Ask a golfer about their favourite course and you'll hear about a back nine. Ask them about their favourite day of golf, and sooner or later the story ends up at the bar: the ice-cold lager after a 40-degree round in the bushveld, the pie at the halfway house that saved a collapsing card, the deck where you watched your fourball finish 18 in the sunset.
That's the 19th hole, and it's never had a ranking. Until now.
How it works
Every course page on Pin High now has a second rating panel for the 19th hole, scored on five things that matter after a round: atmosphere, drinks, food, view and service — plus your overall verdict. The votes build a separate national leaderboard at pinhigh.co.za/19th-holes, ranked the same way as the courses: by golfers, weighted by volume of votes, immune to marketing budgets.
The beauty of this list is that it has nothing to do with course pedigree. A 9-hole country club in the Free State with a legendary bar can outrank a championship estate with a soulless lounge. We suspect a few will.
The rules of a great 19th
We'd argue the greats share a few things: beer served properly cold and priced like the club remembers you just paid a green fee; food that arrives fast and tastes like it was made for hungry golfers, not a wedding; a view of golf — ideally the 18th green, so you can heckle incoming fourballs; and staff who ask how you played and mean it.
You know the bars that qualify. Go to the course's page, scroll to "Rate the 19th hole", and get your favourite on the board. The title of South Africa's greatest 19th hole is officially up for grabs.
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