Pretoria Country Club

The Pretoria country Club was officially opened on the 8th October 1910 by the Hon Johan Rissik and was designed by Bob Grimsdell –the famous designer of many prestigious golf courses in South Africa. The course is a typical parklands layout situated in the eastern suburbs of Pretoria.

During the early part of 2004, a decision was taken to revamp and upgrade the entire golf course. The contract was awarded to the Gary Player Group. After months of intense construction, Mr Gary Player officially opened the course on the 26th March 2005.

The redesign is unique due to all the bunkers being ‘pot’ bunkers with specially constructed geo-textile facings, making this a true test of golf.

The course uses kikuyu grass on the tees, fairways and semi rough areas and the Dominant Plus (Bent) grass on the greens. The opening hole is a par 4 stroke 2 measuring 395m from the back tees. The thought may be that it is a fairly short hole – deceiving as it is a demanding hole producing very few pars unless a good tee shot is hit. Moving along the 4th, is the first par 5 requiring a straight tee shot. Any shot faded will be met by severe wetland areas meandering along the length of the hole to the green.

The second short hole is the 8th, an island green surrounded by water. Not a long hole – maximum a 9 iron from the back tee. Make sure you don’t hit the ball off line.

The 10th is again a demanding par 4 stroke 3 with a distance of 444m. The fairway is shaped as a dogleg to the right protected by a huge pot bunker on the corner of the dogleg. The second shot will be a mid to long iron to an elevated green protected by two pot bunkers on the right. Par on this hole is an achievement.

The 12th, a par 5 of 577m is worth a mention due to its length. At one stage, this hole was rated the longest par 5 in South Africa.

The signature hole of the course is the 15th, a par 4 of 389m. This hole has a long narrow fairway dogleg from left to right protected by two pot bunkers on the right, large trees and water of the left with a stream crossing the fairway. The green is placed close to the dam wall, which is covered by flowering shrubs and trees – sever punishment if you approach it carelessly.

The closing hole is a short par 5 of 470m where the lack of length is compensated by 14 strategically placed bunkers. If you play your handicap on this course, you can feel proud of yourself, as this is a good test of golf.