Milnerton

The clubhouse at Milnerton occupies a dramatic site on the edge of a white sandy beach overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Table Mountain and the Cape Town skyline form an impressive backdrop. The main lounge and bar has the best view. Sunsets here are amazing. 

The links-style golf course runs out-and-back on a narrow strip of land between the ocean and an inland waterway, with six holes bordering the beach, so close at times that a wayward tee shot can end up heading for the surf. The beach used to be in play, but is now an environmentally sensitive area.

Golf has been played here for 96 years, but the original layout underwent a dramatic change in the mid-1990s when part of the property became a residential housing estate. A new course was built by Golf Data, although several of the older holes near the clubhouse were retained. When you tee off at the first it looks like pristine links land, but the estate soon hoves into view at the fourth. However, there’s only ever houses on one side of any fairway, so the course still has a natural and spacious feel, with indigenous vegetation, wetlands, and a number of water hazards on the inland holes.

The course goes straight out for 9 holes, where there is a halfway house, and golfers can drive there by car or golf cart so that there are always two starting tees. It’s a breezy coastline, particularly in summer; depending on the season, the one nine is downwind and the other nine into the wind.

For social rounds, Milnerton is shortened to par 71, with the par-5 sixth reduced to a short par 4.