Wild Coast

Set in natural bush between the Umtamvuna and Mzamba rivers, Wild Coast Sun’s fairways rise and fall then twist and turn throughout its 6,400-yard length, presenting especially challenging holes at the six par three holes on the scorecard.

In this edited extract from the book South African Golf Courses: A Portrait of the Best author Stuart McLean comments: “Simply riding a golf cart around the course at Wild Coast is an exciting and worthwhile experience, with its climbs and descents through ravines and across waterfalls, and breath taking views of the sea and the undulating Transkei countryside.

Virtually every hole is played in its own separate parcel of land, offering very little warning of the changing topography to come. Trent Jones has stretched his imagination to the full in sculpting a course from this rolling landscape. The layout is spread over such an extensive area that a golf cart seems advisable, even in a country where golfers prefer to walk.”

The par five 12th "Green Mamba" is rated one of the best 18 holes in South Africa, with the tee shot played from an elevated tee toward a cascading waterfall from where the fairway then cuts through a valley towards the kidney-shaped green and, when you’ve putted out, there’s a small funicular railway to transport you up the steep slope behind the green to the next tee! Many consider the 12th hole alone is worth the two-hour drive south from Durban to play Wild Coast. And if that's not enough, the book 500 world’s greatest golf holes by author George Peper and the editors of GOLF magazine features the 146-yard par three 13h at Wild Coast:

“The 1997 Wild Coast Challenge, a South African PGA event, saw how fickle winds can render this hole’s seemingly innocuous yardage meaningless. Players hit anything from punch five irons to three quarter wedges on this hole to adapt to the changing conditions, knowing that shots missing this green can land in all sorts of trouble. The ‘jungle’ is the most obvious hazard, but a rear bunker, giving way to another cluster of knotted vegetation, can be nearly as distressing.”