DESTINATIONS / KWAZULU-NATAL MIDLANDS
My unexpected discovery of three golfing gems in another part of the KZN Midlands. By Stuart McLean Saints & Sugar Mills
30 years ago and while his estate never quite developed to his early expecta- tions – there are a dozen or so homes plus self-catering cabins close to the clubhouse – it has become a popular destination for visitors who want to relax, play golf, ride the mountain bike trails, or do some bass fishing in the magnificent dam which is a feature of the property. On weekends there’s often a group of bikers who arrive for break- fast. Bird lovers have 250 species to try and identify. After the par-72 course opened in 1993, Cathy – who oversees the cater- ing – designed a wooden sign to dis- play at the entrance on the R74. It read Tee & Sand Wedges, and this is where the catchy term first appeared in South Africa. The title was later “appropri-
Gowrie Farm and Bosch Hoek. I had been invited to play a triumvirate of 9-holers around Greytown which the local community believe are quite special. They had been surprised at the absence of all three of their courses from Golf Digest’s ranking of the 25 Best 9-Holers in our January / February issue. The two main products which drive the local economy are timber and sugar cane, and on the beautiful drive over rolling countryside from Mooi River to Greytown – a quaint town offering a variety of activities – I passed through expansive pine tree forests. St Cath- ryn’s is 30 kilometres further down the twisting R74 which eventually takes you to the North Coast near Prince’s Grant. It’s an hour’s drive from Ballito. Piet Nel built his course more than
hen KZN farmer Piet Nel had finished de- signing and building his own 9-hole course
he now had to give it a name. He had heard of St Andrews, so along those lines he called it St Cathryn’s. There is an Italian saint called St Catherine of Siena, but Piet named the course after his wife. I met Cathy in the clubhouse when she popped out of the kitchen where she was preparing dinner for guests staying at this picturesque “golf estate” on the road between Greytown and Kranskop. This area north of Maritzburg could be described as part of the KZN Midlands, although some distance from the touristy Midlands Meander and well-known Top 100 courses like
92 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA
JUNE 2024
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