George

George’s attractive parkland course is also one of the most affordable of South Africa’s top rated tracks and it’s a big favourite with tens of thousands of visitors who play almost half the number of available rounds here every year. Despite this traffic, George’s greens are first class and the overall conditioning of the course is amongst the best in the country.

The nines at George are a little lop-sided, with only one par three and one par five on the outward half and three of each on the inward nine. The signature hole is played late in the round at the penultimate, 17th hole, where an elevated tee shot must carry 200 yards across a valley to a raised, offset green in front of the aforementioned dam with a creek up the right and two bunkers on the left.

In this edited extract from the book South African Golf Courses: A Portrait of the Best author Stuart McLean comments: “The beauty of the course has developed over the years, with the growth of a variety of trees, and today it is an enchanting paradise, retaining a countrified air. The holes undulate through rolling valleys, and the golfer is required to display an assortment of shot-making skills during a round.

Looking at the heavily wooded course today, with its incredible variety of trees, bushes, and the famous George heather, it is hard to believe that when it was first constructed there was hardly a tree on the property. With plentiful rain in the area, however, there has been an abundant growth, and playing a round of golf at George on a pleasant summer’s day is very similar to a ramble through a private garden estate.”