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It has nightlife. It has wildlife. There are plenty of great reasons to visit Sun City in South Africa, including two of the best golf courses in the world. By Jon Underwood.
I’ve heard some weird and wonderful sounds on the golf course. Cries of anguish, shrieks of jubilation, heart-wrenching pleas to the gods.
But the noise I heard on the 15th hole of the Gary Player Country Club was enough to stop me in my tracks.
Carrying on the breeze from the neighbouring Pilanesberg National Park was the unmistakable guttural grunt of a lion. If there was any doubt I was in Africa...
I had been invited to Sun City for the 30th anniversary of the Nedbank Challenge, one of the world’s premier golf tournaments and often dubbed ‘Africa’s Major’. The illustrious list of past champions is testament to its standing: Johnny Miller, Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo and Ernie Els, while Australia’s Robert Allenby was the 2009 champion (for all the action from the 2010 Nedbank, see page 128).
Apart from the huge prize money, what attracts the biggest names in golf to this event is its history, the excellent hospitality and facilities at Sun City, and the chance to tackle one of the longest courses in the world.
Off the championship pegs, ‘the Gary,’ as the course is affectionately known, extends 7,162 metres, although a variety of tees make it playable for amateurs. Some of the back tees have long carries over dense bush so the forward markers are definitely the best choice for first timers.
Apart from its length, the Gary has several defence mechanisms. Judgment of distance can be tricky, with the course laid out inside an old volcano and often the victim of swirling winds.
Being at high altitude, the ball also flies further, so you’ll feel like Superman. But if you’re offline, the ever-present bushveld awaits. And the clover-shaped greens offer plenty of amusing pin positions and with subtle undulations they can be as tricky as brushing a crocodile’s teeth.
Like its illustrious designer, the Gary is tough as teak, sublimely elegant and uncompromising.
“The main defence here is the bush lining the fairways. There’s no reprieve standing on a tee box, climbing into your drive and finding it on the next fairway. You’ll have to get past a few wild animals to find it again. It’s a full-on, tournament golf course,” says Antonie Els, Golf Director at Sun City.
Early holes of note include the par-5 second where a pond lurks menacingly on the right to catch the wayward; the fourth with water again the main danger at the front of this scenic par-3; and the par-4 sixth, where a downhill second shot is required to reach a well-guarded green.
Thanks to the global television coverage of the Nedbank, some of the holes are so famous they sign autographs. Holes like the par-5 ninth, where you really need to flush a drive down the hill to be a chance of getting onto the island green in two. It’s all about distance control on this one because anything long, short, left or right of the green is likely to be wet.
You can try and play it like the pros and hit a long iron to this small target or more likely lay up and attempt a pitch-and-putt birdie. Visually stunning and a pleasure to play, there’s talk it may well become the finishing hole in the future.
Not that there’s anything wrong with the finishing holes as they stand. The 16th is a nasty par-3 with a crop of bunkers and water guarding the green.
The 17th green was re-built several years ago and now juts out into the lake, meaning anything short or left swims with the fishes. Terrifying and exhilarating in equal measure.
And then there’s the 18th, one of the best finishing holes in world golf and an impressive sight with the packed grandstands framing the green during the Nedbank. It’s a 459-metre par-4 but what makes it so exciting is the second shot, over water, to a sloping green guarded by a couple of deep bunkers.
While the Gary is a stern challenge, it’s not unfair. And if you do happen to bring your ‘D’ game, don’t worry because the surroundings are spectacular. The course is totally in harmony with the natural contours, with holes routed through wild olive trees and stands of sweet-, umbrella- and buffalo-thorn trees.
But if it does prove too tough or you just fancy a different kind of challenge, then Sun City has an admirable alternative. The Lost City course isn’t as well-known as its illustrious neighbour but is no less intimidating at 6,983-metres from the back tees.
“Gary Player designed it as a desert-style course. It’s the only one in our country that I know of. I must say our overseas visitors enjoy that one a lot more,” comments Els.
Lost City has more of a resort feel: for a start you can use carts. The front nine has a couple of cracking par-threes: the third is all water carry while the eighth plummets from a highly-elevated tee to the green below. (In a somewhat ingenious move, a staff member is on hand to take your lunch order as you come off the green, so it is waiting for you in the clubhouse when you reach the halfway point.)
But it’s the world-famous 13th that I can’t wait to play. It’s a par-3 played from a slightly elevated tee to a green guarded by…a large crocodile pit.
“The questions we get about that hole, especially from our Japanese visitors who ask if they are real. It’s one of the few holes in the world you’ll see a brand new golf ball lying in the open,” chuckles Els.
So will a Titleist give a crocodile indigestion?
“We have a croc whisperer who goes in there and removes all the balls. He pulls the crocs by the tail if he needs to but that’s the beauty of contractors...rather him than me!”
Having negotiated the 13th without loss of limb, we arrived at my favourite hole. It’s an intimidating drive from yet another raised tee and all you can see is jungle, fading into the mountains in the distance. A little creek runs across the fairway as it narrows up to a raised green with trees on both sides.
The great thing about Africa is that you’re never too far away from an encounter of the animal kind. I had just finished searching for my ball in the rough on 15 when my caddy casually mentioned that a massive black mamba had been sighted on that very spot the day before. I was still digesting this information when a wild pig broke cover and started trotting down the 16th fairway.
It was something of a comfort to reach the 18th, a challenging finishing hole that shares a large lake with the ninth. A good drive will give you every chance of reaching the green in two and a putt for eagle. But with water and sand all the way down the right-hand side, that’s somewhat easier said than done.
“It’s not as long as the Gary and there are some short cuts. But when you play it for the first time and don’t know the short cuts, you can make it very long for yourself,” says Els.
The variety in the two golf courses is more than matched by the variety of accommodation. There are four hotels at Sun City and they cater to all budgets. Families tend to gravitate towards the three-star Cabanas while the Palace of the Lost City offers five-star luxury. It’s the newest of the four and bears a striking resemblance to a Maharajah’s palace.
It is simply stunning, from its opulent central dining area to the domed roof in the reception hall, which they compare to the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, although I’m not sure what Michelangelo would have made of zebras and monkeys in the Apostolic Palace.
But herein lies the key to the whole resort. Sun City embodies Africa: it’s big, bold and utterly enchanting.
When it opened in 1979, it was gambling and big stars like Frank Sinatra and Tina Turner that brought people 150 kilometres north west of Johannesburg. While the casinos remain, Sun City is now dubbed ‘Africa’s Kingdom of Pleasure’, offering myriad attractions.
While the Sun City complex is sprawling, it’s easy to get around with a system of shuttle buses in operation. And make no mistake, there’s plenty to see and do. The Valley of Waves is a massive water park that offers a man-made wave beach, five flume rides and the Temple of Courage, a terrifying contraption that drops the intrepid some 17 metres into the pool beneath. There’s also elephant riding, quad biking, water sports and the Gary Player Health Spa.
Golf or gambling aside, it is another kind of game that attracts most visitors. Just a five-minute drive from the resort is Pilanesberg, a 50,000-hectare National Park that’s home to some 10,000 animals, including ‘the big five’ – lion, African elephant, Cape buffalo, leopard and rhinoceros. It’s malaria-free and being so close, there’s no dawn alarm call or two-hour drive just to get there.
On a game drive with Gift, my enchantingly named guide, I learned three valuable lessons about spotting wildlife. You need patience, you need luck and you need to accept disappointment. Despite seeing elephants, giraffes, rhinos and hippos, we didn’t see a single lion. It was a bit like going all the way to the North Pole and not seeing Santa Claus.
But you don’t even have to leave the resort to see wild animals. The Kwena Gardens Crocodile Sanctuary has more than 7,000 happy snappers in residence, including the three largest captive Nile crocodiles in the world.
at a glance
Getting there:
South African Airways and Qantas codeshare on flights from Sydney to Johannesburg via Perth.
Qantas: 131-313; qantas.com.au or South African Airways: 1300-435-972; flysaa.com
Accommodation: The Palace of the Lost City has 338 rooms with four deluxe suites.
The Cabanas comprises 380 rooms divided into standard and luxury rooms, all of which are fully air conditioned.
Green fees: The Gary Player, rand840. Includes halfway house and strokesaver book. Nine holes and carts not permitted. Course is closed on Mondays for maintenance.
The Lost City, rand720. Includes halfway house, strokesaver book and cart for two people. Course is closed on Tuesdays for maintenance.
Stay & Play package: Sun City has a midweek Golf Package, including green fees at the Gary Player or Lost City courses, golf shirt, cap, towel and tees, halfway house and strokesaver. rand985. This offer can be combined with any relevant accommodation package applicable to the length and dates of your stay at Sun City. Contact your local travel agent for more details.
For more information, Sun International: 27-11/780-7878; suninternational.com
South African Tourism: 1800-238-643; southafrica.net
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