Cultured pearls of the Cape

Gary Player, way back in the mid-70s, would drive members of some of the Cape’s venerable golf clubs into a right old froth by criticising the condition of their courses.

In those days there were really only five courses in the peninsula ever visited by the pros – Royal Cape, Mowbray, Rondebosch, King David and Milnerton. The former two were on the SA Open roster and the latter three staged tournaments which formed part of the Sunshine Tour.

At the time Player, in the midst of compiling a list 13 SA Opens, would be a regular visitor – once memorably compiling a 67 around the Mowbray course on a day so stormy that the QEII could not dock in Cape Town harbour.

Player was already involved in golf course architecture and his scathing remarks about Cape courses, especially the state of the greens, did not go down too well with committee members and greens keepers who maintained that the withering south-easter made it impossible for them to turn out the kind of manicured courses the great golfer had experienced in America or, for that matter, Johannesburg.

Being the golf reporter for The Argus I was often caught in the cross-fire; dutifully reporting Player’s remarks, after all he was a world authority, only to be castigated by club members for not appreciating the vagaries of the Cape weather and the realities of trying to cultivate perfect lawns in such conditions.

Thoughts of those days came back to me recently when I had the privilege to play two of the most beautiful courses you will find anywhere – Arabella alongside the Kleinmond Lagoon and Pearl Valley amid the dramatic Franschhoek mountains.

Both rounds were played in late winter, the worst time for Cape courses after the cold, rainy season, and I was astounded by the condition of both courses.

Modern technology and equipment – especially the ubiquitous buggy - has made it possible to build courses in spectacular natural settings, such as those of Arabella and Pearl Valley, but the added spin-off has been the ability to provide superb surfaces to play on.

When you think that Mowbray and Royal Cape, once in a league with Royal Johannesburg and Durban Country Club, have not presented the SA Open since 1987 and 1996, respectively, you realise that Player was probably right about the things he was learning in the States – lessons which were subsequently incorporated into newer designs.

Arabella, arguably Peter Matkovich’s masterpiece, went into the Top 10 of SA Golf Digest’s Top 100 in it’s first year as part of the ratings while the Jack Nicklaus designed Pearl Valley, an instant success as a housing estate, did exactly the same.

The Western Cape Hotel which is at the centre of the Arabella property, where another course is in the offing in the near future, is world-class from every aspect while Pearl Valley boasts a R50-million clubhouse that is truly spectacular.

To be honest this kind of ostentation is not a golfing requirement of mine, preferring more homely (and affordable!) surroundings, but it does engender a feeling of pride that such facilities exist in South Africa.

Arabella, with it’s spectacular vistas of the blue mountains of the Boland or the lagoon with the sea in the distance, is already well-known as the venue of the annual Nelson Mandela Invitational so I was particularly pleased to be able to sample Pearl Valley which is near, and takes it’s name from, the two great granite rocks that tower over the town of Paarl.

It boasts the Nicklaus signature and the mark of the great man is everywhere to see. Nicklaus has a knack of “setting it out before you” on the tee and the risk and reward elements of his designs, which are also evident at Pecanwood and Simola, confront you on every tee.

Although I am not a particularly good judge of golf courses, for the simple reason that for me a game of golf is such a treat that I find it hard to be critical, there are two criteria I always apply when evaluating a new course – would I like to play again and can it host a South African Open?

With both Arabella, experiencing it for the third time, and Pearl Valley, for the first time, the answer was a resounding Yes! In fact, had it not been for planes to catch I would have putted out on the 18th and headed straight back to the first tee.

I know green fees at both courses are on the steep end, a factor of the market they cater for, but if you’re ever in the area call in your contacts, beg, borrow or steal the money but try to have a game at these two cultured pearls of the Cape.