Special Places - Serengeti Golf and Wildlife Estate

The 101st playing of the South African Open sees the national championship return to the Highveld for the first time since Randpark was host venue in January 2000. The opulent setting and impressive design at Serengeti Golf and Wildlife Estate hosts their first major tournament barely two years after opening for play as Ernie Els defends the title he won at last year's centenary SA Open at Durban CC.

Jack Nicklaus' signature layout at Serengeti Golf Club was named Best New Course in South Africa by Golf Digest making it five out of five for the world's most prolific golf course designer, following in the footsteps of Pecanwood, Pearl Valley, Simola and St Francis Links that had each won the same award the year they opened. Located in the eastern suburbs of Johannesburg less than 15kms from OR Tambo International Airport, Serengeti comprises a 9-hole layout named Whistling Thorn and an 18-hole championship course, the Masai Mara, which means "wide open plains" in the Masai language. True to its name and also the Nicklaus school of design, the Masai Mara boasts expansive fairways and huge waste and conventional bunker complexes, giving the layout a rugged grassland and dune-scape look and feel. Also, the Serengeti Golf Club is one of the few in Gauteng using cool season grasses, meaning that the course retains its lush green appearance throughout the year.

Surprisingly mature looking after only opening for play in June 2009, Serengeti is in the first of two years hosting the South African Open Championship. The course sets up as a par 72 of just less than 7000 metres from the tips, but a wide range of teeing options will present some challenging risk and reward opportunities over the four days. Also, there are two long par 5's - the 620m 3rd hole and the 575m 16th - that are likely to prove unreachable in two shots for the vast majority of the field. The signature hole is the 527m par 5 8th that has water running along the entire right side of the fairway and an undulating island green that will provide much drama. Water is in play on three of the four finishing holes, and the daunting 443m par 4 18th leading back to the palatial clubhouse is rated as the most difficult hole on the course.

Golfweather Editorial