Destination Golf Global (Winter 2019) * | Page 53

Olivewood Golf Estate and Royal Port Alfred will play the same role in respect of a Sunshine Coast tour, in what must be one of the region’s most unspoiled provinces – the Eastern Cape. A Garden Route tour will provide golfers and their families with the opportunity to take a trip along one of the natural wonders of the world. It will start at St Francis Links and move on to the award winning Fancourt, before culminating at the Jack Nicklaus signature course at Pearl Valley in the heart of the Cape’s winelands. Mauritius has a wonderful golf package ready to go for guests staying at Heritage Spa who can now get to play three courses with another on the way. The new addition will be in the form of a second 18 holes at Heritage GC, which is being designed by Peter Matkovich and Louis Oosthuizen, who will be working together as a team for the first time in Mauritius. The final option will be the Jack Nicklaus designed courses’ tour, which will see Pecanwood, St Francis Links and Pearl Valley working together as the host venues. Rather like the Royals’ Tour, this itinerary will offer the travelling golfer, and his or her family, the opportunity to see three regions while on vacation. I have a personal soft spot for Pecanwood, which started back in 1997 in my role as a part of the golf development’s pre-launch team. This association has continued over the years through hosting a national event at the club and then more recently working, on site as a consultant, in the role of the Country Club’s GM during the re-launch phase. Pecanwood is the first Jack Nicklaus signature course in Africa and sits on the edge of the Hartbeespoort Dam. The area has become a weekend playground for the vast conurbation, formed by Johannesburg and Pretoria – both of which are less than a 45 minutes’ drive from the area. The setting is marvelous, with the development in a prime spot on the water’s edge and with the ancient Magaliesberg Mountains as the backdrop. This is a golf and lifestyle estate and so the facilities are deserving of the moniker. There is a country club, 3 F&B outlets, a boat club and small craft marina, a school on the perimeter, a village green, a great practice range and most important of all – a forward thinking and innovative management team which is backed by its board. Pecanwood is also an ideal regional golfing gateway to the Northwest and vice versa, as it sits right on the borders of Gauteng. This area was an active combat zone during the Anglo- Boer War and there are plenty of sites in the area to remind us of another sad phase in man’s history. On a much more cheerful note, the only sniping that you are likely to be subjected to now, will be the verbal jibes from your 4-ball about your handicap, as you take their money after a round played over Pecanwood’s immaculate fairways and greens! The historic attractions of the Cradle of Humankind are only a few minutes away and there are a wide variety of ‘things to do’ and restaurants in the area. With an airport on its doorstep and the attractions of the Pilanesberg National Park and Sun City less than an hour away by road – Pecanwood epitomises why this whole region is such an ideal golf and family vacation destination. For more info on the various golf tours please, follow the blogs and articles on DGT and or contact… ………Keeping it on the fairway! John Cockayne – Regional ambassador and golf editor for DGT Southern Africa & the Indian Ocean Islands. By John Cockayne Destination Golf - Southern Africa & Indian Ocean Islands Email: [email protected] Mobile: +27 73 8967931 Volume 4 • Issue 50 53