When you think about golf, the countries that spring to mind are Scotland, England, the US and Japan. But golf is a growing sport that enthusiasts around the world travel high and low to play. The first course established outside the UK was in fact the Royal Calcutta Golf Club in India in 1829 – long before the game reached the shores of the US.
Over the last two decades courses have sprung up across regions known more for their deserts than their bunkers.
The World Travel Awards has just launched their list of nominations for the ‘Best African Golf Course”. Of the eight nominees, four, unsurprisingly, come from the relatively lush South Africa, the other four tell a different story.
The Jolie Ville course is in the arid Sinai Peninsula around the Red Sea, The Palemeraie Golf Palace is set in an green oasis in the dusty surrounds of Marrakech, Phaklane is just outside Botswana’s capital Gabarone, while the seriously impressive Mena House course at the Oberoi in Cairo is overlooked by the pyramids – nowhere else in the world can golfers play a round in the shadow of one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
The eight golf courses shortlisted for Africa’s Leading Golf Resort are:
- Fancourt Hotel & Country Club, South Africa
- Jolie Ville Golf & Resort Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt
- Legend Golf & Safari Resort, South Africa
- Mena House Oberoi, Egypt
- Phakalane Golf Estate Hotel Resort, Botswana
- Sun City Resort, South Africa
- The Palmeraie Golf Palace, Morocco
- Zimbali Resort, South Africa
Written by insider city guide series Hg2 | A Hedonist’s guide to…
