Ahead of Golf Planet Holidays’ 2023 golf tours, our resident pro Nigel Burch shares his lifetime of love for South Africa
I have been in love with South Africa from the moment I stood on the tee at the Kensington Golf Club in Johannesburg, playing in my first professional tournament.
It may be more years ago than I care to remember, but I do recall my rather fetching white shirt and yellow trousers, matching the sunny skies above me.
Since then, travel to South Africa has been transformed. With an evening flight out of London Heathrow and an early morning arrival in either Cape Town or Johannesburg and no jet lag you are straight into the heady ambience of the Southern Hemisphere.
Back in the 1990s I regularly organised golf trips, flying out on a Thursday evening to Cape Town, teeing it up at midday on Friday! The golfers flew back to the UK Sunday evening having played three of the finest golf courses Africa has to offer, ready to face the busy working week ahead.
So apart from virtually no time change, what else does South Africa offer to the UK golfer?
Well, for a good winter golf holiday, guaranteed sunshine goes a long way. Retrieve your summer golf gear from the back of the wardrobe and away you go. The UK winter is instantly forgotten when that plane door opens in Cape Town and you feel the warm breeze of South African air.
With the local currency at around 20=£1 it is heaven for beer and wine drinkers, a pint in a pub will cost you less than £2 and a glass of wine around £1, a G&T about the same as a pint!
Not to mention food, although prices have gone up over the last couple of years, you will find it hard to spend more than a tenner in a good restaurant and I can recommend plenty of them.
So where are we now? I have given you three superb reasons to visit SA, the fourth is the key ingredient to any golf tour – the courses.
Well, I have travelled the world playing golf but I have never experienced such a cluster of great golf as you find on the Western Cape.
It is a golfer’s paradise, and with caddies or buggies available at most courses, all you need to do is head to the first tee and revel in the experience.
Over the next few weeks I will be covering the courses on the itinerary for our hosted trips and tours in 2023, and adding some notes on the history of golfon the Western Cape, and my experiences of living in this wonderful country for 16 years.
As always Nigel is delighted to discuss golf in South Africa at any time, whether you are interested in our tours or would like to arrange a bespoke holiday. Contact him directly on 01277284284 or nigel@golfplanetholidays.com
