Gerard and Mark's Golfing Trip to South Africa
Hi,
I just wanted to update you on my recent trip to South
Africa where I was lucky enough to view hotels
and play some of the courses we offer on our website. I have just returned from an excellent and very informative
trip where I was accompanied by our MD Mark Marais.
South
Africa is truly blessed with an array of
excellent accommodation, golf courses and wonderful things to see and do. We
thoroughly enjoyed staying at as well as visiting some outstanding hotels,
resorts and guest houses. And of course purely in the interests of research we
also played some spectacular golf courses….
We were met at Johannesburg
airport by the excellent Tamara, our representative out there and we were in
good hands for the start of our trip. We travelled up north to the Limpopo region
where we stayed and played at Zebula Resort, it was bizarre experience in the
sweltering heat finding a zebra between my ball and the hole having left an icy
Ireland
under 24 hours earlier.
That evening we enjoyed a ‘few’ sundowners and I tried
biltong and as promised by Mark it was the perfect accompaniment to cold
lager! The following day we travelled onto the new Euphoria resort and
played their excellent golf course, Mark taught me a few phrases in the local
lingo including ‘in die kak’ which unfortunately I was to use on numerous
occasions due to a rusty swing!
Another fantastic sunny morning found us about to enjoy the
truly unique experience of playing the incredible Extreme 19th Par 3 hole.
at Legends Resort. The day started with us being met at the club house and then
driven to a nearby field, a short time later our next form of transportation
arrived...a helicopter!!
After jumping on board we were whisked in exhilarating
fashion up to the top of a mountain and led to the tee box precariously perched
on the edge of a 400 meter cliff face. A driver is the only club required up
there! After taking in the magnificent scenery you then try compose yourself to
drive 6 balls from the edge of the mountain to the green around 600 meters
away.
My radar was definitely affected by the situation and all I can say is
that there are probably a few dazed baboons wandering around the national park
that surrounds the green. After all your balls are launched the helicopter
returns to transport you to the green so that you can finish out the hole! A
truly memorable experience and one which I will never forget!
The rest of the day was spent playing the superb 18-hole
course, followed by the fantastic 10-hole par 3 Tribute course. This is another
great experience, the holes are all replicas of the worlds best par 3’s
including the 12th at Augusta,
the Postage Stamp and the 17th at Sawgrass.
From the course we
went straight out into the reserve and whilst enjoying a few cold beers we saw
lion and rhino as well as plenty of other game, the perfect end to an
unbelievable day, and definitely one I’d recommend to all.
After our time in Limpopo we caught the flight from Jo'burg
to George in the Cape where we began our
journey along the Garden Route.
Our first port of call was the luxurious Simola resort at Knysna with it’s huge
rooms, top quality service and a manicured golf course with picturesque views.
World class Pezula was next, rated by many as the best resort in South
Africa and one I’ll remember for a long time
as Mark drained a long putt on the last to stay in the game only for me to sink
a 12-footer and claim the bragging rights!
We visited a lot of different hotels and guest houses in
Plettenberg and Knysna and I soon understood why Mark had said guest houses in
SA are more like boutique hotels, with friendly owners always ready to share
their knowledge. Next was Fancourt with its three world class courses,
the Links is spectacular but one I’d only recommend to low handicappers (or
golfing masochists!), the Montagu would be better for all comers and the
Outeniqua suits those wanting a fair but not to tough game. All of these
immaculately maintained courses and are only available to residents of the resort.
We visited George Golf Club which was in as good a condition
as any course I have been to and one I will definitely make sure is in my
itinerary next time I’m in SA. From here we drove west to the Western Cape Arabella, I would like to mention at this stage that Scott and I took the
money from Mark and Adam at Arabella let’s just say they were not happy
campers! The memorable finishing holes on both nines are as good as it gets!
We spent the next few days in the stunning Winelands and in Cape
Town, what a magnificent part of the world. Cosmopolitan
Cape Town is one of the
great cities with so much to see and do. We made sure we got full value
for money by being amongst the last people to leave an Irish bar on Long Street
on our final evening!
The famous Garden Route and Western
Cape are awash with super accommodation and magnificent
golf courses so you will be well and truly spoilt for choice! All in all this
was a superb trip and my customers will certainly benefit from my experiences
out in South Africa.
Seeing is believing and I have been extremely lucky to experience this
wonderful country at its best.
If anyone would like to discuss South
Africa or are interested in a trip out there
please contact me on gerard@chakatravel.com
or 0044 2890232112.
I look forward to speaking with you.
Warmest regards,
Gerard