at least 7/10, while others further
down scored as low as 4/10. The only 9-holer we know to be designed by Bob Grimsdell – Kilbarchan in Northern KwaZulu-Natal – is an excellent layout but my visits revealed disappointing levels of conditioning which did spoil the experience. Nearly all courses were accessible even when empty, but I did encounter a locked front gate at Maclear in the Transkei region of the Eastern Cape. It’s a pretty town in the hills on the R56 to Matatiele, and from the outside looked to have an attractive course. I learned why the gate was locked when a large herd of cows strolled past with their herdsman. They would have loved to be in there grazing. 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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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2025
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