57

Irene

Centurion - Gauteng

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General manager: Gary Marais
Sports manager: Jonty Williams
Greenkeeper: JP Cooper
Club captain: Denis Dreyer
Chairman: Andre Cloete
CRITERIA SUMMARY: Total points 69.5 out of 100
Conditioning14.0 / 20
Playability14.0 / 20
Aesthetics10.4 / 15
Design Variety10.9 / 15
Shot Values9.8 / 15
Memorability10.4 / 15

Course Summary

Four tees / Par 72

Yellow 6486 metres, CR73.7/138
White 6218 metres, CR72.4/135
Blue 5803 metres, CR70.3/132
Red 5438 metres, CR68.6/125
Women’s blue, CR76.8/144
Women’s red, CR74.2/139

Visitor green fee

R310 Monday, Tuesday
R460 Wed AM; R630 non-affiliated
R630 Wed PM, Saturday & Sunday AM; R850 non-affiliated
R460 Thurs, Friday; R630 non-affiliated
R460 Sunday PM; R630 non-affiliated
Golf cart R450

Course designer

Laurie Waters 9 holes 1912,
Bob Grimsdell 18 holes 1922,
Phil Jacobs 2007

Contact

012 667 1081
www.irenecc.co.za

Previous ranking

61 (2023), 67 (2022) & 64 (2021)

Irene is an extremely attractive walk in scenic countryside. Golf has been played on this site for more than a century (1912), although the old parkland course received a splendid and transformative redesign by Phil Jacobs (2007), who had a successful career as Gary Player’s chief designer. Irene enjoys some gently undulating terrain, and this is both a fun and challenging layout to play, quirky and varied. It suits golfers who are good with their short irons, because you use them regularly.

The Hennops River flows through the heart of the course, moving on from Irene to the neighbouring Centurion golf estate, and it comes into play often enough to be a useful hazard.

Jacobs sculpted some handsome modern greens which have made putting that much trickier, and moved fairway bunkers to tighten the strategy off the tee for today’s longer-hitting golfer. These improvements not only enhanced the experience, but made Irene fit to host tournaments again.

The land has been owned by the Van der Byl family since 1895, with Bertie van Zyl first showing an interest in golf by setting out a few rough holes in 1905. His ancestors have since supported the club, and the presidency has traditionally been held by a family member.

Read: IRENE CC BOUNCES BACK AFTER DISASTER

Additional Course Facts

Course Record

61 by Laurie Canter, 2013 Tshwane Open Pre-Q, with 11 birdies.

Feature Holes

Irene boasts one of the best pulpit par 3 holes, the 135-metre seventh, played from a high tee over the river to the green. That’s followed by a superb short par 4 (304m), known as Gobbler, where the right positioning on the fairway is key to playing the approach back over the river to an elevated green. The back nine is hillier, starting with the par-5 tenth, and the 14th is an outstanding downhill par 4, 432m from the back, with out of bounds on the right and a large water hazard guarding the left front of a broad green. Every hole has been given a simple descriptive name, such as Island for the par-3 16th.

Practice Facility

Fair-sized range close to first tee, and putting green.

Club Champions

2023 Aubrey Barnard & Bongi Tshabalala
2022 Lean Boezaart
2021 Not available
2020 Lean Boezaart & Bonqiwe Shabalala
2019 Gustav Verster & Francesca Bosman

SA OPEN QUALIFYING

Irene held eight SA Open qualifying rounds between 2011 and 2023. The lowest round was a 64 by Pinnacle Point amateur Ivan Verster in 2023. The 2021 Open qualifying was played on a par 67 course after flooding.

Did You Know

1/ Seven Davis Cup tennis matches involving the South African team have been played at Irene in recent years. The club has six courts, four under lights.

2/ Irene was the home club of professionals Dylan Frittelli and Justin Hobday when juniors, and 1984 SA Amateur champion Mark Wiltshire. Hall of Fame legend John Bland also grew up there. His father John was the secretary/greenkeeper and their home was a cottage on the course. John and his brother Roy won 10 club championships.

3/ The Jan Smuts House Museum is across the road from the club in Irene’s Jan Smuts Avenue. This is where the famous statesman entertained world leaders. Smuts was an Irene member but not a golfer. He did have a few practice swings, pronouncing golf too mechanical for his taste. He did use the course though for walking.

4/ Irene hosts the Gauteng North Silver Salver for top amateurs. The 2023 winner was home club member Tristan Leonard on 14-under 274. The 2020 and 2021 winner was Christiaan Maas (Pretoria CC) who had an exceptional 27-under 261 in 2020 and 272 in 2021. The 2019 champion was 16-year-old Casey Jarvis with 270, including a 9-birdie 63. Conner Mackenzie won in 2022 on four-under 212.

5/ Irene hosted its first 72-hole Sunshine Tour event in May 2023, won by Louis Albertse on 23-under 265. There were 10 eagles on three par 4s, Nos 1, 15 and 18.

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Course Reviews
Irene has two unique short 3s, Pulpit (No 7) and Island (No 16). Both their greens are fronted by the Hennops River. At Island you need a pinpoint shot between two tall trees, a willow and thin poplar. Pulpit is all about judging what club to use from its elevated high tees. Many tee shots go long. What a terrifying hole this could be if there was a water hazard behind the green! The Pulpit tees have been magnificently rebuilt with high stone walls which are a constant theme through the course, framing tees and greens. Looks impressive from the green backwards. Also under construction is the old clubhouse near the first tee. What a difference that will make to the Irene experience when it reopens later this year. It's a terrific layout of contrasting holes, short and long, in beautiful parkland surroundings, best played in summer.
Stuart McLean
16 March 2024
Several Gauteng country clubs are talking Padel, to take advantage of this fast-growing sport. Irene Country Club are in step. Right next to the first tee, possibly too close, are four Padel courts, installed in the past month, with floodlighting. I hear they cost about a million rand a court. And there are new Padel courts at Ruimsig CC and Pretoria CC. Irene is a bustling multi-sport club offering golf, cricket, bowls and tennis, so it’s a shrewd move. The deck outside the clubhouse is a hive of activity well into the night long after the golfers have left. Irene’s course is in good shape, and the club have a new young greenkeeper in JP Cooper, son of Pieter Cooper who does a wonderful job maintaining Wingate Park nearby. The 18 holes of this scenic layout were revamped by Phil Jacobs some years ago and his greens are an interesting subtle mix of shapes and slopes. There’s a project afoot to rebuild and enlarge all the tees.
Stuart McLean
21 October 2022
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One of the Pretoria courses affected by the heavy summer rains, but which has recovered well. Always a pleasant outing as the course meanders around farmland, a cricket field, attractive homes and the Hennops River.
Sabelo Ndabazandile
20 July 2022
Most pleasing to see how well Irene has recovered from the February flooding, one of the worst in a series of devastating floods this summer. A large tree trunk tore the heart out of the seventh green next to the Hennops River, but it is now restored as if nothing had happened. And right next to that green is a rebuilt bridge to access the original tee on the other side of the river for the short par-4 eighth hole. That bridge I'm told has been closed for five years! Makes a difference to the angle the hole is presented. I was at Irene in the late afternoon and what a picturesque course it is at that time of day. The entrance to the club is on a busy road but once inside the property you are transported into a different world, a feel of the country with so many beautiful features to enjoy. The debris in the river remains an eyesore (it shows how high the river flowed through during the last flood) but there is so much more to appreciate, particularly the quality of the holes and the excellent conditioning.
Stuart McLean
30 March 2022
Course was in fantastic condition. While the Hennops River is a total eyesore with litter and damage, flooding to the river banks and bridges, the rest of the course was in mint condition and Irene do appear to be putting a lot of effort into course improvements.
Jamie Thom
25 March 2021
Irene is a breakaway to the country in the middle of busy Gauteng. A country-style course in a farm environment, always a joy to play. The popular Irene diary borders the 12th hole. Your driving and iron play needs to be good with many trees, well-placed bunkers and the Hennops River to contend with. The greens were redone in 2020 after floods and have settled well. The club and community have been working hard to keep the river clean.
Philip Malan
14 February 2021
There's a charming country club atmosphere at Irene. A cricket match was in full swing on their picturesque ground while I was there earlier in December. Good to see many young golfers on the course or using the club's excellent practice facilities. The course is looking superb again after the disastrous floods a year ago this month which closed down Irene for six months. This is certainly one of Gauteng's prettier layouts, in an attractive rural setting. More disappointing then to see all the rubbish piling up on the banks of the Hennops River which runs through the course. I know the rubbish flows in every day, but surely the club can find a way to deal with this eyesore.
Thomas Souness
27 December 2020

Scenic walk around this extremely playable course. With a river winding through it a real test to keep the ball in play. Rough doesn't really exist so more enjoyable than most courses. Greens usually run true at a decent pace.

Sandor Kovacs
18 April 2020
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