Golf Digest has published its panel's ranking of the best golf courses in South Africa, and it's a fascinating read. The Links at Fancourt takes the number one spot — few will argue with Gary Player's manufactured links masterpiece. But scan down the list and the debates start almost immediately.
The talking points
Blair Atholl at number two. The panel clearly loves the scale of Player's 7,500-metre monster on the Crocodile River — but it's a private estate most golfers will never play, ranked above courses the whole country knows and loves. Pearl Valley completes their podium at three, with Durban Country Club — the course that's hosted more SA Opens than any other — at four, and Leopard Creek, the one many would instinctively put first, all the way down at five.
Then there's the pick we genuinely admire: Sishen Golf Club at number nine. A green oasis next to an iron-ore mine in Kathu, ranked above the Gary Player Country Club — the course that hosts Africa's biggest tournament. If you've made the trek to the Northern Cape, you'll know the panel has a point. If you haven't, that's exactly the kind of ranking that starts arguments at the 19th.
Rounding out their top ten: Arabella at six, St Francis Links at seven, Glendower at eight, and the Gary Player Country Club at ten. Deeper down, Elements sneaks in at eleven ahead of Royal Johannesburg East, and humble Parkview closes out the thirty.
Here's the thing about panels
Golf Digest's raters are knowledgeable, well-travelled people, and their list is a serious piece of work. But it's still a few dozen opinions. It can't capture whether the visitors' green fee felt fair, whether the fourball in front of you was waved through or ignored, whether the halfway house pie was worth stopping for, or whether the staff remembered your name the second time you visited. Those things decide where South African golfers actually spend their money — and no panel measures them.
Your verdict counts here
Every course on Golf Digest's list is on Pin High — along with the other 380-odd GolfRSA-affiliated courses their panel never visited. If you think Leopard Creek deserves the top spot, say so with a rating. If you think Durban CC is criminally underrated at four, fix it. If you've played Sishen and the panel is spot on, back them up.
That's the whole idea of this site: the experts have had their say, now the golfers get theirs. Rate the courses you've played — overall, value, conditions, layout, clubhouse and staff — and let's find out where the people's rankings and the panel's rankings disagree. Our money is on "everywhere".
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