BEST NINE-HOLE COURSES
Golf in the Northern Berg The hilly Amphitheatre course has the Tugela River flowing past its holes.
A lesser-known Drakensberg golfing destination is the Amphitheatre 9-holer, part of the Hlalanathi resort in the Northern Berg. It’s a strikingly scenic and testing par 72 layout of 5 980 metres that was included in Golf Digest’s 2025 ranking of the Best Nine- Hole Courses in South Africa (January/ February issue). Set in a tranquil rural environment, some of the holes are built on a steep hillside, so it’s a good idea to hire a golf cart, even if you’re only playing nine. It is one of six KwaZulu-Natal golf cours- es within the Drakensberg region, al- though Hlalanathi isn’t quite as close to
Hlalanathi is owned by the Van Rens- burg family, and Jack van Rensburg had the course built in the late 1990s with the assistance of Dave Coward, who designed the layout. The opening hole is a 350-metre par 4 running downhill, and the third is a pulpit par 3 (124) playing down to the flatter holes at river level. There are several strong holes, but they are all overshadowed by a memorable par 5 that offers one of the more thrilling tee shots you’ll play in South Africa. This is the 458-metre 15th. You play it earlier from a lower tee as a 406-metre 4 (No 6) but walk up a steep path to the back tee and the hole reveals itself in all its maj-
the higher peaks of the escarpment as courses such as Cathedral Peak, Cham- pagne Sports Resort, Monk’s Cowl, and Glengarry in the south. It doesn’t have their spectacular views either. Only on a clear day can you see the distant range. The resort itself is relatively mid- sized and has attractive thatched-roof self-catering chalets and bungalows which overlook the Tugela River from its lofty position on the slopes of a hill. It’s popular with caravanners and campers. The swift-flowing river, nar- row in places at this point, runs along- side the par-5 fourth hole, and then curves behind the fourth and sixth greens.
108 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA
MARCH/APRIL 2025
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator