South Africa has so many great golf courses to offer with such different panoramas. I am sure Every golfer is sure to be familiar with Sun City, after all the Sunshine Tour regularly plays here. And the Drakensberg Mountains, which are nearby by South African standards, are also internationally famous.
LET’S BEGIN
The first part of our golf road trip takes us through the Karoo straight to the Sun City Resort, via Pecanwood to the Champaign Resort in the Drakensberg. The Karoo is famous for its barren but beautiful landscape, which makes it all the more surprising when you stand in front of the Sun City Resort after a 1,500 km drive and enter another world.
An incredible amusement park has been integrated into the landscape here. This place is like a huge tropical paradise for every interest and age. Opened in December 1979, this resort offers fun and joy for everyone: over 1,600,000 species of plants, 70,500 m² of water, an entertainment center with a casino and of course two golf courses, which is why we came here in the first place.
The Gary Player Golf Course, ranked 12 of the most Beautiful Golf Courses in South Africa 2023, is one of South Africa’s best-known golf course locally and globally, due to its high-profile television exposure. As it host for the past 40 years of first the Million Dollar Challenge and then the Nedbank Golf Challenge.
An iconic layout in a magnificent bushveld setting in a valley of the Pilanesberg. A typical parkland course always very well maintenanced, that blends into the landscape on a mostly flat terrain.
The relatively wide fairways are easy to overview but you should definitely take a caddy with you on the round. The guys are just great at estimating the distances and reading the greens. They definitely help you get the best out of your game and gain a great score you will always remember.
THE SECOND COURSE
The second course at Sun City is a highly creative and varied design: “Lost City” The theme is all arround , an amazing theme Club House and some of the holes , especially the second nine are breathtaking and difficult to play for high handicappers.
At times the bushveld atmosphere makes it feel as if you are in an actual game reserve, rather than surrounded by the fences of one.
Due to its setting in a smaller valley between two rocky hills. It’s more undulating and Player has used the slopes of the hills for stark green designs and elevated tee boxes. There are some narrow dogleg Fairways like risk and reward holes. You have to use your head to play a good round on this course, just hit and hope will not be rewarded! You don’t want to end up in the rough terrain off the fairways.
I think everyone has already heard about the famous Par 3 and the large crocodile pit adjoining the famous 13th hole. This is a green at which to linger and admire these magnificent reptiles lazing in a natural enclosure whose steep vertical walls prop up the edge of the putting surface.
I found the course to be much more demanding because on some holes you really have to estimate your length and place the ball in order not to end up in the bushes or have a bad starting position for the second shot.
